FUCK FUCK FUCK.

And this is one of the reasons I don't want to have kids. I don't want to have to explain to my brokenhearted child why they can't have a certain toy, because chances are a 6 year old wouldn't understand "because it reinforces gender roles that I don't want you to be indoctrinated with." How the Hell are we supposed to teach our daughters that having a child when you are young is bad when all these freaking "having a baby is the best fucking thing ever so hurry up and be a mom" toys and games are coming out.

For their information, girls can like games that aren't focused on raising a baby on designing clothes or getting Hannah Montana to succeed at the concert. When I was a kid, I played Sonic, Shining Force (really old and kickass RPG), Comix Zone, Pokemon, Flicky (this one is a little girly but not FOR girls,) Legend of Zelda, Divine Divinity (for computer,) and others. There are girls my age and older already in the market. There were no games "just for girls" when we got into them. So obviously, raising a baby is not something you need to put in games to get us to buy games. All you need to do is stop making your games so freaking sexist and male oriented. I so wish I could get into the video gaming industry, but seeing as I can't handle the sexist bullshit from my coworkers at Staples, I doubt I'd be able to function in a video game company.

/rant over

That is too cute! My son would love that. He's a little obsessed with babies right now.

I dunno - while I question the pink-orific! packaging, I think this could be as useful as the Baby Think It Over doll. I'm kind of on the fence about seeing this toy as a training device as opposed to a cool baby doll. Perhaps, by packaging the toy as they did, Apple missed the opportunity to raise curiosity in boys about how a baby might function or the care involved.

I think it's important to recognize that having SOME toys/games like this is not a problem and is actually a good thing. It gives parents and children of both genders more options. Both boys and girls do like this sort of thing so I no issue with the actual product itself.

I'm a little grossed out by the pink though and the fact it seems to be marketed only to girls. Still, as long as these aren't the ONLY games available or ONLY games marketed to girls (which definitely they aren't) then I don't see any problem with having a product like this available. No one says you have to buy it but those who do want it now have the option to.

i think that this is more about the fact that this "game" is about "bringing your baby to life," which is moving away from the simple fact that children have incredible imaginations and have the power to create fantastic stories, etc, with any kind of inanimate object. i see this wii baby as telling children that their own stories aren't good enough.

having a doll/baby as a little child does not necessarily mean that you are going to get right out there and get pregnant at 15- that's a really simplistic way of looking at it. dolls, and other toys, have the potential to teach children roles and responsibilities, and feel that they can care for something that they love- these are really important skills to have as we grow older.

i agree that it is a tricky time to have children for the very fact that the marketing into children's products and toys are so intense. but i also hold hope that it is possible to raise kids who aren't fixated on pink wii and other "screen time" games. i've got to hope.

my first reaction: my jaw dropped. my second reaction: what are the features of the baby doll? why is it a white baby? and why the HELL would they put the remote inside the doll?

personally, i'm intrigued by this toy because it's at the very end of the spectrum of wii games. for me it's super smash bros:brawl vs. this baby doll game.

this may be the cynic in me but will there be a teen pregnancy game where the girls have to decide if they want an abortion, adoption or to keep the baby.

You know what could be really cool though? If this enabled a baby doll to be "fed" by nursing, rather than all the dolls I had as a kid who came with a bottle.

(not to say this isn't fucked up and a stupid way to market video games to girls, but with a few key modifications, this could be not entirely stupid)

I thought this was 2009!!!!

This is why I hate the Wii. At least the PS3 and 360 don't try to cater to women and girls with these just plain stupid and stereotypical games (granted they don't try to cater to us at all, but I think I would prefer being forgotten over having this drivel shoved in my face all the time). Girls can play, hell, even WANT to play games with blood and gore and violence just like all those little boys do. Hey Nintendo, why don't you take your head out of your ass and try that for a change? I swear if I see another one of those damn Imagine Babyz or Imagine Fashion Designerz or Imagine Stay At Home Momz I will just barf. I know Nintendo is all about games for the kids and casual games (which are not to my taste in the least) but it just rubs me the wrong way when they obviously make games that are either for boys or girls. It just sends the wrong message, the girls only wanna play cutesy games and boys only want to play games with big trucks and soldiers. Not much of a difference from regular toys where girls get the easy bake oven and boys get the creepy crawler oven. Instead of being so binary with the genders how about they make/encourage more games like DeBlob. Now there was a game where you were an awesome color rebel and got help from all sorts of other blobs. No princess to rescue, no babyz to take care of, none of that. It was very gender neutral all about fighting evil colorless corporations and I really loved it. Or Chibi Robo where you played an awesome robot who did chores and saved the family. You were a badass maid robot (the robot wasn't portrayed as any specific sex either, you were just a plain old robot), how cool is that?

