Pediophobia

it looks like i'm late on this thread ^^;; but i thought it would be fun to comment.

when i first saw BJDs, i was kinda creeped out by them...mostly because they had such a life-like stare. knowing they werent alive, but could look at you as though they were was a little unnerving. now i've always had issues with eyes. eyes out of sockets used to completely freak me out. since i've had my doll, it's been easier to deal with, but if i sit and stare at one of her eyes laying on my desk or something, i start to get all creeped out. this thing with eyes is more than just BJDs tho, and i'm TOTALLY creeped out by those moving eyes that dolls have...you know that close when you lay them down? *shudder* omg, they're so scary! and i've noticed that i have trouble looking at dolls whose eyes dont fit into the sockets that well, including my own. if there's even the tiniest gap there, i just have to look away.

people tend to think my recent obsession with BJDs is really creepy. i've found the best way to get around that reaction is to treat her like a project and not like a member of the family (which she is ^^; ).

and i was looking at those post-mortem pictures. they are oddly fascinating, but i couldnt look at the children. same went for the mummies posted about earlier. and that rosalia girl...i was completely creeped out and saddened at the same time. maybe because her name is so close to my doll's name, but i'd have sworn she was just asleep.

which brings me to the overcompensating topic ^^; she was sort of a replacement for a second child i wanted, but cant have due to financial concerns. she stays in my room with me, but sometimes i put her in my son's room to watch over him. particularly if he's sick. everytime he gets sick, i have horrid nightmares of him dying in his sleep and i have to go check on him umpteen times a night to makes sure he's still with me. D: it's really scary for me!

and, i have to say, in spite of me having and loving my little sharmin so much, when she's sitting next to me, i find myself looking in her direction a lot. it's like i'm waiting for her to move...but she just sits there with that smile on her face, and i smile back. 30 seconds later i'm watching her again... i guess i'm kind of creeped out by my own doll ^^; maybe that's why i havent been in a major rush to buy the other 4 i want so bad!

 

I have to say I haven't even thought about dead bodies or death when I look at these dolls,( maybe because I was with both my parents when they died), and to me it is just such a completely different thing...
What I see is a more creative outlet for me and others painting them and customising them to create a unique work of delicate art...
I love the fact that you can change the eyes, hair clothes, and paint the faces and bodies...
I have never really been drawn to dolls as such, but I think dollfies/BJD's are quite exquisite....and although the molds can be identical the dolls are SO different...and they are very tactile as well....

 

I, too, am late on this thread, but.....

Dolls in general don't scare me, but over the years, I have grown a distaste for most of them..... While I used to like Barbies as a child, I found that as I got older, my love for them soured greatly, and I found them to be "too perfect" in a way... Plus, all of their smiles really did seem "plastic" and had no real depth to them... And I won't even go into how I feel about the Bratz dolls.... (I keep telling my sister that the Bratz Babies that they're "Sluts in training.... >=) )

But there's something different about ABJDs....

From the first time I laid eyes on a ABJD, I was instantly in love. His beauty was overwhelming, and I was in total awe of him. I asked his owner how much he cost, and when she told me, I was a little taken aback.... While I found him to be one of the prettiest things I've ever seen, there was no way in hell that I could get one of my own... Well, it's been about one year since I've had that fateful encounter, and six certian "unmentionable" dolls (*sigh* ) later, I am FINALLY getting my first mini~! :3nodding she'll be here by the end of the week.... I can't wait to finally have her in my arms~!

....But as far as the "dead child" look... I just don't see it.... Not even the palest of dolls look dead to me....Hmm, maybe it's just my perspective of them, dunno.... :\

..... And I, too, have been to the site that freaks everyone out. All of the pictures kind of scared me, but fascinated me at the same time.

 

Absolutely my thoughts! I HATE those baby dolls that pee whatever. Actually I hate dolls that resenble babies. Propaganda for motherhood etc..bleh, lol. And those creepy puffy legs...ugh . No way I will ever get those for any child!

