Tour guide Barbie.

Recently I listened to some woman on radio four explain to me why I was a terrible parent.

'By merely buying your child a barbie doll you are sentencing your child to a life of oppression, negative body image and a life spent self obsessing over their perceived failings emotionally.'

I have several issues with her conclusion.

Firstly my daughters will never know the joy of spending countless hours in adulthood gazing at their own belly buttons conjuring up middle class issues because I am not leaving them any money.

Secondly, having raised one of them to adulthood I can report this; As a small child she was obsessed with Thomas the tank engine, another gender based toy and Pokémon. To date she has shown little interest in photographing trains or making the family pets fight each other.

Thirdly, I could crack on about genes and social shit but really...you need to be pretty thick to accept blindly that a toy shall shape your child or be willing to accept your child will have no other influences but what you present to them.

I recently heard someone say that there is an argument that current western feminism is dictated largely by a white middle class self obsessed elite.

All I can say is I hope to raise my daughters well enough so they both eventually have jobs that pay enough for their therapy.