Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Day 11 – A picture of something you hate

Okay, there are a lot of things that I hate (mushrooms, gravity, the show "Two and a Half Men"), but I thought I would choose something that I find far more disturbing than most anything else. That is the "Bebe Gloton", which is a doll created by a Spanish toy company. What is so disturbing about a doll? Well this doll is made to teach little girls how to breastfeed. That's right, breastfeed. It even comes with a bra-like halter top, for the little girl to wear, featuring symbolic flowers where the "baby" latches on and emits suckling sounds.
The bizarre electronic creation, which was designed by Berjuan to promote breast-feeding, has sparked outrage among some parents who have branded the toy 'inapropriate'. Posting a comment after watching a demonstration video online, one user wrote: 'This toy would never work in the U.S. because the public would sexualize the act of breastfeeding, thereby deeming it inappropriate for little girl to engage in.' Now, I do not think that breastfeeding is really a sexual act, it is a perfectly natural, wonderful part of being a mother. That said, little girls not be focusing on something so far removed from their reality. There are enough gender stereotypes and socialization happening already. When I have  a child, I want her playing outside, using her imagination, focusing on school, friends, and BEING A CHILD, not pretending breastfeed. If a girl grows up and decides to be a mother, that's great, but I feel like this toy is just meant to condition little girls to believe that their sole purpose in the world is to be a baby factory. It's just wrong.

4 comments:

  1. YES!!! I am part of the Baby Center Community and someone posted this! Disturbing doesn't cover what this "doll" is. I'm not against breast feeding and if my daughter is curious about it later in life I will talk to her about it but this doll is creepy!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. There's another foreign doll that I saw of a male doll with an actual "weewee" that sticks up and pees....

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Katie, I totally agree. I just couldn't believe it, at first I thought it was a joke!

    @Brandy Oh good lord. Seriously? I am beginning to wonder about these toy companies, seems like they are run by a bunch of crazy people.

    ReplyDelete
  4. GAG! I want my girls to be girls of course, but I want them to be a child first like you said.

    I loved being able to breast feed Elijah when he was born, but sometimes it just doesn't work out for Mommy-Baby combo. I got an incredible amount of disapproval for only breast feeding 2 months... even being called "not a real mother". I was really thankful that my own Mom (who breast feed all five of her kids for 2 years each) told me that bottle feed babies are just as healthy and loved.

    Just because you breastfeed does not mean your tits spray liquid gold.

    Getting off my soap box now...

    ReplyDelete