Pediophobia

I dont think there is any real one reason someone is afraid of dolls. There are all kinds of ways someone could be frightened. There is the "uncanny valley" affect, where if an object appears to real or realistic but we know it isnt alive, there is also the death doll thing where dolls resemble dead children, traumatic experiences, eyes, and so on and so on..

Dolls were also used long long ago before they were seen as childrens' toys, for vassels for the dead. They were made for those who died. There are also voodoo dolls. It is also said that souls tend to attatch themselves to things that are human like in appearance.

So dolls have a connection with death, and this could also be a reason that people are so unnerved by them. Its a instinctual thing. The same reason we are afraid of the dark. The thing with eyes is instinctual as well. Eyes are a window to the soul and emotions. Alot of people dont like it when people cover there eyes, because we cant see what there mood is and its unnerving to us. Doll eyes, for most, are emtionless, but have that unnerving feeling of watching you and staring, and as preditory animals we do not like being stared at.

Thats my take on it anyhow.

 

I experienced that People are afraid of thing they dont understand, if they came to know more about the habby they would probablie like them,
my mother is a little afraid of them becouse they look so real!!, and there we are again by understanding, they cant understang something as an object could be alive (just what they thing wenn they see those real looking dolls),
but well, thats my oppinion, hope my english wasent too bad

 

I know my big thing, at least with my family and friends, is why an adult would want to play with dolls. They don't see them as anything more than a child's toy. I know some people think my dolls are creepy, probably because of the 'too-human' look to them, being properly proportioned, instead of 'oh-so-cuddly' like a child's doll would be. These aren't really meant to be 'children's' toys, though.

Honestly, I think the uncanny-ness of them is really what gets most people. The fact that they look so human, but aren't.

 

From an objective standpoint, I can completely understand. The size of 60+ bjd automatically click in the mind as children just as a symbol recognition thing. You know, if you see a large bjd out of the corner of your eye you immediately think a small child is there. And then with that realism in mind it falls straight to uncanny valley (for example in animation when they try to make characters too realistic and it comes off as sincerely disgusting and off-putting) On a side note that's why animation has such exaggerated eyes, cheeks, proportions- to avoid the whole extra effort required for 100% lifelike fluid movement /probably/ (but seriously how many years are spent animating hair and minute facial movement)

That sounded somewhat researched, but it's more of an instinctual cultural thingy where everyone is like, "holy crap what. Wow creepy." and some idiots just stay stuck on that first stage.

Anything fantasyish and not humanish is treated more /different than symbol recognition and therefore more of a new thing? And also elves already have a creepily beautiful pop culture impression going on so it's what people expect.

Personally that kind of reaction skipped right over me and went straight to "woooow that is absolutely amazing I must learn more" but whatever you're used to or trained your mind about I guess. But I am super put out by lifelike child dolls western style, not even disgusted or scared, just sort of whiny whenever I see one. I don't like them. /shrugs off into the distance

 

On a different subject, dolls just don't creep me out. They leave zero impression. They have the same intimidation factor as a stuffed alpaca, and I say that because there's one in front of me. When people go, "Oh man I saw this movie once and dolls started leaking blood and killing people and that is why I am a traumatized," it's pretty much the exact same as hearing "This stuffed alpaca went on a godzilla rampage and started staring and blinking a lot in this one tvshow and now I'm terrified of stuffed alpacas," I cannot even parse.

Also, the spark of intelligence granted by glass eyes and carefully sculpted expressions makes me super fascinated with bjds, they are so awesome. I love that it looks detailed or something? Argh, I can't pin down why I'm so fascinated. I've always loved mini and functional things, maybe it's related. So poof! Viewpoint of someone who can't make herself scared of dolls even on purpose.

Regarding babies: I'm fine with them. Not in a hurry to own one, or even be near one, but they are adorable little butt faces. And I'm weirdly good with them too, toddlers especially like following me around. I shamelessly play and chat with them, though, so that is probably it. Not a fan of the crying baby in the middle of the freaking night thing though. Eck.

