Do you believe that some owners mistreat their dolls?

I took care of a dolly owned by a 12 year old. She had a faceup done by sharpie and oil paints. She had deep gouges all over her body and her nose was almost broken off. She had been chewed on by the family dog. The girl kept the dog on the floor. It took me weeks to clean her and make her slightly presentable. At that time she only had 2 dolls. Now she has 5. I am very worried for those dolls. Just cuz she has money doesn't means she has the responsibility to buy dolls.

 

Yes...some people do not take care of their property. Yes this can be called abuse & mistreating. It's subjective. You can also say they do not give their dolls ressonable care.

I've never concerned myself with the actual doll, but with the owner. To be honest I see some pics of dolls that look like they are poorly cared for, it worries me that the owner may have priorities that would be better met by not spending the money on the doll.

 

I think that's it's silly and a waste when someone does things like let children scribble on a doll's face, or leave them out in the sun or throw them about or whatever. It's their money though and their doll, so it's not something that personally offends me.

 

But technically since some mods are permanent and not to everyones taste are the considered abuse? I assume most doll companies wouldn't expect you to buy their doll to turn it into a zombie so would that fall out of the 'expected uses' category and into abuse?

Also I think it's kinda funny that most Volks Dollfie dreams come with a warning saying that they stain easily yet volks themselves have been guilty of releasing default outfits that are not lined and that stain! Are they violating their own 'terms of use' and abusing their own dolls or something?

I dunno, I still just find the whole concept of dolly abuse just ridiculous and agree with Blakeney Green that until there is a set way to 'use' a doll then I have no idea what constitutes abuse.

 

I agree completely!

The definition of what constitutes "abuse" is whatever the individual thinks is rougher than how they would treat their own possessions. However, there are about as many perspectives on this subject as there are people, I'm sure. If you want my perspective, I happen to be a person who likes to play, or get use out of the item I bought. I also take very good care of my things. I think keeping a doll packed away in a box for fear of the"aging" process is about as wasteful as breaking a doll through careless handling. However, the fact remains that the types of owners that I just described also have their own perspectives on what constitutes good use of a possession. The owner who closets their doll takes joy in the thought that their item will remain as pristine as humanly possible, while the owner on the opposite end takes just as much joy in feeling they have gotten as much use as they want out of it.

The part that gets sticky is when someone wants to sell their doll, and they describe the doll from their perspective. The same doll someone may label "minty", another may label "good used condition"....

At first I didn't think the topic of this thread was all that important in the scheme of things, but if you look at it in light of buying and selling, it becomes a very important matter!

 

If a doll is released with the intended use of customization, it doesn't matter whether or not the modifications are "to everyone's tastes" or permanent. It's using the doll as it was intended. The company doesn't need to anticipate every possible way or design a person could modify the doll in order for them to release a doll that can be modified.

As for Dollfie Dreams, I admit I know nothing about them. If Volks sends out home in dark, staining outfits and they arrive fully stained, I'd say that does sound like they aren't paying attention to their own terms of use, no. On the other hand, if they send home outfits and the user is expected to take their own precautions - like washing the outfit to reduce staining, using undergarments, or only putting the outfit on for a short time - then it's the owner's responsibility to avoid damage.

I don't know. I still think that as long as one doesn't take to an unnecessarily emotional connotation of the word "abuse" and avoids under/over-thinking the issue, it's mostly fairly common sense what kind of treatment is likely to result in damage. Of course there are grey areas. I'm sure that the Apple folks don't list every possible thing one could do to an iPod in their instructions, but they still list "abuse" as an exception to the limited warranty, and I'm pretty sure most people can wrap their heads around whether or not certain treatments of the iPod would be considered "abuse."

There are more grey areas with dolls, which have less strict terms of use (such as the issue of modification), but that's how life works. Not everything is black and white, but that doesn't mean we need to throw the baby out with the bathwater and declare everything "ridiculous" just because we haven't been handed a strict definition that applies in every conceivable situation.

 

When I see a beautiful doll dressed in ugly and/or poorly made clothing, I feel like that's mistreating the doll.

 

My one piece of advice is if you feel the need to speak up about what you percieve as doll mistreatment please do it in a nice way and remember that what you percieve as mistreatment might be either ignorance or a difference in opinion. When I went to one of my first doll meetups only a month or so after getting into the hobby some lady got angry with me because I brought my doll in a reuseable grocery bag with no face cover, and had driven it 5 hours in a car with no AC. I was sorta put off from going to meetups for a while because I thought that I "wasn't doing it right" and wondered if I was destroying my doll somehow even though she looked fine.

Every so often I still get accused of endangering my dolls because I generally don't use the zippered pillow carriers. I built a carrier for my MSD size twins out of particle board and built a padded sofa with ribbon "seatbelts" so that could carry them around cons for people to see while still keeping them protected. The carrier is basically a box with everything except part of the front enclosed and has several inches of padding on all sides, but every so often someone will tell me that I'm going to break them or ruin them. I know some people like to pack their dolls in multiple layers like the companies do before shipping them, but for me it isn't enjoyable to bring a doll if I have to spend a ton of time messing with packaging and only take it out for an hour or so at the doll meet.

As far as other people mistreating dolls, if its their doll they can do whatever they would like with it. Sometimes if I see a very young child with one of the dolls at a meet I'll double check that they have the OK to handle it, and if I ever see an animal get ahold of a doll or see one fall into something wet/dirty I'd probably retrieve it first and ask questions later, but thats about as far as I'd go on intervening.

 

How do you define "ugly"?

