Psychology related to dolls

[chuckles] If I wanted kids... I'd have kids. I wouldn't have dolls. ^_^

Although my mother-in-law does call Teacup my baby... As did some of our fellow airline travellers during a recent trip to Birmingham and back. (Teacup was my "carry-on" personal item. A few people at airports and on our planes got a grin out of that. )

 

I think I like my doll for the mom reason. I don't have any kids right now and with my love life I never will. lol.
But I also think it's control thing to. My life has a child and now as an adult has always seemed out of my hands. Like I couldn't do anything for myself. But my doll being a little me, I can make decsions and be in control. Does that make any sense?

 

I am a Psychologist, and that's what most of my colleagues said when I started bringing my boys to work...but FYI they were JOKING. They can mean MANY things and it will vary from person to person. I actually use my boys as therapeutic tools...though that's not the deciding factor of why I collect them.

 

I already am a Mom. My daughter & I do BJDs together. I love how beautiful the dolls are and creating new looks for them. Maybe now that I don't dress my own daughter anymore (she's 19) I can convince the resin folk to wear what I'm in the mood for.
I do think there is some control psychology involved though. I also was a terrible Sims addict. *grin* Talk about micro managing other people's lives...
But there is some innate magic in these dolls that feeds my inner child. No dolls in my past have been quite so satisfying. I had some great dolls - early Barbies, Ginny, Madame Alexander, and much later American Girl dolls with my daughter when she was young. I think one of the common threads in all these and that I see on other BJD lovers is the urge to create and tell stories.

 

Heh...There are loads of phsycological reasons we do ANYTHING...not just have dolls XD

there are so many theories, I don't really care to look into them. That's why they're theories...no one can tell you exactly what goes on in one's brain

 

Hmm ~ interesting spin from the good doctor ~ but I think it's mostly about enjoying the beauty of the dolls and the different forms of creativity that BJD's inspire in their owners. And I'm willing to bet that the doctor in question is not a doll or toy collector / fan ~ Wonder what sort of expensive "toys" the doc spends money on? Golf, boating, private planes, lavish trips??? Really, it's all a matter of point of view. Me, I just enjoy my dolls' beauty and have fun customizing them, making outfits, photographing them, and using them as creative muses for my artwork and writing. Anyway, to each their own!

P.S. ~ We have kids in our family and pets, so plenty of folks and critters to "mother"! lol

Best wishes,
earth.spirits

 

Pretty much describes me.
I want to be a mommy so bad, and I think of dolls as children.

 

I don't think non-doll owners are ever very accurate about us, or anything having to do with dolls, really. Ones mindset really changes once they finally hold the doll in their hands and live with it for months.

It's an interesting theory, on paper, but I don't think it applies to many ABJD owners.

 

For me dolls express a facet of myself.

I've always felt like there were too many of me to be in just one body, one time, one landscape. Having many dolls (BJD or otherwise) helps me see myself in different forms/times/worlds.

I have one real kid... but I don't feel like I'm the ultimate "Mom" type. My dolls are definitely not my kids. They're all me!
Hmm... maybe I'm a terrible egoist!
Haha!

Raven

 

I'm taking psychology this semester in my high school and Sigmund Freud always comes up. Personally, some of the things he came up with I find are very...odd. xD Yes, that seems like a good word, odd. This theory seems like it'd be right up in his alley. I noticed that quite a few people said they'd rather not have children and my mother tells me it's just a feeling that will go away, but I don't think so.

I don't mean to sound mean, but I hate children. DX It's just that... It's too much for me to handle. I know I'm only seventeen, but honestly, I'd rather not become a mother, or get married for that matter. Everyone thinks that being alone makes you lonely, but I'd rather not be surrounded by many people. My doll is my hobby, not a replacement for a child I don't want. I really don't think you can define a group of people based on a conversation with one person.

Everyone's doll means something different to them. For me, it was the yaoi. xD I thought the boys were pretty like in the manga I read. The girls didn't really make me want to buy a doll, but when I saw the boys, that was something different. I'm sure mothers don't purposely make their "sons" gay and I doubt that my doll will ever be something like a "son" to me. Plus, I'm sure mothers don't go hunting for the perfect boyfriend for their "son" either, right? xD

 

Unlike the majority of people who have posted...i actually kind of agree with your friend. THOUGH thats really a simple way aas well as narrow way of saying it. Its 1 theory in an ocean of others. I studied psycology as well.