 

When I was a child I was afraid of most dolls. I don't know if that was the reason I had only stuffed animals or whether not having dolls is what made me afraid of them. Maybe it was neither!

A lot of dolls still creep me out, especially the more realistic baby dolls or the ones that are made up to look overly cute. Porcelin dolls scare the crap out of me, I've actually had to have people move them out of the room I was in before because I couldn't stand them being there.

I think the reason BJDs don't scare me is because they carry a mix of reality and fantasy. They're more realistic than the overly cutesy or porcelin dolls but they're not as realistic as those creepy newborn baby dolls. That and I'm not afraid they're going to come alive and eat me in my sleep. XD

 

I know what you mean about dolls with bad vibes. It's just something terrible that you feel in the pit of your stomach when you look at them. I would never buy an antique doll for that reason...just because I would never know what the previous owner did to the poor thing and I don't want to suffer the retaliation. I want to be the only person to put life into any doll because then I feel as though I have some sort of control over their personality and their "actions", so to speak. I don't like dolls with baggage from past relationships.

That being said, when I was a child I had many porcelain dolls...they were gifts from my grandma who I didn't get to see very often. During the day, I was ok with them...I could tolerate them if I kept my bedroom door open, had the lights on, and was not the only one in the house. Nights were terrifying...I could feel their eyes penetrating me through the dark. I felt as though they were angry. I felt as though their anger stemmed from the fact that they were so life like; but only meant to be looked at and not played with. They were angry because they sat on the top of my dresser and watched on as I played with other dolls. I admit, I would be angry too if that were my life sentence. I tried to play with them once or twice; but even touching them left me with an uneasy feeling. Some of them were all right; but others just left me with an empty, sick feeling. When I moved out of my parents' house, I didn't take them with me. I can't bear to get rid of them because my grandma died; but at the same time, I don't want them in my house.

Now when I see other porcelain dolls, I get a sad feeling. I feel sorry for those dolls who are never meant to be played with; but I feel as though I can't do anything for them because I can't trust them. I decided that if I ever have a child, I will ask them if they would like my old dolls. I don't want to force porcelain dolls on them and make them feel uneasy as well.

When I first saw BJDs, they gave me the creeps...more life-like dolls that were gorgeous that weren't meant to be played with. Then I found this community and found that they were played with and loved and I saw it in their faces...and here I am today.

At first, I thought maybe my grandma would be disappointed or upset that I discarded her dolls in the attic and took up other dolls; but I can see it in Ava's and Evangeline's eyes that somewhere, my grandma is happy that I found beautiful dolls that I love and play with.

Yes, I am long winded....build a bridge and get over it. XD

 

[link]
Heh... I just went, that had to be the COOLEST thing i've ever seeeennn o_o I wasn't scared or anything, that fascinated me

 

Hummm....Well I can't say dolls really every freaked me out. But then I had My Little Ponies as a kid, and didn't play with dolls. The bjd's look fairyly real, but has anyone checked out reborn dolls on ebay? They can paint them to look exactly like a newborn. It actually looks like they are selling a new baby! Well I have 2 friends that love my bjds, and 1 that says they are ugly and is a bit creeped out by them.

 

This is a *really* fascinating topic to me, because I am horribly creeped out by SOME dolls. I don't care for Barbies, Bratz, or American Girl dolls, but they don't disturb me. I like most of the ABJDs I've seen posted, or at least am not frightened by them... but antique baby dolls - oh lord, those things give me the willies!

My sister-in-law is antique doll collector and restorer, and her house is FILLED with these creepy little monstrosities. I *think* the reason that I'm so freaked out by them is they're sort-of lifelike, but not quite. I also think the size is a factor... most BJDs look like teen or adult humans, but aren't nearly that large. Same with Barbies, Bratz, etcetera. The "Victorian" dolls are meant to look like children, and are usually child-sized. The eyes bother me, as well - they are very lifeless and empty, which adds to the creepiness.

