Breast Milk Baby Doll- Hypersexualizing our daughters?

A doll that simulates breastfeeding?

The Babe Gloton Breast Milk Baby

"Disgusting!"

"That's exposing my daughter to sexual things."

"What's next, condoms for Barbie & Ken?"

"This is opening the door for teen pregnancy!"

 

People are up in arms about the $99 Bebe Gloton doll, that instead of a bottle, comes with a halter top the girl wears that has flower petals to show where the nipples would be. 

The above statements are verbatim responses of people. 82% of people who viewed this doll, said it as inappropriate. Some are campaigning to have it removed from sales.

It seems the main concern about this doll is that it exposes girls to something they don't need to know about at that young of an age. There has been talk that it is sexualizing young girls, encouraging promiscuity (yes, I'm serious) and forcing a girl to grow up too fast.


Wait, did you just really assume that a 7-year old doesn't notice breasts? Or that she hasn't wondered how babies are fed sometimes? Or maybe you've completely bypassed the breasts and wide hips on your daughter's Barbie doll that you let her play with? What about the Bratz doll, complete with fishnet stockings, a miniskirt and an attitude of "grow up NOW and be cool like me" that is 100 times it's size?

A Bratz Doll, one of the top-selling dolls in the US

Doesn't that seem hypocritical? 

If you really think it's weird or hypersexualizing, can that be your conviction across the board (with Barbie and Bratz dolls) and not just in the realm of a doll that simulates the God-given purpose of breasts?

The ludicrous idea that breastfeeding a doll is a sexual thing, is the very beginnings of how we make girls, who later become women, feel shame and embarrassment about their bodies. 

We deem it dirty and inappropriate.

A young girl imitating breastfeeding is nothing new.  Children role-play all of the time.  I remember pretending to breastfeed as a child and I don't remember ever seeing anyone breastfeed, although I must've seen someone along the way because I knew to put a blanket over my baby while it ate.  I'm guessing at some point I asked my mother what breasts were for and she told me feeding your children. 

I had a few dolls growing up, and some of the fancy ones had bottles.  So what did I do?  Sometimes I fed my 'babies' with a bottle, sometimes I breastfed them.  It was nothing weird or sexual. 

It may surprise you to hear that I most likely wouldn't buy this toy for my daughter.  I probably wouldn't because of the price.  She can play with other dolls and I'll buy her a pack of flower stickers if she wants. :-)

As my daughter grows up, I hope she pretends to breastfeed her dolls, bottle feed, spoon feed and have tea parties with them.  I also hope she pretends to change their dirty diapers, get them dressed and has pretend conversations with them.  I may be off, but I'm pretty sure 99% of girls do things along these lines at some point in the childhood.

But then again, it MUST BE because of all this role-playing with dolls, as young children, that we have such a pandemic with teen pregnancy, so maybe I don't want my daughter pretending to feed her dolls at all.

What do you think?  Has this doll crossed the lines?  Would you let your daughter have one?