One person's definition of ugly is another person's definition of beautiful; Everyone has their idea of beauty. Using the term "mistreat" to describe how other people dress their dolls is rather strong, to say the least. While there are styles and qualities of clothing that I may not like, it doesn't occur to me to label that as doll abuse!

 

What if the owner actually likes what their doll is wearing, or is just learning to sew and they're very proud of one of their first projects?

I don't think a reasonable definition of whether someone else is mistreating their own doll is whether they share your personal taste in doll clothing.

 

Well sometimes I see dolls with faceups/clothes/mods that I don't like I do cringe a little…but I still don't think that's mistreating since I think the owner can do whatever they want to their doll. Unless they are intentionally damaging the doll, like throwing it on the ground…then I count that as mistreating. But I highly doubt anyone would do that to their valuable doll though O_O

 

Some keep their dolls safety away from any kind of danger. Others prefer to play and interact with them more. Playing with them more dose not equal to abuse just like keeping them away from grabby hands and sunlight does not mean neglect. I really think it depends on how the doll is to the person. A model, then it is used for photos only. A friend, then they play more. Really depends. I can't pin a specific definition on everyone since everyone has their own standards.

 

Lots of people don't take care of their stuff. I don't think it's wrong to be careless with your own propperty. It's up to you after all. I do think it's silly having spent so much cash only to break it.

I wouldn't call it abuse either. That seems to indicate some sort of established rule to how you're supposed to treat your own propperty. Abuse says to me you're doing something Wrong and I see nothing wrong in breaking a doll, if it's yours, if you so please.

Now if you broke somebody Else's doll.

 

I saw a video of a young girl that had a 1/3. The wig was knotted and dirty... the doll itself looked dirty and the clothing on it was very wrinkled and manhandled. She handled it in the video like it was raggedy ann. The girl couldn't be older than 10 or 11. A woman commented on her video ''I'm glad to see someone who actually plays with and loves their doll'' and I was in horror thinking ''omg! That poor dollfie! someone save her from that girl!''

We have a toddler... but she already has learned that it's a biiiig no no to touch them. But I also teach her to respect her own toys and not beat them up like that little girl with hers anyway. The worst she did with her own toys (that are meant to deal with abuse) was experiment with crayons until mommy confiscated them. I had friends stay at the house for a week and their 6 and 11 year old broke 2 of her big toys the first day. So a young child COULD take care of their doll, or could abuse it like that girl (and again, it horrifies me to see them treated that bad)

 

Compare it to an iPhone. The longer you have it, the more you start throwing it places. The first month or so of getting a doll, you set it carefully everywhere. The longer you've had it, the more you begin to think "meh." and throw it places. But if they choose to mistreat their dolls, that's their own fault. It's their money that they are wasting, not mine. If someone mistreated one of my dolls, though, there would probably be some debt to pay. As for children playing with dolls at young ages, there are some children who know how to take care of their dolls. I was always tender with mine, even at young age, because I always saw them as real (little kids and their imagination ). Some children were not raised right and break their toys almost the second they get them. Then, there are others who were raised to respect and love their toys without breaking them (TheJadeAngel kind of stated that already). While it is terrible that people mistreat their dolls, it really is there money that they are wasting and that doll deserves better than that.

 

I really don't think it is possible to mistreat a doll regardless of cost. I treat mine with a great deal of respect as I will only own them if they are in perfect condition.

If I chipped one I would bin it immediately regardless of the size of the chip or the cost of the doll. I feel its my money when spent on a doll it is therefore mione to do what I wish with.

A lot of effort was put into the doll and if it had been handmade for me at cost or as a gift I would treat it with a great deal of respect, but these dolls are made for profit not just for the love of it.

 

Hm, very honestly I do not think that dolls are too wise an investment. After all, they are works of art, and too highly acknowledged ones. So I am not too sure of their value stability.

My honest opinion is to get them only because you really like them. I am not convinced about the investment aspect. You pay tons of money, yes. But get it back? Maybe, if you are lucky...have experienced that with resin model horses. No good investment either.

This aside, I fully agree that you should handle them with care. However, I would never "bin" it only because it chipped.

It can happen so quickly during restringing (and one time you have to do it), and it may well be that you just cannot replace the part. And then to throw away the hole doll? Oh my...

 

I wouldn't use the word "abuse" but I've seen enough pics of horribly trated that I would use at least the word "mistreated". Seriosly, sometimes I feel like "mocked" by people owning dolls worth 2'000$ looking like they were painted on with felt pens or even worse! It's just that I care too much about my dolls and it breaks my heart seeing how some people treat them without respect just because they have the money to buy them. For me each doll is a sacrifice and just for this reason I am very careful with them.

I know that beauty is subkective, but uglyness isn't! Seriously I've objectively seen monsters out there and people commenting "Oh how nice" to be nice just makes me sick and I ask myself if these people really have sense for what's beautiful and what not.

 

On the other hand, some people might argue that it's the kids who play with their toys enough to break them that are really getting use out of them. I certainly don't think it's a matter of being "raised right": Toys are not people/pets/plants - if you break them all that's lost is finanical.

Maybe beauty isn't what they're attempting - it may not be to your (or my) taste, but if they've succeeded in creating whatever it is that they wanted, then that's probably a victory for them, no?

Again though, it's just an object. Personally, I do think it's quite a waste of money for a parent to give such an expensive item to a child who may damage it, but if they're all happy then fair enough!

 

I don't think it's abuse, it is an inanimate object that you bought and can do what you like with it including (selling) getting rid of it on a whim - do you owe an inanimate object loyalty? I guess I feel that way with many of my childhood possessions and treasure gifts. I think it depends how attached someone feels to their dolls, and how they like to enjoy their dolls. Some people enjoy looking at them, others a more tactile approach with frequent play