They are just dolls, where do you draw the line?

I always remember that it's playing pretend.

That doesn't mean that my dolls aren't important to me. That doesn't mean they have stories to tell me, or that I should feel bad about mentally carrying on 'conversations' with them. (My OT doll Annabel is a brat, and it's hilarious.) It's fun to play pretend, and I think it's pretty healthy.

It becomes unhealthy when you can't step back and say "this is me having imaginative playtime". That's where I draw the line, anyway.

It's fun to say "Well Annabel really wanted this, so I had to get it for her" or "Annabel hated going out for this photoshoot but I made her anyway" or "Annabel loathes snow, that's how you know she's a true Georgian." But I think that as long as everyone recognizes we're saying this in a spirit of fun, and working within that playing pretend, we're okay. That's one of the joys of dolls. It stops being fun when the person thinks of it as being reality, when they cannot say "I am playing pretend and now I am going to stop". That's when a hobby turns into a tyrannical delusion.

 

My dolls are very important to me, but I don't consider them anything more than dolls. I impress feelings and personalities on them because they have cute little faces and/or they represent characters of mine, but I don't treat them like real people.

 

To me they are just dolls and something that i can make my own by dressing and painting them the way I want. I cant stand haveing a nude for the fact its not right to me and people dont like it. I do have a attachment to them because they are my own kind made up doll. you cant get anything like that so I guess that is want Make them so lovely. I do draw the line at dolls having souls low. Its just a doll.

 

Theyre always dolls and I dont interact with them in any emotional way, I dont talk to them or take them places, or let them watch films with me. They usually stay in my attic room and then Ill think 'Itll be nice to go change the dolls around' and Ill go change the clothes, fix their hair, move them around in their set. I guess thats my level of interaction with them.
I guess I joke to other people as thought they are little humans though, if one of my dolls has been modelling some clothes all day for photographs Ill say something like 'Yeh Lucy is pretty pissed off after all that standing about today'. Or like recently when I tucked my naked Soom Lazule into the spare bed for my guest to find and I remarked how hes cold, but its always in a tongue in cheek way. Im not the type to feel like I have to put them in a coat if theyre cold or talk to them out loud.
As for them being naked, they sometimes are laid about naked just because I am using them to make clothes etc and people have seen them this way. I only have people round to my house who are my greatest friends so they dont care what state the dolls are in, but I would dress or move them out of the way if I knew it may be a problem (such as a friends child). Otherwise if the gas man comes in I dont bother moving them out of weird poses or anything, and have a good laugh about it afterwards when I have seen them eyeing them.

 

Mine have always been a bit more than just resin hunks to me, I'm not attached to "characters" that inspired me to get them, I rather just got them and let the "character" come out of them, such as they are usually indecent for a while (in my room) because I have to know them before I can clothe them. I keep mine in my living room on the mantle and every time I look at them I am filled with joy and happiness that I spent the money I did on them (probably well over 600 between the two of them, they're MSDs).

Every time I touch them I am reminded that they are more than "just dolls" to me, granted that I don't worry about "accessories for them to play with" or "what they want for dinner" or "who they like and don't like that come over" nor do I put them above things that need to be done (school work, working, time with friends and family) but they're just a very much so favorite hobby of mine, and they're exceptionally beautiful and I keep them looking that way (no scrap clothing for my dollies...) and everyone whose come in my house and looked at them has been like "wow they are really pretty" or a comment on their personality which makes me more confident that them being "just dolls" is an understatement.

 

I guess you could say mine are more than dolls but less than living

 

I joke about my dolls' character personalities with my girlfriend, speak for them on occasions, claim they act on their own accord and make their own decisions about things, I keep them nearby while playing video games, working on artwork and watching movies, but at the end of the day, but at the end of the day, they're still just inanimate objects.

I still think it's fun to play around with them while saying things like, "Oh great, you messed up his wig. Now he's pissed," or "He's gonna kill me in my sleep for making him wear that." It's fun to pretend they have distinct personalities and emotions toward things, but that's just my overactive imagination amusing itself. They're just pricey hunks of resin, but I think that little hint of imaginative play gives them at least a little bit of life (figuratively speaking, of course).

 

I've never thought they were more than just dolls. I do have a sentimental attachment to them - some more than others - but in the end they are just dolls.

 

Of course they are just dolls, but mere as the realization is, they still mean very much to me. I guess you could take a postmodernist-esque perspective on the way I treat my dolls; they are as real as I make them out to be. Sure they are shells for characters, but I prefer to behave with them as though they are intangible people, though now tangible thanks to doll form. I'm not trying to blur this into "ghosts/spirits in dolls"..but basically I treat my dolls as well as I can. If they represent people, I'd like to think I am free to somewhat treat them existentially as such.

 

I don't have to stop and realize they're just dolls; I know that every day. Doesn't mean I don't treasure them and it doesn't mean I don't sometimes pretend-play that they're the characters I've created them to be.

Not a big deal to have them nude, but while they're not stored, I prefer to have them wearing the clothes and accessories I've purchased and carefully selected for them.

 

I dont want them naked, if ppl gone see them.

 

I'm fully aware that my doll is just a doll. I don't like having her sit around naked because I'm just not really comfortable with it. I will feel guilty for not buying/making her clothing because I've had her for almost 2 years now and she has a very tiny wardrobe. I feel like I've spent so much money on getting a doll, so I should dress her up a little. I really like my doll and do have a sentimental attachment to her, but I don't really think I'll ever be obsessed with her.