Regarding childhood: I liked creeping myself out in a quiet dark room in the middle of a night with moonlight illuminating treebranches through my curtains and not a sound in the house and stuffed animals lined up on my headboard. Then I fell asleep.

Regarding things that I'm actually creeped out by: religious fanatics. They make me uncomfortable.

That's... about... it? Hm. It's just- it's really easy to justify fears away. I'm also afraid... of torture? And... being a dentist. I mean sticking hands in people's mouths all day, gross. That got really off topic, but nothing doll related creeps me out.

Sorry this thread is just very interesting.

 

"One of the repeating comments most of us got was that the dolls looked like "beautiful corpses of children."

enigmadoll: That is the very thing that upsets my husband about the clay sculpts of babies & the reborns. He says they look like dead babies after they've been "made-up" for the funeral. He isn't off-put by BJD's like that. I think it's because you can see the flow of the joints & the movement, even when they are still, there is a song flowing through them. The clay & reborns are stiff, there is music inside of them just like the BJDs, but sadly there's no dance.

I love all dolls, not just BJDs & that is what upsets me when others look at them & say things like that. You can see the beauty in them if you are a doll person, but they cannot express it for themselves... BJDs can & I'm certain that is what helped my hubby accept them over other dolls I collect.

 

smallricochet, that stuffed alpaca just made my day.

Some dolls do look "creepy" to me, but that's mainly porcelain / antique ones with unnaturally painted, "staring" eyes. In normal humans with a relaxed expression, the iris is always partly covered by the upper eyelid - in some antique dolls it's fully visible, giving that uncanny "staring" look that tends to creep people out. While I find them kind of creepy and wouldn't get one, I don't think I could honestly say they scare me. Also I don't like reborns, but I didn't really like baby dolls as a kid (preferred the older-looking ones with hair), so that might just be me.
So far no one has reacted negatively to my BJD, but not many people have seen her yet either. My boyfriend's Mom didn't even notice her when she came to visit a few weeks ago, she only had eyes for the boyfriend's forever-under-construction Lego dioramas. (Can you tell we're freaks? )

 

I've never been scared of any kind of dolls. Actually waaay more scared of bugs xD I don't like small things that move very fast. I've always been obsessed with ghosts and other creepy things, and I want a bjd that I can take scary pictures with (like those koitsukihime dolls that someone mentioned) but I fear it wouldn't work out because of the way my mind works 99% of the time xD I love my cutesy things too, and haven't really seen a bjd I want that I'd manage to make look creepy.
More on topic, I've only ever had one reaction to my dolls where someone actually said they were creepy... she was making charms that were used to be used to bewilder demons so they got distracted, and she said if she had one of those dolls in her room she'd have to have a lot of these charms.

 

As a side note, I think it's the eyes of many porcelain folks that terrify me. They're fixed in an almost sadistic way, and it's unsettling. That's why I always leave whites showing in my dolls' eges; it's a natural, calm position that doesn't make me uneasy.

 

I've always had dolls, but I will admit that the eps of Friday the 13th the Series with the Doll that was killing people sort of freaked me out a bit.

 

I agree about the eye thing...Maybe that's why I like looking for eyes that have more..Layers to speak instead of just a flat out green eye or blue eye. I want something that looks like it could have something hiding behind them. I got dark brown eyes that looked like it had gold flecks in them for my first doll and when I look at her I don't see anything but an almost happy look...Though she has her glaring moments too.

Actually creepy is what I wanna go for...For people who don't like certain aspects of things. My boy's going to be decked out in Pentagrams, Ankh's, Crosses, his eyes will have pentagrams in them too...He'll be creepy but he'll be cute too. I LIKE that theme.

