I’m pissed.

And here’s my rant.

My daughter stands in front of the mirror and sucks in her stomach to make it look flatter. She then breaks into a dance move involving some serious pouting and hip shaking.

She’s just five.

Out shopping, she picks shiny sequinned high heels while I scout for anti-skid sturdy strap on shoes.

She wants a midriff baring lycra halter neck, while I shortlist sensible cotton T shirts.

She wants a Barbie, while I ask for a Jigsaw puzzle.

My husband & I don’t watch TV.

MTV and FTV are restricted to late night way past my kid’s bed time.

We don’t discuss or glorify body images.

Fat vs. thin conversations are avoided.

Bollywood movies are seldom watched.

We have never bought her a Barbie doll.

[And now I vow to throw out the ones she owns thanks to her doting aunts, who think Barbie Dolls make perfect gifts]

It baffles me how my daughter manages to absorb such influences from her peers and Pogo.

What pisses me further is the way the market is loaded with stuff which sexualises children.

Why Barbie? Why not simple rag dolls? Why not flat-chested, normally proportioned baby dolls?

Why mid riff baring backless halter necked tops with ‘sexy’ emblazoned across the chest?

Why two piece swimsuits for under 10s?

Why advertisements with a boy of eight gazing lovingly at his curvaceous teacher?

This can actually feed paedophillia.

Delhi has seen over half a dozen shameful cases in just two months, where victims have been under five.

As for being too body conscious, it doesn't end their own reflections in the mirror.

I was disturbed to hear a 10 year old boy asking his mother to forgo the extra chapatti in her plate. He was seriously concerned that his mother would put on weight. He also regularly monitors her wardrobe, weeding out the suits and sarees. And this, while the lady in question is an attractive, active career woman in late 30s.

While another kid, a 12 year old daughter of a friend calls her mother a ‘baby elephant’ each time she wears jeans because she happens to have a typically Indian generous frame. Trust me, she’s NOT obscenely heavy hipped! But her daughter probably has the 'TV moms' in mind...

So where are we headed?

How do explain what ‘sexy’ means to a five year old?

Is it okay for a little girl to wear a tee that resembles a bikini top?

Why can’t there be a Barbie with brown skin, black hair and generous hips?

Can't Pogo/Cartoon Network do without airing programmes that feature boy meets girl plots?

Phew

Ok, I’m done hyperventilating …

Still cheesed but feeling better,

Dee