I can’t brain today, and have to go downtown, so this is what you get!
This story, from Metro.co.uk, is pretty funny, and I’m not quite sure why this mother is shocked. Click on the screenshot:
An excerpt and some photos from the piece:
Tanya Husnu, 33, was shocked after her daughter Aylah, three, ran up to her and asked her about the ‘willy’ on the doll.
She had bought it from a Kmart store in Melbourne, Australia, for her son Hakan, four, who then showed it to his sister and twin brother Osman.
Mum-of-five Mrs Husnu immediately looked at the toy and discovered it did indeed have a depiction of male genitalia hidden under the tail.
The other two toys she bought on February 8 for Osman and Aylah did not have the same. Mrs Husnu, a professional blogger from Melton, said: ‘We were planning a trip to the zoo and I thought it would be really great if the kids could take some animal toys with them on the day.
Here they are with their animals: an elephant, a hippo, and a male lion. We don’t know the genders of the first two, but that lion is either a biological male or a trangender male who’s had hormones and surgery, for it has a mane (and a willy).
There’s more!
‘We went into Kmart and my three youngest picked out their own toys. They were all really happy with them.
‘Then one of the twins turned the lion around, and my daughter yelled out ‘look mum, the lion’s got a willy’ and they all started laughing.
‘I thought it was really inappropriate. In this day and age, it’s not acceptable to have things like that on children’s toys. ‘I buy a lot of toys, and my house is full of toys. But I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s so stupid and just plain weird.’
Yes, for we all recognize that although Barbie has breasts, neither she nor Ken have genitalia. I know of no dolls that have genitalia, nor stuffed animals, either. But I think it’s time to change that, for this lion is awesome:
Is this accurate in size and conformation? Here’s the model; you be the judge:
Another picture from the story:
To be fair to Mrs. Husnu, in the end she thought it was “hilarious,” but she remains censorious.
‘My kids thought it was hilarious though. At the zoo, they kept lifting up the tail and showing strangers walking past the lion’s bits as they walked past and yelling out “willy!”. It was so embarrassing.’
Mrs Husnu said she wanted Kmart to stop selling the toy, which was aimed at kids older than three, because she felt it parents should decide when to tell their kids about genitalia.
Fair enough, but remember this: when Grania saw this piece, she responded, “I mean, does she think people’s pets should wear nappies?”
(Note to Yanks: “Nappies” are diapers in the UK.)
It seems to me that all dolls and animal replicas should have genitals. What is gained by leaving them off? What is lost is children’s understanding of natural history, animal morphology, and sexuality. (Thank goodness there are no toy hyenas!)
Clearly, Mum should only give them Ken™ & Barbie™ dolls. So that they can now ask “Why don’t I look like *that*?”
Has Ken got a willy? Inquiring minds want to know…
cr
Maybe he’s pre-op trans …
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Be careful! That’s MAGA country.
Heavens, got to protect the kiddies against the simple facts of life! LOL!
I knew I’d seen soft toy hyenas, but I just discovered that if you google “hyena toy” you can get into a range of products that cannot be unseen. Truly this mother ain’t seen nothin’ yet….and I sort of wish that I hadn’t either.
BTW if I log into wordpress it autofills the name and email for comments, but I have to do that every time I open a browser, which is more of a pain than simply filling in the details here. It may be my bad memory (or a different site) but I seem to remember something like this happening before and it rectified after a short period.
That’s odd. If I Google ‘hyena toy’ I just get – toy hyenas. At least on the first page.
(And it’s not as if I’ve got Safesearch on or our ISP is running netnazi.)
But Google seems to default to ‘safe’ unless prompted otherwise. For example if I google ‘Marilyn Chambers’ images then I get all perfectly innocuous glamour pics. Not one that I couldn’t let my boss’s kids see. If I add ‘nude’ to the search string then I get the NSFW stuff.
cr
Reminds me of (I believe) the San Francisco Zoo. They had a giraffe that had a heart attack, and to dispose of it they gave the carcass to the lions. It mimicked the wild behaviors of the lions. A school happened to have a field trip at about that time, and either sued or threatened to sue the zoo for traumatizing the children. The zoo’s response was “We are an educational establishment. This is natural behavior.”
