Please Stop Objectifying My (Infant) Daughter

In the last 11 months I have realized just how early girls (and boys too I'm sure, but I have a daughter...) are sexualized by our society.

On many occasions women or men (usually moms or dads) say something to or about Julia and baby boys (usually their sons).

"Oh look at the pretty girl."
"We like pretty girls don't we [infant son's name]."
"Are you flirting with her [infant son's name]?"
"Is she going to be your giiiirlfriend?"
and even, "[Infant son's name], are you trying to seduce Julia?"

No.
No.
No.
No.
No.

Babies are not attracted to each other.
Babies don't flirt.
Babies don't seduce.
Babies aren't looking for a girlfriend.
Babies don't feel sexual or romantic feelings.

Please stop projecting those feelings on our children.

Every time someone says something like that it makes me twitch. Those comments sexualize and romanticize my baby girl. That is not okay. I do not want Julia to think that her worth is tied to what boys think of her. She can and will be friends, peers, coworkers, and teammates with boys. She is their equal. She is not an object of their affection. Those comments make her something to be looked at and admired and 'had.'

I realize this is not the intent behind these seemingly innocent and cute comments, but frankly, your intentions don't matter to me. What matters to me is that my daughter believes that she is worthwhile, and that her worth is entirely unrelated to what boys (or other girls for that matter) think of her.

Things like this speak to the state of our society. We are surrounded by the message that a girl's worth is contingent on her beauty and her desirability, and we send these messages to our infants.  This is a symptom of a much greater problem. The same problem that makes teenage girls think they need to have sex to be loved and makes eating disorders such an epidemic.

It's sad, and it makes me mad.

Yes, I realize that I can't keep Julia from hearing these things all her life. Yes, I realize that I have a big influence on her and that I can intercept some of the negative and fill it with positive. But I need this to stop. This is me passive aggressively telling you to stop.

And stop talking negatively about your body, weight, shape, or size.
Stop.
My daughter hears you.

My daughter isn't even one year old yet. It's not appropriate and not how I want her childhood friendships to be formed. Our kids have so much fun just playing together... lets just let them play and enjoy life. Let them be equal.