There are dolls that crawl, talk, drink their bottle, burp and wet their nappy. There are also 'older' styled dolls, some of whom have boyfriends, some that can be dressed up to go clubbing and even have tattoos. And now, there is a breastfeeding doll, that makes suckling sounds - and it's causing quite a stir. Its detractors accuse it of sexualising little girls, its champions accuse its detractors of being prudish.
Manufacturer of the doll, Berjuan Toys, is finding it hard to find retailers who will put the $90 (€70) doll on their shelves, and not helped when the likes of Bill O'Reilly from Fox News remarks: 'I just want the kids to be kids, and this kind of stuff. We don't need this.'
Dennis Lewis (Berjuan Toys representative) says it's not clear what is meant when O'Reilly says 'we don't need this', he said he couldn't understand the controversy with the range of sexualised Barbie and Bratz dolls on the market, adding: 'You mention breast and people automatically start thinking Janet Jackson or wardrobe malfunctions and all sorts of things that have absolutely nothing to do with breastfeeding.'
But the toy manufactureer is still having difficulty getting the toy to market, a year after it's release, and even the toys that have made it into retailers are being sold at half price. So ... is it the price or the controversy? Or is the breastfeeding doll a step beyond what they want to see their little ones doding at play? One of its champions, and author of The Complete Book of Breastfeeding, Sally Wendkos Olds, rather likes it and said: 'I think it's a very cute toy,' and added, 'I think it's just crazy what Bill O'Reilly was saying that it's sexualizing little girls. The whole point is that so many people in our society persist in sexualizing breastfeeding, where in so many other countries around the world they don't think anything of it.'
And so the battle continues. And as Christmas lists are being compiled I ask you - is there a place for this doll on the market and in our kids' toy box? Or is there a line that we just don't need to cross? After all, why would a child need to know how to breastfeed a baby? On the other hand, don't little girls tend to imitate their mums anyway? So why would this be a step too far?
What do you think ... is it all just a storm in a D-cup ...?
[submitted by a MummyPages Mum]
