When I got married, I told myself that if I ever had daughters, I would only buy them Barbie dolls if they REALLY wanted one. I’ve always been wary of the message that Barbie sends to little girls – her impossibly long flowy blond hair, perfect make-up, perpetually arched feet so she can fit into her stiletto heels and her disproportional figure – one that on an actual human would cause a woman to topple over.
I want to raise self-assured girls. I want them to admire beauty; I like for them to look neat and put-together all the time. I want for them to be comfortable in their bodies as they grow into them. And I would LOVE for them to remain immune to our society’s hyper-sexuality.
Suffice it to say, when a certain clothing company recently unveiled a padded/push-up bikini top for girls as young as 7, I wanted to throw up. Actually, I wanted to smack the CEO of the company. More than that, I want to throttle the mother that buys that bikini for her daughter. (I’ll settle for boycotting the company.)
So when I read that a Spanish toy company unveiled a new baby doll called “Bebe Gloton” to promote breastfeeding, I laughed out loud. The doll comes with a colorful bra-like halter-top featuring flowers over the nipple area. When the doll is held to the flowers, it makes a suckling/nursing motion and sound. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1204486/Meet-Bebe-Gloton-breast-feeding-doll-comes-nipple-bra.html) I know that girls (and boys) like to play mommy. They will coddle baby dolls, spoon feed them, push them in a stroller, and dress them for bed. I also totally get little girls wanting to be like their moms. (For some time, one of my girls asked to wear a bra like me and a belt like her dad.) And for families who are into nursing, what could be more wholesome than a little girl playing “mommy” with her new “baby.” But for those who believe that nursing should remain in the private domain (or who are opposed to nursing altogether), does this form of play go too far? Does this new doll bring an awarenessto a little girl’s body before she’s ready to really understand what it all means? Do the makers of this doll cross the same line as the bikini maker?
(And yes, my girls now own Barbie’s. So far, their self-confidence and self-assuredness is perfectly intact.)
Where do you draw the line? Are there toys that are banned in your home?
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