The Grinch who stole innocence

Did our little darlings really need to receive hyper sexualised dolls for Christmas? Despite a refreshing increase in the sales of more educational toys such as board games and keyboards, Bratz dolls were still in the top 10 best seller list this year. Thanks to Santa there are now plenty of “Ho Ho Ho’s” sitting in playrooms just waiting to show our young girls that hot, thin, sexy - and completely useless - is way cool.

Look at the line up that toy shops promoted in the lead up to this Christmas.

Even good old Barbie who has previously been packaged as a teacher, astronaut and even as a US presidential candidate, is now doused in glitter, micro mini skirts and been given the obligatory party girl accessories.

“Bling, Bling, Bikini Barbie” comes with bikini, stilettos, thick make up, optional “Bling, Bling Spa” and a Pina Colada accessory.

“Sweet Love” Bratz wears fishnet stockings with the words “Baby Girl” on her midriff top. Another Bratz has detachable “Attitude Arms” which can be clipped on to her hips. What fun!

And oh the lucky little girl who received “Talking Bratz” under the Christmas tree. She is a ghetto girl - all bling, furs, cleavage and pout. She asks girls if they have their own bedroom in a voice which sounds like it comes straight from a 0055 phone sex ad.

“Head Bobs and Spins Bratz” looks like something you’d find on a pimp’s dashboard. Her role in life is to lie on a bed in her undies under a spinning disco light as her head wobbles.

While the boy dolls stuffed into stockings look active, powerful and in control the girl dolls focus only on their stockings.

Maybe the mini baby Bratz mechanic doll is different? Maybe she’s meant to empower girls by suggesting there’s more to life than preening yourself? But why is she only wearing lingerie?

What type of mechanic works like that?

The new dolls on the block, the ultra expensive “Lollipop Girls”, may not look like they’re owned by pimps but they are hardly offering empowered role models either. Described as “long, lean, young, sassy and impossibly beautiful”, their marketing material boasts they combine “youthful innocence with grown-up confidence and attitude.” At their recent Australian launch, little girls were treated to mock cocktails.

Why must we combine childhood with the adult world of fishnets, booze and “grown up confidence and attitude”? This is an incredibly dangerous combination.

Research shows a link between the premature sexualisation of our children and serious mental health problems like eating disorders and depression. We know too that drinking excessively has become a huge issue for teenage girls - recent surveys commissioned by Wesley Mission show that half say they drink alcohol, with one in five confessing to having done something they regret while they were drunk.

It would be too simplistic to argue that it is the dolls alone that are damaging our daughters, yet surely when we buy a plastic Paris Wannabe we are buying into an insidious trend to steal the innocence of childhood away. If it is OK to buy a lingerie clad Baby Bratz reclining on a revolving bed under a disco light - just what exactly is off limits?

Parents must start to say enough. At present, the silence is deafening.

Parents must also be particularly inventive in seeking ways in which they can offer their daughters engaging alternatives.

A friend’s daughter was given a Lollipop Doll just before Christmas - and, as is so often the case - this was despite Mum trying to set limits and asking friends and relatives to stay away from Barbie and Bratz.

The little girl was confused when faced with this cross between Britney and a preschooler: "I don't understand why she has a little kid's face on a lady's body. Look, she has lady's breasts," she said to her mother.

The clever child, believing girls should be more than useless decorative objects, asked mum to turn the doll into a nurse. Which her clever Mum did, complete with university nursing degree (with red ribbon, in her pocket) and stethoscope.

So far, the new look nurse doll has saved the life of a large toy hippo.

Maybe she’ll be able to do something about all the Generation Bratz girls who will start the New Year riddled with eating disorders and depression because they think they’re not hot enough.