Folks need to get over their hangups with regard to reproduction. I mean, every time I’ve been to a zoo (quite often, my kids love animals) at least one big cat has been cleaning itself. You don’t want to see stuff like that, stick to the Disney Chanel. Zoos are here to teach, and all facts about the critter in question should be potential talking points.
Dare I guess that Mother Hisnu is no fan of the Bloodhound Gang tune “The Bad Touch”?
Dare I guess that Mother Hisnu is no fan of the Bloodhound Gang tune “The Bad Touch”?
This is bizarre to me. Children, especially if they are near toilet training age, are probably more comfortable talking about genitals than adults. Hell, you’ve got to talk about parts to effectively toilet train, no? The idea that small children need sheltered from any sort of accurate nudity is just odd to me.
As was indeed the case with the children involved in this story who seemed to be amused but not fazed by the anatomical accuracy of the toy.
Yeah. I don’t see what the big deal is. They actually look to me to be models rather than toys, and as such should have the genitalia.
As far as I can tell, shame is a human universal, but what it targets and when it triggers is socially dependent. Discussion of genitalia seems to be part of that.
Has Queen Victoria been told of the lion’s wee willy? We will not be amused.
Mum clearly got the willies.
+1
From my experience with male kittehs and hoomans, that lion’s willy looks more humanoid. That mother is nutz!
Comparison between the picture of the toy and the picture of the real lion above it seem to suggest the toy is not a bad likeness.
Does she think that this is somehow damaging to children or just awkward for parents? I don’t see why banning should happen as the kids seemed to really have a good time with that lion. Yelling out “willy” and showing the genitalia to passersby seems really hilarious. And yes, I’m sure the kids have seen the willies of other animals.
I like the new look!
Thanks! Michael helped me with his colours, framing, & transparent background.
+1
Me too! Cool owl, Diana.
You’ve got a new look also. Seems like a good fit. Mantises are so cool.
But not as cool as …
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LOL
Cool Owl. Stern look. Both wise and ready for stealthiness.
Haha! I used this at work once and my manager said my owl looked especially angers when she was asking me to do things later in the evening.
I am surprised they have a Kmart in Melbourne. Not many left over here with Sears going down the tube.
It’s a different firm, owned by Westfarmers.
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In the US several companies make ‘anatomically correct’ dolls for children.
Glad to know that such toys still exist. Back when my daughter was a little girl, and we’re talking over 50 years ago, an anatomically correct boy baby doll was produced. Yes, I got one for my daughter. No problem.
Some of my friends had that doll and took it to school. I didn’t care for dolls being a young, budding misanthrope and preferred my Yertle the Turtle pull string toy and various stuffed animals. I would have probably loved that lion and the picture of the kids in the post holding all their toys made me think, “how lucky are those kids to have those toys” as they look like something I would have nagged my parents for – only a dinosaur would top them.
Oh dear, I’m the “anonymous” who posted above. I have to go and fix this replying problem. I looked for that post about cookies, can’t find it… (I did write my name and email this time.)
I didn’t think of the doll as a young, budding misanthrope. Why didn’t I? You’ve brought up a heavy-duty industrial-strength issue. Why were women such as myself back in those days tolerating misanthropy…wait a minute, that’s man and mankind…gimme the word for hating women…misogyny! A young misogynist. I lived with misogyny all the time, It was in the air. I was used to it, it was Normal.
You said the Magic Word. DINOSAURS!! Oh! Oh! Dinosaurs! I loved dinosaurs! I am grateful to my science teacher when I was 13. He encouraged me to pursue this interest. Bless his heart! I wanted to be a paleontologist.