 

I've been a role player since I was 5 atleast... so I've had almost 20 years of creating characters and writing them/Role playing them in various formats. So while I adore my dolls and interacting with them - I most certainly don't think of the doll itself as alive or feeling. Any emotions or thoughts I may say in regards to my dolls are created by me for fun - and I'm well aware of that. I prefer to have them dressed for the weather and done up nicely because I like beautiful things and as a large investment I want to maximize their effect. I don't take my dolls out alot but I do like to sit with them nearby or hold them and fiddle with their hands - not because I think they feel anything but because it brings me simple pleasure.

 

The fact that they are just dolls is one of the best things about them. I say this as someone who deeply loves solitude. Dolls, with the proper amount of imagination, offer some companionship at least while requiring very little in return. It is deeply relaxing to be around dolls, for me. And when the time comes, you can take off their hair, take out their eyes, take them apart scrub their face with toxic chemicals and then spray it with other, equally toxic ones. You can totally change their appearance at a whim. You can't do that with a human.

For almost two years, I had a headless body sitting around. It never bothered me. I kept intending to get a head for it and procrastinating on it. However, my partner was bothered to see this nude body sitting around unloved and he told me it was time to get a head for it. In a surprising twist, she has turned into one of my favourite dolls. I have bonded very strongly with her.

The process of fitting bodies to personalities is illustrative, I think. I have never successfully forced an existing character into a doll on the first try. The characters never properly fit the body. In fact, I only have one doll now who embodies a character that I created before I bought her. And I had to try twice to get a body that worked. However, if I get a doll and just see what works for it, I am much more successful. To me this seems to be evidence of the personality growing from what can be projected onto the doll, rather than something more potentially pathological.

 

I know that to all of us our dolls are important, sometimes irreplacable and of sentimental, but when do you stop to realize they are just dolls?
I never stop thinking they are dolls. But I have a problem with the "just" dolls... They are dolls that are very special to me. Some other dolls are "just" dolls, maybe, but not my bjds.

I don't think they are alive or have feelings or have souls or anything like that. I don't sit and watch tv with them. I don't cuddle with them. I don't take them out for their benefit. They are inanimate objects. But I do take care of them to make sure they aren't over-exposed to the sun or broken or damaged, etc. I take care of them because they are very precious pieces of resin-- precious to me... and if I ever sold them, probably worth paying for and taking care of to some other person, too.

What is your general feeling of having your doll nude, does it highly offend you or do you feel it's just a doll it is not a big deal, do you talk to your dolls when it isn't play time?
It doesn't offend me. It is still nude and nudity in general (doll or statue or painting or not) sometimes bothers people, so that's something. It doesn't bother me, but I like my dolls clothed. I don't see the point of them lying about nude when I have nice clothes for them to wear and show off. Although, some of the bodies are quite nice and I don't mind seeing them lying about nude... I've done it on-purpose every once in a while... while I'm thinking about what to clothe them in, or when I'm painting or blushing them, or taking photos or something.

What other things? where do you draw the line and remember that they are only dolls?
If I am identifying them with a character, I will think that the character would or would not like this or that, but I still never forget they are dolls. I will PRETEND they are characters and refer to them as characters sometimes and maybe will talk about them or to them as if they could hear, but I KNOW they are dolls and aren't the characters and can't hear me. I have a very strong idea of what is real and what isn't... I enjoy fantasy because it isn't real life... not because I think it's real. And I enjoy my dolls for being dolls and being able to play about with them and pretend and joke around. It's fun.

 

What is your general feeling of having your doll nude does it highly offend you or do you feel it's just a doll it is not a big deal?

I have absolutely no issues with nudity in general, so needless to say, my dolls being nude doesn't bother me in the slightest. Why should it? The human body (or in this case, the resin representation) is nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed of.

Do you talk to your dolls when it isn't play time?

Absolutely. I'm well aware that they aren't real, and that they're certainly not going to talk back, but I do so love to pretend and just have fun with it. Why not, after all? They're not just 'pretty objects' to sit around and collect dust, to me. They represent original characters of mine, and I find that very inspiring.

 

I never forget that my dolls are just dolls. I treat them as well as any of my other expensive possessions. I do talk to them, but then again, I talk to my electronic equiptment, my car, particularly trying situations and empty air.

I have no qualms about leaving them naked. The bodies are so elegantly sculpted, it seems a shame to cover them up. I love looking at the joints and jointing systems. I'm also perfectly fine with leaving them lounging around eyeless, wigless, bodyless or headless, except that certain members of my family are kinda creeped out by the dollies. I also have no qualms about depantsing my dolls to demonstrate their physical genders, in public or otherwise, though I do try to do it quickly so as to not offend anyone who could happen to catch a glimpse. It was actually surprising to me to see people getting upset about doll nudity, but I've gotten used to it over the years. To each his own, yea?

The elastic stringing of the dolls sometimes causes them to move in certain ways in different situations, and, having a storyteller's mind, I like to make up reasons why it could happen (eg. 'He's scared of tinies! LOL', 'D'aww, look how happy they are. They're cuddling.'). In the end, they are only spontaneous stories about my possessions, rather than any real belief that they are more than just dolls.