[Kobi]

There has been so much shared here that makes sense to me.

Gender focused toys do give kids messages and reinforce gender roles. For some kids, this is a good thing. It fits who they are and that is a terrific thing.

For other kids, this type of marketing and messaging can be confusing and incongruent to who they perceive themselves to be. I was one of those kids, so this hits home.

As a female, I rarely enjoyed those things I was supposed to enjoy as a kid. I had a different vision of who I was and who I could be as a female. I was born to be an aunt, not a mother. Progressive thinking for the 50's but not well received.

I also understand the discussions about breast feeding by adult woman. There are many trains of thought as to what is healthiest for the child, what promoting one method of nutrition over the other does to those who cant or do not wish to breastfeed, breastfeeding as a political statement of a womans right to use her body as she wishes etc.

I even understand the different sides of adult breastfeeding as a private or public thing. For some, it is a natural thing. For others it makes them uncomfortable. Goods arguments on both sides of the coin as far as I can see.

I also understand some cultures having the tendency to sexualize, sensualize things and other cultures do not. This can pose a bit of a problem when folks are confronted with cultural things different from their own.

I even understand a parents right to post pictures on the internet as a way to share special moments with relatives and friends. Makes perfect sense to me.

I know all to well that there are persons in our society for whom children and the innocent behavior of children is an erotic experience. For these persons, photos of children just being children, doing children things is a sexual experience. So, what might a picture of a 4 year old girl simulating breastfeeding mean to someone like this? Is it somehow less disturbing to not know who might be fetishizing your child?

I think my difficulty here is trying to reconcile how a parent who normally protects the heck out of their kid, wont let them go into the yard alone, wont leave them with a babysitter or in daycare, will protest when a sex offender moves into the neighborhood, is hypervigilant to anything that might indicate their child might be in danger of some sort, throws caution to the wind when it comes to the internet.

I really just do not get this. Is it refusing to live ones life in fear 24/7 as a potential victim of others? Is it a computer screen giving one a false sense of security, much like a car can do the same thing? Is it ....????????