When I first got an e-mail about the new doll, Busty Barbie, I just knew this just had to be an Internet hoax. It would soon turn out that this was a fake controversy fueled by some fool in the basement with Photoshop. Looks like I was wrong.

Mattel has launched a new line of Barbie dolls called "Back to Basics (pictured below)," which features several dolls, white and black, in (what I can only term) "after-5" wear: There are off-the-shoulder dresses, strapless minis and plunging necklines. The whole thing is absolutely freaky. It's like some odd soft porno featuring call-girl dolls.

The worst offender in this travesty of a doll line is No. 10, oft referred to in the press as "Busty Barbie." This is an African American doll with a plunging neckline that exposes substantial boobage. Worse than that, though, her breasts look like those perfectly round fake-looking breasts that low-budget porn stars and all of Tiger Woods' mistresses have.

This new Barbie Basics Collection, which hit the stores in the United States, has become quite popular with kids. Quite naturally, today's mothers are very worried about its effect on their children. The suggestive wear, low-cut skirts and visible cleavage of Busty Barbie and the other dolls in this line have highly angered parents. Mothers say that they do not want their daughters to emulate the dressing patterns of the Barbie.

Andie Whitaker, a woman featured in an interview on WPTV NBC, said "What parent would buy this for their kid? Is that really an appropriate image you want to display for young women?"

Yes, this is awful, and no one should buy it, BUT the issue is a little deeper than these trampy dolls. Are the dolls really that shocking in a culture that made Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton stars? They have nothing to offer but sex appeal and sex tapes, and we can't get enough of them. Girls idolize women like Kanye's arm candy Amber Rose and Tiger's trashy mistress Rachel Uchitel, because they're attractive and they hooked up with famous men. Is it really surprising our little girls think that sexy equals successful?

When we have shows like 'Basketball Wives' that showcase attractive women whose only achievement in life has been to pull a baller and his babies, are we really that surprised when our daughters equate the potential for their lives with their sexiness level?

These dolls are just the symptom of a larger problem we have: We dropped the ball long ago and are now seeing the real effects of elevating half-hookers to star status. We failed to define what womanhood is to our daughters and instead gave the job to television.

Busty and all her other quasi-hooker friends are available at Target for a cool $19.99. Frankly, I have no problem with Mattel; it's a free market. Please don't use your precious time and energy organizing some dumb ass recall campaign or major boycott. This is America, if you don't like it, don't buy it. Done deal.

Your time would probably be better spent keeping your eye on your little girl.