 

As a young child, I wasn't particularly interested in dolls. I had Barbies, but my primary interest was in action figures. It may have had something to do with the characters' personalities. Barbie always seemed vapid to the point of stupidity to me, long before I knew the word vapid, while my Star Trek: the Next Generation figures were people I already knew since I watched the show almost religiously. They had personalities, relationships, and such, and this made them all the more real to me. I still to this day collect action figures, and most of my dolls are of characters I know from pre-existing stories so I have a similar relationship with them as I always had with the action figures.

While I'm not afraid of dolls and never have been, I find myself repulsed in varying degrees by dolls that resemble children. With the exception of Halloween, I generally dislike children, something you'd understand if you'd grown up around the kids I grew up around or worked where I work. Childlike bjds I'm simply not attracted to, and baby dolls I find revolting. I can see why people who like children would be into those reborn dolls, but I will likely never own one. Am I compensating for a lack of children through my dolls? I highly doubt it, considering I have never thought of them as children, let alone as MY children. I've never wanted children and I'm not about to start wanting them anytime soon.

Another thing to consider as to why one might find dolls or doll-collectors creepy is the potential for sexualizing a doll, which I think explains why some outsiders may believe male doll-collectors to be perverts or pedo-bears. We do tend to give our adult dolls their own sexuality as it's a natural part of an adult personality, whether they be very sexual, asexual, gay, straight, whatever. This could be interpretted to mean that we think of our dolls in a sexual way, especially since the vast majority of bjds are anatomically correct to some degree or another. Some of us do. Let's face it: some dolls are hot. Does that mean we're perverts who think of any doll or even all our dolls in a sexual manner? No, but that's what it looks like to some people. Granted, those are usually the same people who think there are hidden satanic messages in their fruit loops and that whatever musician they happen to find distasteful is corrupting the youth of the world.

tl;dr I'm not scared of dolls, but some people have rather odd thought processes.

 

This is a really interesting topic... I had no idea so many reactions to bjds were death and children's corpses.

I've never thought of death or been uncomfortable around dolls, actually I think the opposite.
I have a hard time dealing with death when it comes to someone very close to me....
To me... these dolls NEVER die.. turn yellow maybe, but not die. They are alive but not.. like.. little vampires..
They are and will always be there.
My emotions and feelings are projected on to them also, making them feel more alive to me..
It's also like giving your cat a personality and emotions while to other people a cat is just a cat.

I'm kind of rambling, I hope I make sense right now lol.

Anyway, All the adults I've shown them to usually think they are cute, sexy, or treat them like LIVE children -not talking to them as such but fondling them and staring at them as they would a child.

I haven't had a negative reaction from anyone yet, and death NEVER came up before. I've never even heard anyone say creepy before. Maybe it's where I live?

 

I have never been afraid of dolls. Since childhood, I have been very comfortable with them and have enjoyed having them around. However, occasionally there is an individual doll that I find disturbing. These are usually the more ghoulish or strangely rendered BJDs. Don't like a lot of blood, don't enjoy strange looking dolls.

 

I've never been afraid of dolls, persay, but I was never all that interested in them until recently.

I can see why people would equate some dolls with death, and I think that may be why the people who are afraid I've asked (my brother, and my husband) about it say that it's not my doll who creeps them out (she's a lilac skin BBB Elfkin), but the more realistic child-like dolls, especially the ones with "sleeping faces".

The only doll I've ever found disturbing was a child doll my father bought mother once, it was its' expression, a sort of frozen scream

 

I've never been afraid of dolls, although some of the more gory ones creep me out. But I have a friend who is unnerved by some dolls, mainly the large porcelain ones. Probably because of the whole idea of creepy murder dolls that come awake and try to kill you (Chucky, I think it was).

 

I'm really not trying to be picky or call you out personally, but I've seen this said a few times, and can't find any real reference to it elsewhere. Where did you hear/read it? Totally curious and like I said, no ill intentions or anything.

 

I love this topic, it's so interesting!