I find i'm attracted to these dolls for the following reasons:

1.) Their my dream doll from my childhood.

2.) They are a piece of artwork. being an artist it opens up a whole new world of my artistic attributes.

3.) Yes i do feel rather motherly with them. I enjoy caring and holding them....but...i also enjoy that unlike children they are un-needy and wont die. yeah i know it sounds mean but its true.

Thats a quick run down for me...but everyone is different.

 

My Mom after two days seeing me talk about Tempest and interact with her, she said that she was like my child. I guess she is in a way. More like a brain child though. Not someone to pamper, but something to express myself with... which makes me always on the lookout for things for her.

 

I think maybe that's one of the huge reasons I don't like children. They're so needy and fragile. I consider myself responsible and such, but I think to me, a child would only be burden. A doll is different than a real child, though, much different. For one thing, if you drop your doll, they may chip, but you won't go to prison for it. DX When did people come up with the idea to use dolls to train girls about child care? DX I think that idea still hasn't left some people's minds because everyone associates dolls with babies and girls.

 

*giggles a little*

I like dolls because it's really tough for me here in Outofshapepronerdsville to find guys of the right body type to model for my "manga" style elf characters. Plus its fun to dress up boys. :P

Disclaimer: No offense to any out of shape professional nerds intended.

However, if you want to give your psychologist friend some fuel for his fires, lay down this one on him (this is true):

I always wanted to be a boy, since I was a kid. When asked what I was going to be when I grew up I would put my hands on my hips and defiantly declare, "A BOY!" It was all working out really well too until I woke up one morning with breasts. My dreams were dashed. Hips followed. Have not been able to get rid of either. Decided instead of spending the money on surgically altering myself and risking a lot of complications, I could buy or design and build other selves in miniature scale and excuse them as art models. I very distinctly don't want children - to the point of having already corrected that apparatus.

Stick that in your pipe an' smoke it, analysts. :P

 

For me, my dolls are comfort, companionship and the desire to create art...
The only pushing of children is on my family's part, and I for one do not want
to be forced into it... ;-;
I do cradle them like children, though : D
They are like.. smexy servants. ...but they do tend to kick back, so I guess
maybe my will isn't as strong as I though >.<

I actually never played with dolls as a child, and people found that strange.
Now I do, and they seem to think of it as maternal instinct... but I've been turned off
kids ever since something horrible as a child >: O

 

The biggest problem with "pop psychology" is that it's overly simplistic and doesn't take individual personality and experiences into consideration at all. Well, phooey on that! This is an issue that has fascinated me since I first discovered BJDs, watching how people interact with them, listening to the stories people tell. Let's face it, we all know they're not like other dolls. There's something very special about them because each one can be so unique and look so real...just like people themselves. Each one of them can speak to each of us in a completely different way...they tell stories...they're canvases for creativity...they're good listeners...they alow us to express ourselves...and they alow us to hide within them what we can't bring ourselves to express. They're a young girl's romantic notions, an artist's muse, a victim's voice, a tough guy's heart, a recluse's friend, a young man's dreams and an old woman's memories. Look at each one of your BJDs...what is the connection, what is the bond? Whatever it is, you can rest assured it's probably emotional and quite healthy (and yes, that even goes for all those "evil universe" BJD types.) And whatever happiness or creativity or angst you choose to play out with your pint-sized characters is most likely going to keep you off of that psychologist's couch in the future! No wonder he wants to just toss it up to girls wanting make-believe children!

 

as a psychologist I find that particular theory mad! you can't generalise like that! I mean a person sufferning depressed mood couls have almost anything, it is a symptom, not a disorder, by the same token liking dolls could come from any number of sources (and obviously these are not "bad" ok?) from what was asserted, a maternal (or paternal!) instinct through to obsessive compuslive tendencies, hoarding, collecting, atristic persuits...god the list realli is endless and can be perfectly adaptive through to extremely maladaptive, just like any other part of a person's life! Generalisations of that kind are lazy and bad psychology

 

XD I already wanted to be a mom before thinking about buying a bjd...lol I don't think that theory quite works...but it could I guess.

Me wanting a doll is more from an artistic perspective. I want a live model and have my already made characters into 3-D models.