Do you believe that some owners mistreat their dolls?

i dont get it...why do you have to play with your dolls? mine spend most of their time sat down. sometimes i sit them near me but i dont 'play' with them.

 

between myself and my flatmate we have 20.
They all live on a desk right where we can see and enjoy them. They are always near us, but we don't really 'play' with them.
All are cared for and looked after regularly and sometimes we watch tv with a couple.
It's just some fun.
Doesn't mean they are mistreated or unloved.
We all enjoy this hobby for different reasons, not everyone is the same.

Mistreatment to me at least would be badly modifying and not bothering to repair damage and not at least checking over and cleaning once every now and again.
If i don't get on with a doll i sell it. Keeping a doll in the box permantly and forgetting about it rates for me also as mistreatment.

Just my views on this.

 

(Sorry, I didn't read much of the posts above.)

It's YOUR dog, you can mistreat it if you want?
No.

I know that this kind of thinking is a bit off, but I just don't agree with the ''It's your doll, you can do whatever with it if you like''

 

That argument isn't just 'a bit off', you can't compare the two at all. A dog is alive. A doll is not. A doll isn't going to feel pain if you kick it, it won't end up with emotional and physical scarring if you torture it. You can't compare a living thing with a non-living object, no matter how alive the non-living may seem it will never be alive.
I've mentioned earlier in this thread, afair, that while I don't enjoy seeing badly modded dolls, it's their doll in the end. They can do what they want with it. They bought it, it belongs to them, and they don't owe it to anyone else in the hobby to do things the way everyone else wants them to. Dolls cannot be mistreated, they can be destroyed and misused, but they are not alive and nothing like a living creature at all.

 

It depends entirely on your definition of 'abuse/mistreatment' really. It's all about your personal point of view.

For some people, if one doesn't 'play with' or 'pay attention to' their doll(s), it's a sad thing. For others, if one handles their doll(s) roughly, causing avoidable scratches or chips (or complete breaks) in the resin, it's a disappointing thing. For some, 'modding' is unthinkable, and would be aghast at the thought of some of the extreme things people do to such expensive items.

Me personally, I'm fine with others modding their dolls. I'm fine with people playing with their dolls daily or leaving them alone for months or years at a time. Handling them roughly however makes me a little sad, and I consider rough, wanton play that will usually result in chips/scratches/breakage to be mistreatment of the item. Also leaving the doll in a heap in some corner ... that I don't like the idea of.

But then again, I believe loved items retain some sort of energy and feeling, so I can't help but feel this way when I see or read about it happening. It's just the way I am.

 

For myself, I can compare a living object with an inaminate object. No problem for me, I don't care about animals/people that much. Of course I can feel empathy, but it's only for horses.

 

It doesn't matter about your empathy levels. This is a bad argument not only for the reason stated above, but because the law differs for living things and inanimate objects.

It is illegal to mistreat animals and children. But if you want to "mistreat" your TV, your couches, your doll, your dishes... go right ahead. You bought it, you break it.

 

The thing what I meant to say was, that living objects are almost in the same level with inaminate objects to me. If I really don't like someone, I don't mind playing with his/her feelings.

 

That's contradictory to your original post, that tries to bring dolls up to the level of living things that inherently deserve a certain level of treatment, and now you're doing the opposite and bringing living things down to the level of objects, that you don't care about them.

In the end, if it is your inanimate object that you bought with your money which has no rights, life, breath, you can do whatever the hell you want with it. You don't owe it to anyone, not a single person, to do things the way they want you to, against what you want. Everyone else might not like it, may find it distasteful, ugly, a waste. However, it does not make it unethical or cruel that a person treats an inanimate object in a way another does not like. Yes, you are allowed to not like what a person does with their dolls, but no, it is not abuse like one would abuse a living creature, the consequences are not the same at all. It may mean that the person is misusing the doll, that is, against the intended purpose, but misuse and mistreatment are very different, and there is nothing wrong ethically with misusing an object as long as it doesn't put yourself or others at risk.
If it was a $500 kitchen set that someone left in the cupboard unused, would it be abuse or mistreatment? A desk? A paintbrush? You can only mistreat a living thing. If you think that dolls are actually alive or have souls, enjoy avoiding 'doll abuse'.
I think the reason why people percieve neglecting to play with dolls/modding them badly/not lavishing time on them as some kind of abuse or neglect because they look like people. They look alive. Some even believe that they have souls. I have a feeling this is why some think dolls can be abused or mistreated.

 

I'll admit I'm a bit confused here... these two statements seem directly contradictory. The first seems to imply that mistreating anything, whether an animal or an inanimate object is wrong. The second statement seems to say that mistreating inanimate objects or people is okay as long as you don't like them?

I'm just kind of puzzled as to the main point of these statements... do you believe that mistreating animals/people is wrong or okay? Do you believe that mistreating dolls is wrong or okay?

Or does the ethical "good or bad" just all depend on how much the person administering the mistreatment cares about the object/person/animal? Because to be honest, that kind of thinking seems a bit skewed. If that were correct, people would never get sentenced for animal abuse or child abuse, because they could just defend themselves with, "Well, I just didn't really care for that particular dog, so I decided to kick it."

Whether a particular individual cares about living things or inanimate things is kind of irrelevant to the overall subject of conversation. Of course there are people out there who feel no emotion toward other living things. It's an actual psychological condition. But those few don't determine the overall law, which states that it is illegal (and therefore implies that it is also ethically wrong) to abuse another living thing. The law (and overall socially-accepted ethics) does not stipulate the same about inanimate objects.

And TBH, I think it's kind of strange and sad that this debate has even caused the need to discuss whether it's "okay" to mistreat living things. I would think that would be common sense for most people, and I'd like to hope that most people DO have a sense of empathy or at least right and wrong as regards other living things.

 

Oops, haha.

Erm...

Let's say that mistreating dolls or animals isn't okay, mistreating people is.

 

Hmmmm. Then by your standard it would be okay to leave your toddler outside overnight in the freezing weather, but not your doll or your dog.

I hope no one employs you for babysitting.

 

Pssst. Schindler's list wasn't supposed to be a comedy. Just so you know.

 

If you think an object's emotional and physical wellbeing is more important than that of a living animal, human or otherwise, your priorities are seriously messed up. Good luck

 

well it is their money ^_^'' .....

 

while i will agree that humans deserve abuse more that an innocent animal, it
certantly isn't "okay" D:<

because dolls aren't alive i would have to rank them somewhere bellow ants

 

(no names, and the person isn't even a member here on DoA) I do know that at least one person is mistreating their doll. getting him dirty with crayons and such, letting him fall, and just not taking good care of him. It makes me feel horrible when I see it, because he is such a pretty mold.

 

Sorry mods for this getting a bit OT. I will not post in this thread again.

Some people just deserve to be mistreated, animals and dolls mostly don't.

I currently have two dolls, Ryo and Fornicarus. Fornicarus doesn't have a body yet.
Ryo doesn't speak, move or feel. He doesn't hate me, dislike me or despise me. He doesn't lie, cheat or speak bad things behind my back. He doesn't think I'm weird and stare at me.
He's extremely cute, almost perfect for an inaminate object. I've created his personality, he's an aggressive psychopath with multiple personality disorders. That's why I god damn love him so much.

 

I see 'mistreatment' of dolls as damaging them, not taking care of them, etc...Like I'd call leaving your doll on the floor in a sunspot untill it's lemon yellow mistreatment. I would't call not having a weekly teaparty with them mistreatment.

 

I think abuse for a doll is to leave it alone.