Well, it didn’t happen for a number of reasons. I stayed in the wonderful world of misogyny and became a housewife.
Still I gave my daughter the boy baby doll. I was eager to not be a prude.
But she wasn’t really into dolls anyway, so I don’t know that it made any difference.
But up came this issue of women submitting and knuckling under to misogyny, and now my brains are rattling. Why did so many women submit?
In my experience little kids don’t make a big deal out of genitals unless their parents have taught them to. They also seem to be able to learn the words “penis” and “vagina” just as easily as they can learn words like “wee wee.”
Reminds me of a back yard party with the neighbors when my son was about 3 years old. At one point my devoutly religious neighbor pulled me aside to tell me, with some surprise, how my son had used the word “penis” in conversation with him. I couldn’t help but laugh. I figured it was probably best that I not explain that I was laughing at his, my adult neighbor’s, reaction and not at my son having used the word “penis.”
While the word is uttered not infrequently from the most conservative pulpits, I gather that the gentleman is the soul of circumspection about circumcision.
I grew up being baby sat by a family with 3 boys. Penis came up in casual conversation all the time. They were highly religious too.
When I was about eight years old, I said the word penis in the presence of my grandmother, and she immediately shouted at my mom, “WHERE DID HE LEARN THAT WORD?!?”
Sounds not unlike my one grandmother. Very prim and proper.
I remember a male friend and I using the word penis with another male friend at the age of 12. The second male didn’t know what it was. He was a smart kid but came from a very devout family and they thought the correct words were dirty and never used them with children.
My twelve year old has seen Deadpools 1 and 2. How different some people raise their kids. (Admission: his mother and I had to explain all the numerous and unknown movie references to him later.)
And pegging?
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Except they should probably learn “vulva” …
https://drjengunter.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/vulva.jpg
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* Source: Dr. Jen Gunter
Not sure I’ve ever heard vestibule used in this context. Kind of like foyer?
I think I made a foyer joke when I saw that name for the first time. Welcome to my foyer. My foyer should impress you with the Xmas tree I’ve put near the piano & spiral staircase.
Nor had I!
But it’s legit. IMAGE NSFW!
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Who the hell was Hart??
A very naughty boy?
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He musta’ve crossed the line.
Yes! Diana you should post that thing you sent me about the guy mansplaining that vagina was the appropriate word🤓
God no that is so awful it triggers me.
I was actually thinking the same. Though I refer to the whole world as “lady parts” because it sounds like something rude made tasteful and it includes everything.
And perhaps also (impudent) pudenda.
That’s just taking things too far. Where will it end? Cats & dogs frolicking together in the streets?
Sex with ducks?
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Then there’s this in the Guardian.
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Back in the 50s we had a nationwide TeaPot Tempest over dolls from Belgium branded “petite broeur” (Flammsch?) and, later, “petite soeur” (maybe French?) “anatomically correct”. I thought this was all over with 60+ years ago. Guess not.
“‘Then one of the twins turned the lion around, and my daughter yelled out ‘look mum, the lion’s got a willy’ and they all started laughing.”
Clearly the kids of 3 and 4 years old knew how to recognize a willy. Why so prudish.
I think in the other species the penis is ensheathed under the belly. Not sure about the coordinates of their testicles.
I demand that all depictions of cows in children’s books (up to, say, books aimed at age 16 years) should have the udders pixellated. For years there has been an outrageous depiction of bovine nipples that can only have had a thoroughly traumatising effect on the children exposed to them (and may well be a contributory factor in rampant rates of teenage pregnancy).
Ah. I think you’ve found the root cause of the current fashion for breast implants. A subconscious urge to complete with implanted memories of cows udders.
🙂
cr
A female friend of mine said she didn’t mind “titmen” because she just thought of them as men who had been well breast-fed.
The real lion is definitely more “manly.”
” Mrs Husnu, a professional blogger…”
’nuff said.
“parents should decide when to tell their kids about genitalia.”
Presumably, if they are old enough to notice it on the toy, they have probably noticed them on themselves as well.
