Creepy or totally natural?

hi wendaline,i showed this to my wife,and she felt disgusted by it,why?because no little girls suppose to think that this is ok to do when shes young.this breastfeeding doll is not right,because a grown women can do it,it doesn't mean a child should do it.there a lot of child pedephals out there.i know its natural for a women,but not a child.look at aran,they marry 5 year old to 50 year old,were teaching kids to imitate a 20 to 45 year old women who has full developed breasts that can feed a newborn,a little girl does not have developed breasts to feed a child because she herself is a child.

Hmmm, I'll play devil's advocate here for a second. Let me start first off by saying that I wouldn't allow something like that in my home. One reason is that I've got only boys, but I don't think I'd want a daughter to have it either. That said, time to advocate for the devil...

It's a commercial product and a children's toy. As a mercantile item, no one is foisting it upon anyone...in fact, if children and parents don't want it and it doesn't do so well they'll just pull it from the shelves. Let's keep that in mind...though possibly detrimental, it's not illegal (though I realize that was not the question). Much like alcohol, McDonald's, and children's pageant shows. And as a children's toy it reinforces gender roles about as much as tea sets, rubber swords, plastic spears, cap guns, tool sets, and little baking ovens. Are we advocating violence when we buy our boys ninja turtles or a nerf gun? How about the gender lessons we teach with a princess crown or Barbie's dream house? Let's reinforce the gender role differences we like, but not the ones we don't, eh? Be careful there, it's a slippery slope to a double standard.

Yes, I think one could make the argument that it sexualizes children...but those who would sexualize children in the first place wouldn't need an electronic doll to push them into it. Breast-feeding IS a perfectly natural thing for adult women...my wife did/does it. Our friends do it. If I was uncomfortable with it any point, I'm not now. I bring this up because I think me prior to experience with it would be more uncomfortable seeing a child do it. Now, less so.

Is it creepy? In the right conditions, you betcha. I think the pooping and wetting dolls are just as bad on the creepiness scale, though. Like any toy meant to teach kids things, I think it's important to talk about them and help them understand what it is they're doing and what it means. Will 95% of the lesson fall on deaf ears? Probably...but they'll still want to do what mom is doing when they see her nurse, or dad when he throws a football.

Alright, my client's time is up. No longer the devil's advocate.

Do I think something like that should be outlawed? Nah. But you'll never see it in my home. If you want to foster a nurturing spirit in a child, I don't think you need a batter-powered sucking doll to do it. That's just creepy

Thanks, Reacher. I'm glad someone made that point.

Do I think it's creepy? Yes. There's something we all need to understand, though. It's often that little girls have the desire to "play mom". It's part of their genetics. That said, I think a breast-feeding doll is pushing the limits. Taking care of babies is one thing, but little girls pretending they have large breasts? That's a bit much.

you don't need large breasts to breastfeed.

Just a thought...

This doll could be a learning tool for teen pregnancy programs and the like. In these times of sexual promiscuity, we have to realize that teaching our children, instead of shielding or over protecting them, would give them the knowledge they need to refrain from placing themselves in the need for breastfeeding in their teens, or teach them the right way of taking care of an infant should they have one.

Youth will do thing just because it is taboo or rebellious. For reference, see your own teen year memories.


I agree with Reacher's post.

Breast feeding itself is in no way creepy...the christian morality makes it taboo because of the sexual emphasis men place on breasts...think back a few hundred years ago when young girls were cranking out babies at 12-13 years old...children learn from mimicry this doll is just a mimicry tool...i'd rather they learn with a doll than a real baby...but it should not be pushed on them either....by far the most important educational tool we have should be the parents themselves...unfortunately due to a combination of laws and laziness most parents expect society to raise and educate their kids instead of doing the job themselves...

because of the sexual emphasis men place on breasts

typed "when did breasts" in google, which immediately suggested "become sexualized".
Men's breasts are not less sexual than women's but aren't as taboo. Girls who have a crush on you will touch a guy's chest (happened to me loads of times), but a guy would have to think very carefuly about that to a woman. Mostly because the woman would complain. Which means I think your assertion is incorrect: women sexualize women's breats. Then good ole' "want what you dont have" thing kicks in a female breasts become more desirable.

Stupid stuff like this results in retardation of certain cultural aspects. cleavage is OK, but nipples are not in american society. Or look at japanese society. knickers have become more desirable than what's behind them ?

It has been suggested female breasts became the new "butt" as humans started walking upright, explaining why women's breasts are always large (unlike other mammals) This may be partially true as throughout the ages we can see large women were percieved to be better at producing healthy quantities of offspring. It may be large breasts were seen as producing higher quality/quantity milk. not so long ago they'd advise pregnant women to drink beer (as beer makes breasts grow).

Wendaline wrote: Wow, I'm surprised how understanding this community is when it comes to other taboos, but you're offended by this???

Children play to learn. There is nothing gross or wrong about breast feeding. How do you think babies survived and ate back in the day? And nipples aren't icky taboo either. Both sexes have them. Get over it.

I don't see where people expressly say they are offended by this

I think that tree is creepy but it doesn't 'offend' me. I think the doll is quite creepy (especially for very young girls) but it doesn't 'offend' me

I completely agree with Reacher to be honest

But I like hat Phortis brought up in regards to it being a 'learning tool' for potential mothers. I could imagine something like this being used in some kind of 'mothering class' to help first time mothers get used to the idea of breast feeding

I don't have anything against breastfeeding. I've had a woman do it in front of me at a restaurant and I never minded

I really don't get the "learning tool" thing actually. place baby's mouth over nipple, baby sucks.

Now for those of you who don't know, newborn babies know their stuff well. I put my finger in my son's mouth once... It hurt. a lot.

the only "learning" that's needed is for inverted or small nipples. but that involves neither baby or doll.

I find it to be creepy, not because of breast feeding (which is perfectly normal for an adult) but because it promotes breast feeding to children. A girl young enough to be playing with dolls shouldn't need to have a "teaching tool" like this. By the time a woman is of age to worry about such things there are books, parenting classes, support groups and probably friends and family who could instruct a new mother.

And before anyone says it could be used to help train an adult mother, I refer you to the picture of the little girl holding the doll. I think it's clear who it is marketed to.