Saturday, September 10, 2011
Starting Off Young
Once while I was watching the news, they brought up the controversial idea of the "breast-feeding doll." It's a little ridiculous that people actually spend money on something so that a little girl can think she's breast-feeding a baby. It's planting the idea in their mind at a really young age that their job when they grow up is going to be a caretaker. Having a baby doll to play with is one thing, but putting on a shirt that comes with the baby that has nipples for the baby to suck on is completely different. It is sad that young girls feel the need to be like a mother at such a young age. The argument is, "The Breast Milk Baby represents a revolution in design by teaching children the nurturing skills they'll need to raise their own healthy babies." Nurturing skills a mother has are natural, and trying to get a 6-year old to develop them is not okay. Some women simply aren't nurturing and trying to teach that attribute to young children won't change whether they are just naturally nurturing or not.
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I must say this "toy" is completely insane. I would never buy this for a child and I agree with the statement in the article, "Critics say the doll is over-sexualizing young girls..." This reminds me of the new padded bathing suits being sold at abercrombie. These bathing suits, which help push up 8 year olds' breasts, is again over-sexualizing young girls. It is so true that everything is happening at younger and younger ages.
ReplyDeleteI also think this toy is absolutely ridiculous. My first reaction upon reading about this doll was digust. At least in my opinion, the point of dolls (as well as most toys in general) for young children is to further their imagination and creativity. Sure, most young girls (myself included, when I was younger) like to at some point or another play "house" with their dolls and assume the role of the mother, but not in order to develop their mothering skills for the future. I can't see the benefits to having a little girl drape on a pair of nipples in order to breast feed her baby doll. Like Brittany said, breast-feeding is a natural part of adult motherhood, not child's play.
ReplyDeleteReading this creeped me out. First of all, the idea of "putting on" nipples is just weird. If you're body isn't equipped to do something yet, you're mind probably isn't either. Also, I really agree with what Michele said, about how everything is happening at younger and younger ages. Young girls should appreciate their childhoods and parents should too.
ReplyDeleteWhat!! This is crazy. I completely agree that "if your body isn't equipped to do something yet, your mind probably isn't either." I find it disturbing that manufacturers are trying to market small children to take on the mindset of being a real mother..all the way down to breast feeding..In todays world it is almost strange to have a toy that is so stereotypical. It makes girls think that their main function in life is to have children, care for the children, and properly raise the children. There are so many people now that choose not to have children. It is also sad to see that parents become concerned or take away dolls from boys when they are growing up. This brings up the issue of gay couples having children, is it O.K. for a child to have two fathers and lack a "nurturing" mother?
ReplyDeleteNot only insane, but I find this toy pretty inappropriate for a young child. I understand breast-feeding is a natural and beautiful ability, but still, it's not an ability that young children should be exploring or "pretend-playing" to at all. In all honesty, I'm more appalled by the crudeness of the idea of enforcing kids to imagine such adult ideas so vividly, over the fact that this doll is feeding into gender roles far too much. This just makes me scared about what to expect next along these lines...
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