A video that was meant to be just a cute moment of play resulted in a fierce debate among Marjorie Harvey fans Monday. The wife of comedian Steve Harvey uploaded a clip of her granddaughters pretending to breastfeed their baby dolls, and controversy ensued.
“Rose and Elle breastfeeding dolls 😂😂😭” the 54-year-old captioned the video, seemingly finding it humorous.
A woman off camera asks the girls what they’re doing, and Rose replied, “Feeding our babies.” Elle said, “From our boobies,” which her cousin echoed.
Several fans found the moment adorable.
“This is so cute!! 😍😍”
“Aww I love it! Little girls learning life lessons and breastfeeding is natural! I breastfed and so did my youngest daughter! 😍😍”
“😍 I 💙 this!”
But others deemed it inappropriate and criticized Marjorie for posting it.
“This is the most unpleasant thing to watch a child do. You teach these things to adults not children. You are a sick grandmother you need your head examined.”
“Not cute. For little girls @marjorie_harvey.”
“@marjorie_harvey now that s– ain’t cute😱. Please let children be children and stop trying to make them into adults before their time. There is a time and place.”
“I respect family moments but this right here is a moment to teach in due time. Some things are better kept off social media.”
However, some stepped in to defend the girls’ actions.
“All the negative comments, well kids imitate what they see, not just at home but this breastfeeding is done everywhere in the public, so what do you expect. I’ve seen it in restaurants, stores, movies etc. Kids learn fast so if we do not want to see kids imitate others, let’s stop it.”
“Wow!! I just strolled down the comments and realized People are sooo BITTER and Negative! Children are just doing what they’ve seen, which is NATURAL. Seeing their mom breastfeed is Natural! Some of y’all had too much Similac 🙄. @marjorie_harvey Keep doing you love! 😘”
Regardless, similar controversy emerged a decade ago when a Spanish toymaker made a baby doll which was designed to breastfeed from a special halter top worn by young girls.
Berjuan developed the Bebe Gloton doll. It made noises mimicking nursing once brought close to the top, which had flowers where nipples would be.
Cesar Bernabeu, director of sales and marketing for Berjuan, told ABCNews.com that the company consulted psychologists and teachers when making the doll, which got the approval of the Asociacion Pro-Lacttancia Meterna de Espana, a Spanish pro-breastfeeding organization.
However, at least one psychologist in the United States felt the doll was inappropriate.
“Of course, children have played ‘parent’ with dolls for centuries, but this new twist seems to focus not on what babies are like as much as jumpstarting a focus on breastfeeding,” said Jay Reeve, CEO of the Apalachee Center in Tallahassee. “I’m always a little disturbed by toys games, or products that have the impact of accelerating childhood identification with being a full-blown adult.”
The doll had been sold on Amazon but is currently unavailable.
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