Also, I have read a lot of John Saul novels. *g*

 

I've never been afraid of dolls. I used to have a little girl doll when I myself was a little girl (didn't care at all for baby dolls though), and currently I have a bunch of clown dolls sitting in my room (the Pierrot-ish kind, cloth, with I think resin hands, feet and head and a dreamy stare with half-shut eyes) as well as a set of three Powerpuff Girls plushies (and not even those eyes scare me) and a full set of Barbie Fairytopia Merfairies. After reading this thread, I looked at them carefully, and I realized that none of them have those indeed creepy wide eyes or unnatural smiles that most porcelain and ventriloquist's dolls have, which is probably why I feel perfectly at ease around them.

And then I found these Living Dead dolls: http://cgi.ebay.nl/Living-dead-doll...egoryZ32QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem on Ebay and I WAS creeped out. What on earth is the appeal in zombie babies??

 

I have exactly one point to make. X-Files, Season Five, Episode Chinga. "Let's play! *insert the Hokey-Pokey*" *shudder*

BJDs are just gorgeous though, and I've never thought otherwise. *hugs her girlie* ​

 

Some of these views are really interesting! I never would have considered the death/corpse aspect of why some people are afraid of dolls. I myself have never been afraid of them, except for these creepy little dolls that looked sort of like the spawn of Chucky I saw in a toystore one day. I don't think they were even meant to look scarey, but they did. Give a kid a doll like that, and they'll be traumatized for life.

The bjds though...I honestly can't see how anyone could be afraid of them (except for the creepy eye-staring thing). But they're just so...beautiful! They remind me of three dimensional anime or manga characters which, as obsessed as I am with anime and manga, is a complete must-have in my book.

About the only time I can remember ever being afraid of a doll was when I was really, really young, maybe only four or five years old. I was watching some old movie on television, and there was this scene...I hardly even remember it, but I get the impression that a family was riding in some sort of car or space craft or something, and in the back of this car there was a Raggedy Anne sort of doll. It was just laying there, and then suddenly it slooooowly began to sit up, turned halfway around to look at the people sitting in front of it, and then sloooowly laid back down again. All by itself. Even to this day that scene sticks in my mind, and it creeps me out, but I'm still not afraid of dolls, themselves. lol

 

The people in my office think I'm a bit silly or nutty for liking dolls (I also go on about Blythe and Pullip oh and my cat obsessively). But I don't care 'cos they're boring anyway and my boyf totally understands my interests. Its usually close minded individuals that spout off a bad opinion about these lovely dolls.

 

well, when I was a kid..my aunt from Gorgia used to bring me dolls. Porclian dolls barbie dolls you name it. I was little at the time so I was expected to like them but I didn't. I've always liked stuffed animals better. But she didn't know that so once when she was visiting she got me this creepy clown doll. It was a porclian doll. And honestly, it creeped me out. I hated that thing. It was always watching me kinda. I hate clown dolls and heres why, I had a nightmare about that stupid thing..and well watching Chuckie before I went to bed wasn't helping either. So the stupid thing turned ME into a doll and started to take me apart. when I woke up I was terrified out of my mind and there was that stupid doll next to my bed right when I woke up. So I took it and smashed it against the floor as hard as I could. Then I cryed. Not because I felt bad. I was more then happy to get rid of that thing. I was crying because I knew I'd get in trouble for breaking it. and sure enough, I did. Now western clown dolls give me the creeps!>< you know the big shoes, colourful makeup those clowns. Jesters I'm fine with. I don't know why. So BJDs are kind of a relif for me. I don't find them at all creepy even ones with red eyes and stuff. Even some porclian dolls but no clown dolls. Even real clowns but if it's a doll I'll freak out....it's weird...

 

My nephew doesn&#8217;t like dolls to this day, and im assuming it was because his mother let him watch horror movies that included &#8216;evil & alive&#8217; dolls when he was really young, and nobody ever bothered to reassure him that what happened in the movies couldn&#8217;t ever happen in real life. He knows better now, of course, but they still weird him out.

