WASHINGTON ? Our daughter, like most kids, grows out of her clothes by the hour. She just turned 11, and the top of her head now eclipses her mother's shoulders. Music and magazines ? closely monitored by my wife and me ? have replaced the dolls that were her constant companions just a few seasons past.

Her interest in clothes has kept pace with her rising height. This conjunction leads to ever more frequent shopping forays. Last week my wife bought her a colourful T-shirt with a parrot on it. She had purchased it in a hurry and hadn't noticed the slogan underneath the bird. "Polly wants a pirate", it said. Because the phrase seemed too suggestive to us, we decided to return the shirt.

Did we overreact? I don't think so. I have a liberal attitude about most things, and my voting record certainly reflects that. I'm not uncomfortable about sexual issues either, and believe that whatever goes on between consenting adults is their own business.

I have no intention of raising my children in a bubble. I want them to be fully aware of what's in the world ? its delights and its dangers ? but only when they're ready. I'm not one of those parents who believes that reading the Harry Potter books will send my children to hell. My daughter has devoured every one of them, and when she finally views "Goblet of Fire", it will be among the very few PG-13 movies she has ever seen. I try to walk that fine line between careful vigilance of my children's habits and a healthy open-mindedness about our expansive popular culture. But I am increasingly disturbed by the overtly sexual nature of the things being marketed to our kids.

My wife and I confronted this early when buying dolls. It's no secret that Barbie's world bears little resemblance to reality. Feminists have rightly chastised her anorexic figure and her lamentations about the difficulties of math class, among other concerns.

After years of failing to notice that many Americans were a bit darker than the average Barbie, the doll's manufacturer had begun to sell Barbies in a variety of skin tones by the time my daughter came along.

Inevitably, a few of them made their way into her toy box beside the ethnic beauties that we favoured. But we were still uneasy.

Our concerns increased when newer doll lines emerged to push Barbie out of the centre aisle. Her sunsplashed Malibu reveries seem downright chaste when compared to scenarios associated with the Bratz and other earthier lines.

Soon the best-selling Bratz may become known as just another tame alternative. Hasbro, in partnership with the Interscope record label, has announced plans to unleash a doll line inspired by the Pussycat Dolls, a "musical" act that recently has enjoyed some success. They dress seductively and move the same way. They also sing, I think. Their best-known song teases men, "Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?/ Don't cha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me?"

Declaring themselves as "Hot, Raw, Freaky and Fun", the members of the group are indeed attractive. But they come off as more campy than sexy and bring to mind "Showgirls", that cinematic ode to burlesque excess that flopped in 1995.

Like the Spice Girls before them, the Pussycat Dolls are likely to crash and burn and soon be forgotten. Even so, their current popularity has landed them endorsement deals with Estee Lauder cosmetics and a Las Vegas nightclub. It's not hard to discover the logic behind those arrangements, but the Hasbro deal boggles the mind.

Incredibly, the company plans to promote the new dolls to children ages six to nine. Call me a prude if you want to, but I don't think self-proclaimed "freaks" ? even ones made of plastic ? belong anywhere near young children.

Perhaps anticipating such responses, Hasbro executive Sharon John told a reporter that the company isn't trying to push the envelope. "We're trying to add an aspect of realism. These are people that have real careers."

So, I suppose, do strippers. Does that make it reasonable to sell kids a series of pole-dancing dolls? What's next, Lil' Kim action figures?

Like many dads, I've already grown nostalgic for the days when my daughter was just a tot, all innocence and giggles. But I'm glad she believes she's outgrown dolls. Neither Pussycats nor pirates are welcome in my house.