I'm a Wiccan and have been for almost nine years now, and so I'm very into the idea that objects, people, places all have energies about them. It explains why some area creep people out or why some objects make others uncomfortable. My grandparent's house on my dad's side is one of those places for me. My dad can sleep in it just fine, no problem, but whenever we visit (it's a vacation home they rarely use as well, which is bad for places because things accumulate in emptiness) I literally cannot sleep ANYWHERE in the house until the sun starts to rise. I can't go into certain rooms without worrying the door will close on me and I only feel safe in the main bathroom and the dining room XD one reason is because it's left empty for months at a time without any human interaction inside, and another is because my grandma is clinically insane and dabbles in really, really bad stuff sometimes. It's the same thing with the guest bedroom in my house, I can't go in it without wanting to run out of it screaming. There are just places that gather strange energies that repel people from them because something odd is in there that humans know instinctively to avoid.

I believe the same is true for dolls and objects. My doll very definitely has a personality. Doll energy is strange, and it can be unnerving at times. I'm afraid to have my Living Dead Doll out of her box at night for more than an hour because she has a sad, unsettling energy about her that makes me uneasy (and she's the least graphic looking one of the bunch!). I put my doll's head in a shoebox, preparing for his MSC base the night before I actually got to do it, and I had to take him out and put him back together an hour later because I could feel how scared and upset he was to be in the box from across the room. Then I held him for five minutes straight with his face buried in my shirt, apologizing. People are more in tune to these energies than many of them realize, and since they don't understand it, that might be why it repels them from a doll-they're unused to receiving that kind of odd energy dolls radiate.

It could also be the fact that dolls are very human like. BJDs definitely have an ethereal look about them, but they still look like tiny humans, if exaggerated even slightly. There have been studies done where an audience was shown a video of characters interacting (as a video game/digital movie prototype), where the graphics were so realistic that the characters were indistinguishable from real people, and it freaked people out. Automatically, people were uneasy and disturbed, even though they thought the characters were real actors. There's a part of our minds that tells us instinctively when something is off about a human being-be they real or simulated. The alien quality of dolls tends to get to some people sometimes, because that red light is going off in their heads saying, "This looks human, but don't be fooled-it's not and that could be very dangerous."

A fear of children could stem from the fact that children (while they can be very gullible) are very honest. Blatantly so, sometimes XD And there are some who can't really face such honesty due to whatever reason. I personally think children are super precious, if annoying at times, and I appreciate their honesty (even if it can make things awkward).

Personally, I don't really like porcelain/china/antique dolls or the hyper realistic baby dolls. Or anatomically correct baby dolls. Or baby dolls in general. They take on malevolent energies sometimes and are so alien in their human-like qualities that it just...I just can't XD I have two porcelain dolls, both gifts, but both are half hidden in my room and I don't touch them.

 

http://www.cauldronliving.com/spells-charms/7395-poppets-much-more-than-just-voodoo-dolls.html

Dolls and doll like figures have been used for a long, long, long time in pagan and voodoo/hoodoo and other magic based practices. They're referred to as dolls, poppets, voodoo dolls, etc. and are used to represent people in magic workings and rituals. They could very well be used as vessels for the souls of the dead; I don't doubt that they were at one point or still are used that way. Poppet magic is very strong since it's so heavily symbolic, it was mainly used to lift curses, bind negativity, heal sicknesses, OR on the other side, to curse, to cause illness, or to cause general negativity (even death). It's dangerous stuff if you don't know what you're doing XD from what the original person was saying, it seems like maybe dolls could have been used as vessels for the souls that didn't have a body to take them to the afterlife, so their souls were bound to the dolls and then probably burned to release them to the afterlife.

I hope that helps you can google "history of poppets/poppet magic" and things should crop up for you ^^

 

I used to be terrified of dolls, especially porcelain/antique ones. Once I started getting into BJDs I saw dolls as beautiful rather than creepy.