My friend Andrew didn&#8217;t care for my doll&#8217;s legs, for whatever the reason, but was fine with the rest of him. Something about the joints or the way they looked. I have no idea what was behind that, and I doubt I ever will. So I told him I&#8217;d have Maki in a pair of pants next time he saw him, and he said that would be good. XD

So far, none of my female friends have had any issues with my doll. They all love him to bits.

My mom told me that I cried because of a doll my grandparents gave me when I was three or so, but she said its eyes also rolled back when you laid it down and it make 1980&#8217;s quality baby noises too.
Other than that incident, which I don&#8217;t remember, I haven&#8217;t had any problems with any dolls during my life. Well, there are always some you dont care for, but none really freak me out. :3

 

I only had one doll that I was afraid of and to this day I'm convinced she was haunted/possesed/evil/etc. I just ticked her off and I thought she would eat my face. I've never had any fear of BJDs. Unless they were the ones in the several halloween creepy posts.
With dolls, particularly bjds, it shows something small and life like. My friend Kristina said that they looked alive and it made her skin crawl. All I've heard is the fear of some kind of conscious thought system or life. It rather boggles my brain to think of it, so I don't really know.

 

I Just checked out the link provdied earlier http://members.tripod.com/~Motomom/index-3.html

Scary!!!!

 

My girlfriend has had a long-standing phobia of dolls. She's actually working hard on getting through it because she knows I lovelovelove BJDs and I'm so incredibly grateful to her - I feel like I should just, I don't know, not like them or something, but that's ridiculous too.

But. I know in her case, it's sort of a spiritual thing. Because dolls are purposefully humanlike, she feels like the creation of them is sort of "playing god" in a golum/voodoo doll/etc kind of way - creating something that we know to be lifelike and then doing whatever we want to it. It's also tied into the fact that as a small child she experimented with her Barbies, giving them weird haircuts, taking them apart, or swapping out their heads, and developed a huge guilt complex, wondering if they were going to be angry with her and take revenge. So part of it is this feeling that the dolls don't WANT to do the things we make them do.

Her particular fear are porcelain dolls because they're super-lifelike in places and then not at all in others. Interestingly enough, though, she's just started being able to look at pictures with me and isn't creeped out by most of the BJDs that I like. We looked at pictures on DoA together and she was able to enjoy it.

I think a lot of people have similar feelings. The idea that dolls are innately lifelike is very frightening because they feel that they could become animate. Also, the media representations of dolls as evil are pretty ingrained in people from a young age. I guess I'm lucky that as an only child, dolls were always my friends.

 

Oh - I forgot to add, I have a fear of dolls as well, but my fear is completely based on INanimate dollls. For example: there's a scene in the redone Texas Chainsaw Massacre where the camera pans to a broken doll by the entrance to the house; there's a Pierrot doll, I think, as well, inside the house. I'm really creeped out by broken dolls or dolls without eyes because they symbolize death to me. A similar scene exists in Schindler's List. Usually these movies are intentionally using these broken childhood toys to indicate that the owner has died or been violated, &/or that innocence no longer exists in this place -- because otherwise, the (presumably child) owner would keep a close eye on their beloved doll. Similarly, eyes represent the spirit and so dolls without eyes represent a loss of spirit or a loss of life. Creepy!

...we're not going to get into how much I don't want to deal with it if I get a "random choice" of eyes and it's the wrong color. XD Haha. I was telling Jessi, I really just want to get my doll shipped to whoever does the faceup, have them assemble it completely the right way, and have them ship it to me totally the way I want it. I don't want to have to see any of my chars in pieces. Creep-tastic.

 

I have a friend whose theory is that many people say/think they are afraid of dolls because it's TRENDY, just like it's also trendy to say you're afraid of clowns or don't like various pop singers. I'm not saying this is everyone's reason, of course, but I honestly do believe it is a big part of it. Fear of dolls is accepted and embraced in pop culture.