Dolled Up

This weekend, my daughter had her 7-yr. birthday party. She invited several friends from grade 2 and everybody had a great time; chaos and noise ensued! My wife is a master at planning these things and organizing a variety of events, all carefully timed and planned so as to keep the kids constantly active and entertained. She's very good at it, and every year, Rebekah wants mom to do the 'pop demonstration' where Pam makes pop, using vast quantities of dry ice and causing ice cream buckets to explode all over the place. It's great fun and should Pam ever need a side-line job to being a teacher, I'm sure she could entertain multitudes with her 'pop' demo!
When it came time for the presents to be opened (Rebekah's favorite part!) all was going well, and at one point, she opened a present that was a 'my scene barbie' doll. Now, for the masses who are not up to speed on the latest in children's 'doll' fashion, allow me to bring you up to speed: Many dolls these days are marketed at a 'Toys R Us' near you, looking like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, or perhaps a very slightly more covered up version of the Pussycat Dolls or Britney Spears.
My friend Eric was at the party, with his daughter Elisha, and he and Pam had some awesome commentary! Here's Pam's version of the comments:
"Oh look it's 'Hootchie' and you call also collect her friends 'Skank' and 'Ho'." To which Eric replied "You can also get 'My Pimp Ken' and the whole collection of 'Johns'."
Now before you all write me off as a hopeless uptight conservative, let me say this: I hope that my daughter will NEVER dress like some of these dolls that are being marketed to her to play with. I think you could shoot off my toes one at a time, and I'd still say NO! Don't get me wrong: I'm not wanting Rebekah to dress like Anne of Green Gables or like the girls on Little House on the Prairie, but let's be honest: there are limits!
Recently there was a news report, that looked at the trend in young girls fashions toward 'sexualizing' girls at an earlier and earlier age. I didn't get a chance to see the whole thing, but I wonder if they looked at the fact that such images and impact are included even in the dolls that kids play with?
Years ago a friend of mine commented that when you see a picture on a magazine or tabloid cover or anywhere else, of a young woman looking overly sexualized, you need to remember, "that's somebody's daughter". That comment has always stuck in my brain, and now that I have a little girl of my own, it has even more meaning.