There is a woman in Tasmania who is taking old dolls and changing them. She wipes off the heavy make up and gives them more childlike faces. Then she dresses them in home made sweaters and skirts, so that they look like the girls who will play with them.

In a matter of two weeks she went viral, with thousands of likes, tweets, retweets, requests and validations. This is the response for something that began as a simple hobby. One of the dolls sold on ebay for $300 and another is currently bidding at twice that. 

What it says to me is that she hit a nerve. Enough people are drawn to toys that evoke innocence, that they will pay dearly to put them in the hands of their children. There seems to be a wide spread wish to shield young girls from the tidal wave of pressure to dress with sophistication, behave as if they are more proud of their bodies than their minds. Those influences can be incompatible with a healthy sense of self and do little to fortify marriage. 

Such memories in childhood can be a shield against the incessant messages from the media that you are only as good as you look.

The woman who was recently catapulted into a small business is not the first one to create gentle playthings. And I am thrilled to think that she is not the last.