海角大神

Do you object to sexy Halloween costumes for little girls?

When you compare the 鈥淟ittle Leopard鈥� costume for young girls to the adult 鈥淪exy Leopard鈥� costumes, do you cringe?

When you see children鈥檚 classic Disney Princess costumes placed literally steps away from Sexy Disney Princess costumes, are you outraged?

When confronted with Monster High costumes for girls ages 4 to 14, are you appalled because they are far too sexy for our children?

Then I鈥檇 like to point something out: You should object to the sexualized aesthetic of girls鈥� dolls, too.

Here鈥檚 what I鈥檓 thinking.聽The internet is full of objections to sexy Halloween costumes for little girls. Just a few weeks ago, Walmart鈥檚 鈥淣aughty Leopard鈥� costume generated so much outrage that the retailer was forced to聽聽from shelves 鈥� and rightfully so.

But when critics call out dolls like聽,听,, and聽聽for being聽聽for girls, people rush to defend them. Sexy dolls for little girls are so common, so聽ubiquitous,听folks can鈥檛 see them clearly anymore.

They say: 鈥淪top reading so much into it! Girls see these dolls as cute and fun. It鈥檚 just fantasy. If you think these dolls are 鈥榮exy,鈥� then wow 鈥撀�测辞耻鈥檙别聽the one with the problem. Get over it.鈥�

I should know: As a children鈥檚 culture critic, I鈥檓 on the receiving end of these comments all the time.

But these dolls? They are dressed in outfits聽exactly聽like the sexy Halloween costumes. There is no difference between what popular fashion dolls wear and the little girls鈥� Halloween costumes that everyone objects to.

If anything, the dolls are even worse.

What鈥檚 going on, then? Why do we object to the Halloween costumes and not the dolls?

When we actually see these tawdry outfits聽on our children, we are horrified. We have become desensitized to聽dolls聽for four-year-olds that look like prostitutes, but when real children wear the same get-ups, the scales fall from our eyes. Suddenly, we can see the unvarnished truth about children鈥檚 culture, and it is awful.

So I鈥檇 like to suggest a new litmus test for girls鈥� dolls. Would you want to see your daughter, niece, or granddaughter in a Halloween costume based on the doll鈥檚 attire? No? Then harness that insight. See the doll for what it is: A sexualized item with no business in a child鈥檚 toy box. Just say no to sexy Halloween costumes 鈥� and say no to sexy fashion dolls, too.

海角大神 has assembled a diverse group of the best family and parenting bloggers out there. Our contributing and guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor, and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. Rebecca Hains blogs at聽