Toying With Baby Care

Know what I like to think about after a long day of library orientation classes and exciting catalog intrigue?*

Toys!

Sociological Images is not the first place I've heard of this 'breast-feeding' doll, but it's the one I've looked at today. And I have to say that even after having heard of it a few times, I honestly do not get what the big deal is.

The doll comes with a sort of halter top that you ('you' probably = 'female child' here) put on, and it has flowery decorations on it that abstractly (very abstractly) symbolize nipples, and you place the doll's mouth against the flower decorations and pretend-nurse it, and based on the pictures it maybe makes suckling sounds. (Irrelevant but related: the picture of the box this doll comes in renders the suckling sounds as "chup chup chup," which for some reason strikes me as almost unbearably cute. "Chup chup!" Isn't that a perfect representation of nursing baby noises? I mean, when they're not slurping and grunting and whuffling like starving piglets. Babies are not exactly dainty eaters.)

Anyway, apparently some people are very disturbed by this.

I dunno, I grew up with people who nursed babies, so when I was a kid and played "babies" with my dolls I always pretended to nurse them, because that's what one did with babies based on the models I saw around me. I didn't have an elaborate garment or sound effects, but come on, when you're a kid you play at being a grown-up. Grown-ups with babies nurse babies.

Why is it any concern to anybody if this doll acknowledges this?

But it seems some people don't think little girls should pretend to nurse baby dolls because...I dunno...it makes you think that they're imagining they have breasts? And that's only OK if they're putting on bikini tops and pretending they're sex symbols?

You know, we live in a weird culture.

*It turns out that for years we've been employing a forbidden symbol to designate items as 'electronic books' in our OPAC! Will our heroes escape unscathed, or will there be horrifying consequences for this heedless error? Tune in later** for the continuation of this epic drama!

**Or possibly never, depending on if I ever remember to post a follow-up.