Actually they have to have already known about them because otherwise they wouldn’t have pointed it out. They pointed it out because they knew what it was, not because they were ignorant and asking “what’s this?”
Ha ha, “what’s this?I think the lion has a terrible deformity”.
All the toy animals we possess are anatomically correct – even the unicorns. Maybe German companies are less prudish?
My daughter always takes a look before she pairs them off.. They are so lifelike that a friend of mine once corrected her concerning a horse: “That is not a stallion, that is a gelding”.
Why should depicting nature as it is be “inappropriate”? On the contrary – we were told by experts giving a talk in our kindergarden that openly talking about genitalia with children without associating them with shame is an important part of preventing sexual abuse.
Still, explaining to a four year old what an “hermaphrodite” is when reading a book about snails was a challenge for me…
Anatomically correct unicorns!
Why can’t she say “ Its the same thing you have, son.” ??
That’s more or less what we did when the boys started noticing that sort of thing. To them it was a mere curiosity–they were learning to use the toilet, so they were naturally interested, particularly when the larger animals relieved themselves. Got some funny looks for explaining that yes, all boy mammals have those.
Then again, when we were at an agricultural fair I referred to pigs as “bacon on the hoof” to my boys and got nasty looks as well. Never mind that there was a sign two feet away that said that the pigs were being raised for meat.
People are squeamish about biology.
When I read this I wondered what day and age Ms Husnu thought we are in?
Nearly 70 years ago, toured the St. Louis Zoo with older married sis and her four kids. The kids were very curious about the LARGE appendage hanging from a male zebra.
The adults probably were too but societal expectations had ruined it for them expressing this.
Seeing as how the kids already know about genitalia and find it amusing, the mother clearly wants these toys banned because they made her uncomfortable.
Think of the childr- I mean, think of the adults!
From my experience, at least 90% of the “think of the children” cries are really “I want to force you to do what I want & I’m using children as an excuse to make me look virtuous & anyone who opposes me to look evil!”
Yes, notoriously so.
Hi Diana, so now you’re an owl. 🙂 My granddaughter would love your avatar, she’s got a thing about owls.
cr
Yes i decided to finally consistently use a WordPress account. I think I had signed up before years ago but found it baffling somehow so stopped using it. So, decided an owl would be a good avatar. People at work think I have a sole affinity for owls and I am found of them but I tend to like all kinds of animals.
My daughter, too!
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Yup. From videogames to books to dolls to…well, just about everything under the sun.
Sorry I can’t compliment you on your owl. I use ScriptSafe and only run the script that a page needs to function, so I don’t see anyone’s avatars. But I’m sure it’s a very nice owl 🙂
Haha. It’s an angry owl.
I’m sure the anatomically correct Taylor the Tapir will be a huge hit with kids and Australian mothers alike.
And how about ducks-for that matter?
LOL.
“Then one of the twins turned the lion around, and my daughter yelled out ‘look mum, the lion’s got a willy’ and they all started laughing.”
Rumor has it that laughter is a sign of learning.
That’s not very… big.
Maybe just as well the elephant didn’t have one… 😉
cr
Hahahaha re elephant.
Have you ever seen The Brothers Grimsby? If so, you’ll know exactly why I’m asking…
If not, see it! You’ll either love it or despise it (I love it). It has a very particular sense of humor.
No I haven’t seen that.
From what I know of you, I’m pretty sure you’ll like it. I was laughing out loud through many scenes, which is very rare for me. Like I said: you’ll love it or hate it. And you’ll probably know whether you want to continue within the first 20 minutes. Give it a try!
“It’s easy to miss this enormous statue of an elephant at the northern end of the grounds of the United Nations… The lifelike UN elephant seems almost purposely hidden away from view. And it is, actually—because UN officials decided the elephant’s 2-foot erect penis was a little too lifelike.”
https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2018/07/09/why-this-elephant-at-the-un-is-hidden-from-view/
I can’t believe they wrote that whole post and then didn’t even give me the dick pic! I mean, come on…
Oh, good grief!