But no, let's go ahead and turn up the pink color for anything made for girls. This is a much better idea, right? -_-

I'm getting tired of seeing girls' toys being one of the following:

1. A cottage, usually a kitchen area where you know, the woman should be.

2. A baby, which is like 90% of toys marketed for girls. Early training!

3. Some sort of Barbie doll or shallow as shit toy having to do with fashion.

How come guys get the cool toys and we get stuck with shit? I know that girls like imagining, but from the beginning we're told what to like and what not to like. As a little girl my favorite toy was a noise-making t-rex and race cars, and I was looked at strangely for liking that stuff.
Maybe we should stop labeling girls who like sports or "male" things as tomboys, and just as a girl that likes what she likes?

This toy is appalling for promoting the idea that only little girls can nurture and provide care, and for implying that they have few other options in life.

I read with interest those comments that compared girls' experience to boys'. I would like to point out that boys are pigeonholed by their gender just as much as girls.

Do you know what percentage of shoot-em-up, let's go to war and fight the bad guys toys are marketed to boys? About 100%. What is the message boys get? Anger is good, violence is the way to solve problems and if you don't agree, you're a pansy-ass.

Although toy marketers may not agree, girls have the freedom to play with those kinds of toys if they choose to. On the flip side, what would happen to a boy who told his friends he liked Hannah Montana or wanted to learn how to knit? He’d be laughed out of the schoolyard.

I'm not saying girls have it easy - far from it. But when it comes to boys and gender stereotyping, they suffer just as much. Girls are told by marketers that the ideal for their sex is a hyper-feminine, appearance-obsessed homemaker, but for boys the ideal is just as bad: a stoic, emotionally detached alpha-male who lives for noisy machines and weapons.

Bottom line? Keep your kids away from TV and its stereotyped advertising, and encourage them to follow their interests and be their own person, regardless of the narrow-mindedness of many in our society.

To the Young Women Above:
By all means, have a family if that is your desire. I wouldn't let media stereotypes and the potential harm they might have on your future family keep you from enjoying the blessings of motherhood. And having traveled the world, I assure you the opportunity to raise children in America is a second blessing.
Instead, I encourage you to have a family...maybe one like mine - made up of a 3.5yr old girl obsessed with spiders and dinosaurs, and a 1.5yr old boy who loves dancing and cooking. My little girl doesn't want a babydoll or makeup, she wants a pet bat.

Just like racism and sexism, media literacy is a choice a family makes to confront and educate themselves on. My children don't watch tv channels that run commercials, and they live in fairly gender-neutral household. They see me use tools and my husband do the dishes.

You have control over what products enter your home. The games mentioned above would not have a place in my home. Seek out companies that give girls (and boys) better, stereotype-free products to enjoy childhood with...

....as I type this my son is playing with my daughter's dollhouse....

Melissa Wardy
pigtailpals.com

So this is where my headache ran off to after class...

I am so freaking frustrated with game companies and their ideas for 'girl' games. C'mon, developers, you can do better than this.

I really don't know what the big deal is. If your little girl doesn't want to have a baby doll, don't get her one. As a kid, I played with dolls, but I did puzzles and played doctor and played vet too. It had nothing to do with what 'gender roles' are being pushed on me, it's something I liked to do just like a lot of other little girls. My baby doll had a bottle and when you fed her she peed and you change the diaper. I actually ASKED my mother to get it for me. When I wanted a TMNT puzzle, she got me that for my birthday too. I don't think we should make it this difficult. Every kid has a preference, just let them have one and don't make a big deal out of what kids enjoy.
Again I don't see what the big deal is..I know a lot of little girls that would find this fun, "video game" or no.

VG Cats had something to say on a similar topic, regarding the game Cooking Mama: A Humble Suggestions.

A few points that I would like to make:

1. I really miss those good old days when we "girl gamers" were ignored. It's better than the crap that they now market to us. Give me the Tetris, Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Duck Hunt that I grew up with please.

2. The game monitors feeding, playing, and "excessive shaking motions". This gave me the giggles. What do they do? If the little girl throws her dolly to the floor in anger or frustration, does the tracking monitors send cops to her house to explain child abuse laws and arrest her?

3. I love what they called a possible sequel to the game: Child Protective Services and Me. Maybe that is the answer to my last point.

4. Why is it all pinkified? Mommys have boy babies too. And
society tends to frown upon dressing boys in "girly" clothes.

Really, this is too much. Nintendo has gone too far.