Dear Friends,
I wanted to share a story I just found on FoxNews website. The title
("Creepy Doll Let's Little Girls Practice..." was all I saw on RSS
feed) caught my eye and, being in maternal child health, I looked at it.
Much to my surprise, the "creepy doll" was one being marketed by a
Spanish toymaker for little girls to play with and pretend to
breastfeed! First observation: the doll doesn't look creepy to me and,
while I'm not wild about the accompanying garment (a halter top for the
girl to wear to pretend breastfeed which has stars over the nipple area)
and don't think a special doll is necessary for our daughters to pretend
to breastfeed, it was the comments of Dr. Manny which caused my hackles
to raise. Here is the link to the article and below it, the response I
fired off! I urge others to do the same!
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,537261,00.html
To Whom It May Concern,
I admit it. Your headline caught my eye. However, when I read the
article, the first thing that crossed my mind is, where's the "creepy
doll"? I thought it was a perfectly lovely doll, judging by the
accompanying picture. What I had a problem with was Dr. Manny's
concerns that giving such a doll to young girls might "speed up maternal
urges in the little girls who play with it". He might be very
concerned, then, over the picture I have of my now 23 year old daughter
'breastfeeding' her doll when she was three years old! In fact, little
girls all over the world see their moms breastfeed their younger
siblings and mimic the behavior in their play. This is normal, as
normal as having a tea party! In no way does it 'speed up maternal
urges' and I am incredulous and insulted to know he thinks it
inappropriate to let little girls mimic what they see their mothers,
aunts, and other adult women do when they feed their babies.
Personally, I don't think it necessary to buy a doll specifically for
this purpose, and perhaps I wouldn't get it because of the accompanying
piece of clothing, which is of questionable design, in my opinion. Any
doll can be used by little girls to pretend "mother" in whatever way
they see modeled for them, as evidenced by the fact that this doll
doesn't look different than any other doll you can buy. I appreciate
Dr. Manny's nod to the real benefits of breastfeeding but he is far from
supporting it if he believes it should be hidden from our children, who
emulate what they see the adults in their lives doing, whether we want
them to or not! During the celebration of this year's World
Breastfeeding Week August 1-7, our message should be clear that
breastfeeding needs to be supported at every level in our society. Dr.
Manny, you may be on the bandwagon, but you're missing the train, which
has already left the station!
Marsha Glass
Marsha Glass RN, IBCLC, RLC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Marsha Glass RN, BSN, IBCLC~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mothers have as powerful an influence over the welfare of future
generations as all
other earthly causes combined.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~John S. C. Abbot~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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