« Mrs Husnu […] said: ‘We were planning a trip to the zoo …”
Well, you’ll certainly see genitalia there. And you might even seen them in action!
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And I’m sure the Britain’s zoo toys I had as a child were anatomically correct.
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Haha yeah, I definitely had some plastic animal toys which were anatomically correct when I was a kid. Wierdly enough I didn’t end up traumatized, nor did I feel the need to go around shoving them in strangers faces yelling “willy!” I think this is saying more about her parenting, than it is about what’s on the lion.
In all fairness to my Daughter Tanya HUSNU, Tanya is not prudish nor some kind of political PROGRESSIVE Individual attempting to support Gender Politics but only pointed out that it was very unusual to buy a Toy which included lifelike Genitalia. My daughter did see the humorous side of the inclusion of Genitals added to Lion however believes this did not need to be included especially on Toys for young children. Let children be children as there is plenty of time to discuss Genitalia in a more private setting. P.S. to the Keyboard Warriors who made comments about my Grandson looking ‘Gay’ f.y.i. he is Autistic so G.F.Y.
I totally understand wanting to defend your daughter, but I think you put your response in the wrong comment section. Nobody referred to your grandson in any way (especially not saying he looks “gay,” which is something you would never see on this site’s comment section), and it seems like just about everyone here is relating experiences from their own childhoods and generally having a good time with this. I think your daughter brought us a fun comments section and I doubt anyone here holds any ill will toward her.
However, I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve found plenty of people on other sites who have said stupid things like those to which you’re referring. It’s the internet, so don’t pay too much attention to it. Most people are horrible on the internet. It’s usually best not to read the comments on most sites, especially if they relate to a matter that’s personal to you.
And just a word of advice: Since I assume you’re posting this comment to other sites where people have said the things to which you’ve referred (e.g. that your grandson looks “gay”), don’t respond to them further. Now that you’ve commented, the trolls and other nasty people will try to make you feel even worse. Just don’t engage them. Don’t even read their comments. You’ll be much happier 🙂 You can never win against internet trolls. They just want to make you feel angry and bring you as many negative emotions as possible. Don’t let them.
I hope all of this came off as friendly, which is what I intended it to be. Good luck. I promise this will all blow over soon and nobody will remember it two days from now!
I just read every single comment on this thread after the “gay” remark and didn’t see one comment so I suspect this is a standard reply being copied to every site this story is mentioned on. A pity as the commenters here aren’t the sort to use gay as a pejorative. We have people here who are aspies, autistic, are gay and so forth. We don’t think being any of those things is bad and we’d call out anyone who did.
Exactly. I figured it was just being copy-pasted to all the sites posting about this, but, in the hopes that the poster reads my reply, I thought I’d offer some friendly advice. I did first make sure to search all the comments just to be sure.
+1
None of this addresses the issue.
I understand wanting to shield your children from “adult” things; however, I don’t think that’s an appropriate action. It’s much better to be introduced to these things by a loving parent and in age-appropriate terms than to stumble upon Daddy’s browser history (or that of a friend’s father).
Also, consider this: Your family can avoid this issue by simply not buying those toys. If they are banned, however, those of us who hold different views are simply pushed aside. I’m more than happy to allow you to live your life as you see fit; why should I not receive the same respect?
And no, “let children be children” doesn’t cut it. I grew up in farm country; we learned about the birds and bees alongside the alphabet. It didn’t greatly affect the joys of childhood, with one exception–by 8th grade many of my classmates had their own cattle. Childhood isn’t a utopia of innocence, and if knowing what genitals are is the worst you encounter during that period you’ve had a pretty good one!
Producers and suppliers of toys do not need to supply toy animals with distorted anatomy in order to appease someone’s particular views.
