In her day, Mattel's busty Barbie courted her fair share of controversy. Now there's another doll taking the toy store shelves by storm: Breast Milk Baby.
When it comes to dolls, girls have always been into what is authentic. Once upon a time I remember intensely coveting a doll marketed as a 'real' baby.
Breast Milk Baby takes life-like one step further; it comes complete with a halter top which little girls (or boys) can wear, with two flowers which can be 'milked'.
As the doll’s mouth is put to the flowers, it makes a sucking sound, as if it is drinking. Then it apparently cries until burped.
The doll is available in Europe, and was scheduled to make its official appearance at a recent trade show in Las Vegas.
Already BMB has garnered a lot of press, with Fox News host, Bill O’Reilly, declaring the doll "inappropriate". Of course there are dedicated 'for' and 'against' pages on Facebook (the 'for' page currently has more supporters).
Since many dolls come with bottles for simulated feeding, are we inadvertently sending children the message that bottle feeding is preferable to the breast?
Though professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Charles Nelson, thinks the question is a legitimate one, he doubts very much the doll will sway kids in either direction.
In a paper published last year in the journal Sex Roles, psychologists studied girls ages 6 to 10. Those who played with thin dolls like Barbie tended to eat less than those who'd played with average-size dolls.
Although the World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby's life, statistically, breastfeeding numbers remain low in the States. According to a survey done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year, while three out of four mothers breastfed their babies at birth, only 33 per cent exclusively did so at three months, and 13.3 per cent at six months.
Breastfeeding remains a complex issue, and it's questionable what, if any, impact BMB will have on a girl's decision to nurse when she grows up and has her own family.
How would you react seeing a baby 'breastfeed' her doll? Adorable or inappropriate?
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