Leafing through an American Girl Doll catalog with my daughter over Thanksgiving, I was taken aback by how much they cost. This is the first holiday season that American Girl Dolls are relevant for me; last year, my daughter was oblivious to everything except Dora the Explorer.

Not this year. "I want that one," my daughter exclaimed when she spied Kit, the American Girl Doll from World War II. Then she changed her mind. "I want that one," she said, looking hard at Josefina, with her long, black braid pushed to one shoulder.

A few days later, though, I read an article in Newsweek magazine called "The Politics of Playtime" that made me reconsider my decision not to buy an American Girl Doll. The article described how this seemingly innocuous, if high-priced, doll was caught up in a controversy that was causing some of its longtime fans to boycott.Why?

Because Mattel, the company that makes the dolls, has partnered with a non-profit group called Girls Inc., an organization committed to girls' education and empowerment. In addition to many other things, Girls Inc. has an open-minded policy toward female sexuality and reproductive rights and, to that end, acknowledges the existence of homosexuality and supports Roe v. Wade.

Girls Inc., according to its Web site, was formerly the Girls Clubs of America. For over 141 years, the group has worked hard to empower girls by addressing what it calls "the whole girl." That means encouraging girls to participate in athletics; excel in math, science and technology; learn money-management skills; and behave with self-respect and confidence. Since 1992, Girls Inc. has donated nearly $2 million in college scholarships to girls who have shown leadership in their teenage years.

Girls Inc.'s investment in educating "the whole girl," including educating her about her reproductive and sexual rights, has inflamed anti-choice groups, who look for any opportunity to tar and feather an individual, organization or company that supports a woman's right to make decisions about her own body.

I'll admit, it seems silly to me to rally forces against something as apparently benign as the American Girl Doll, but that's because I'm on the side of choice. I realize that the issue of abortion is far from agreed upon. If anti-choice groups believe that angry protests outside American Girl Doll stores is the way to go, there's not much I or anyone else can do to stop them.

Still, I wish we adults could figure out a way to keep our kids out of our most rancorous battles. American Girl Dolls appeal, by and large, to very young girls, not teenagers on the cusp of adulthood, for whom questions of reproductive freedom and sexuality may be more relevant. Little girls and little boys, too, ought to be able to play with their toys without having to join a debate about abortion and sexual orientation that their parents can't resolve.

Images of little girls holding their American Girl Dolls along with placards that read "GIRLS FOR LIFE" outside of American Girl Place in Chicago in November made me both proud of and concerned for them -- these girls may be taking a bold stand against abortion, but they are also still children, not yet old enough to understand the complexity of the debate.

In the end, I don't think I'll get my daughter an American Girl Doll this holiday season -- the dolls really are expensive, and she doesn't need something so fancy at such a young age. But I just might make out a check for $87 to Girls Inc. They need more than a portion of another company's profits if they're going to be much good to our daughters.

If I do write that check, I'll write it in support of that important ideal of educating "the whole girl." I want my daughter to be everything her great-grandmothers weren't encouraged or allowed to be -- intellectually curious, physically strong, full of confidence and optimism, able to earn her own money, and free to love whomever she chooses and to make her own decisions about her body.

If she ever finds herself in need of guidance, I hope she'll make her way to a place like Girls Inc., where she'll have access to the real facts about being a real American girl.

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