Are Online Play Dolls Appropriate for Young Girls?

Recently, there has been an explosion of websites designed for young girls where they can create "Online Play Dolls" These virtual toys are designed to replace the old practice of cutting out and designing paper dolls. However, some worry that these virtual dolls come with a higher risk: the world of Internet predators and the loss of innocence.

Online play dolls, are quite simply animated dolls that can be virtually dressed and groomed by an Internet user. There are many sites that offer this and they are often free. A user starts with a doll base, which is often a woman dressed in underwear, than by the clicking and dragging the mouse over clothing items on the website you can customize and create a whole world of virtual dolls! You can even compete in online beauty pageants and win prizes for having the prettiest dolls.

Fun right? Well, some opponents believe that this practice of beauty pageants is not healthy for young girls' self-esteem. They argue that in a world filled with pictures of overly skinny women that creating online dolls is only reinforcing that beauty is the only thing that is important. Opponents also believe that the virtual world of online dolls is taking over the world of delicate, gentle, baby looking dolls and replacing it with an image of a plastic-looking woman. Some argue that this is what is leading to the rise in eating disorders, low self-esteem, and competition among young girls'.

Some opponents also believe the world of online play dolls is opening up the door for online sexual predators to target young girls. The users are spending hours on these websites and therefore, replacing traditional friends with their online friends on the doll making website. Well, the risk for many of these online friends to be sexual predators is there. Anyone can join these sites, and anyone can be interacting with young users on the site. Some opponents will even go as far as to ask for these sites to be banned to children under the age of thirteen!