My five-year-old son has this awful Bratz doll that he loves to play with. She has long red hair, pert boobs and a great bottom. Oh, and somewhere along the line she lost all her clothes. As an added bonus, she has blue pen all over her face which makes her look like she has some kind of terrrible disease.
Yesterday, my son insisted on bringing her to the beach. He had a great time covering her with sand, using her as a kind of car to drive around, submerging her in the sea and swinging her around by her hair. Normally, I wouldn't bat an eyelid at these antics - he's five, he's playing, using his imagination etc etc. BUT... But we were sitting next to a Muslim family.
The women and girls were covered from head to toe and they swam in the sea fully clothed. I got rather annoyed with myself because I couldn't help wondering what they thought of my son playing with a naked doll. I shouldn't have cared what they thought, but I did. I mean, we're all naked under our clothes, the doll is just a piece of plastic and we live in a free country, so why should I care?
And then I wondered if I'd have felt any easier if it was my five-year-old daughter playing with the doll rather than my son.
Probably not.
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| Here she is in all her glory :-) |