Well, I’m on the Autistic spectrum Keith, and I read every article on this site. I have never seen anyone commenting in that vein on here, be it suggesting someone is gay, autistic or anything else. That is a straw man argument if ever I saw one.
I send your grandson love and best wishes as I know how tough it can be to grow up with Autism, I really do. It can be a truly isolating and overwhelming life. But no one would ever make a remark like that on here. If that does indeed happen elsewhere, it’s despicable and the comments should be dismissed as unworthy of your attention.
One of the benefits of being autistic is that we have little understanding or appreciation of the social norms that society at large is expected to conform with. One of these norms is the rule that genitals should be hidden from view and always kept private (no I don’t walk around naked all the time :)). This makes no sense to me – it is just another part of the body. Teaching kids that these body parts are forbidden and should always be hidden is completely nuts, and needlessly damaging. What the heck is wrong with a lion having a penis and balls? I don’t get it.
I would have behaved exactly like that at his age and in those circumstances. Good on him! And please give him my best regards and a smile!
Prudes being ridiculous. Speaking of animals wearing nappies, there was a (not 100% sure how seriously it was posed, but it was out there) demand that pets be clothed in the early 80s during the “Moral Majority” moral panic which eventually ended once enough people realized what a misnomer “Moral Majority” was for a group that was neither.
At the zoo years ago, I happened across a giraffe with an erect penis, minutes (seconds?) before the female in the enclosure was going to get some sexytime.
I’m still traumatized.
Both that mother and those kids would however be quite confused by models/toys of male and female hyenas!
“Hyena reproduction”
“The genitalia of the female closely resembles that of the male; the clitoris is shaped and positioned like a penis, a pseudo-penis, and is capable of erection. The female also possesses no external vagina (vaginal opening), as the labia are fused to form a pseudo-scrotum.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_hyena#Female_genitalia
Without looking it up, does the female have a baculum?
Probably has an os clitoridis…
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2013/09/03/a-long-lost-bone/
Neither male nor female hyenas have bacula or any other bony structures in their (pseudo)penises. They’re spongiform, just like ours.
Clearly a sign of the Apocalypse.
Am I in the minority when I say I don’t think enough of today’s youth are being exposed to lion penises?
THIS https://www.boredpanda.com/cat-butt-gem-jewel-twinkle-tush/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic EXISTS…
So yes, people DO think pets should be less anatonomically accurate.
Cut ’em off!
Re comments above regarding elephants. An opportunity to share a joke I’ve always liked.
On a family day at the zoo, little Charlie tugs at his mum’s sleeve and points. “Mum, what’s that thing hanging down off the elephant?”
“That’s his trunk”, she says
“No, there, at the back”
“That’s his tail”
“No, there, under his legs”
She blushes. “Oh, never mind, that’s nothing”
A few moments later he goes to his dad. “Dad, what’s that thing on the elephant”
“That’s its trunk”
“No, there, under his legs”
“Oh. That’s his penis”.
“Why did Mum say it was nothing?”
“Well, son, frankly I have spoiled that woman.”
Oh no! I have to protect my darlings from the absolutely disgusting sight of anatomically correct animals. I already have to shield their eyes everytime the neighbour walks that completely gross dog of his. Do you know that dog doesn’t wear pants to cover his shame? I keep telling his owner, but for some reason he won’t cover the dog up. I also get my kids dressed in the dark. Sure, they end up wearing their shirts backwards from time to time, but it’s better than being corrupted by the sight of their own bodies! In fact I was so outraged, that instead of confiscating the offending toy and just replacing it with something I deem more appropriate for young eyes, I put my kids on the national “news” pages showing the rear end of that lion off to anyone who will look. I mean sure I care about my kids like I’m saying, but how could I pass up my 5mins of fame and a chance to look like a complete idiot in front of the entire country?
Bad lion! Why doesn’t she demand male animals at the zoo wear underpants? Let’s be consistent.
The mom shouldn’t be shocked at all as the child already knew it was a “willy” in all honesty…
Priceless!