Treat dolls like children, friend, or simply just as an inanimate object?

I think treating them as children is a little odd :/ i've seen people bring them in their car in baby car seats, thats not normal in my opinion LOL

 

hmmmm.... I don't know if I mind if people don't treat their doll like a child, probably not.... but I guess I do feel a bit upset inside if I see a friend who seems to not care about a doll as much as she used to.... but I think that I can be accused of that for sure.... My first two dolls I never had any emotional attachment to, I think they just pleased me aesthetically. They were like what you said, I put them on a shelf. Changed their clothes if I bought new ones, maybe took them out for photos but didn't really have any emotional attachment to them. Then I got my third doll, and it was totally different. I became completely attached to her.... I am not sure if it was the doll so much as my life at the time perhaps haha but maybe thats for the freudian thread :P!!! I am now, still attached more to my third doll. Keeping all three, and even getting a fourth.... I will see how the fourth goes ^O^v,.

 

My dolls are more of a decoration in my room~ I treat them as a three dimensional paintings where I can modify it all the time. They are sitting at a background where I change themes time to time with their costumes and wigs. And often I just love to photograph them~

 

How do I treat my dolls? I'm waiting for my first BJD to arrive, and I plan to display her in my home office to keep me company while I work, also to dress, pose, photograph, plus do sewing and knitting for her. I sold my previous fashion doll collection, because the dolls mostly stayed in storage. I realized later how much I missed having dolls in my life and discovered BJDs. What a difference in my emotional reactions to an inanimate object! I'm going to give this doll a name and a personality, and she will brighten my days.

 

I feel like I am kind of in the middle as far as how I treat my doll, I'll hold him, dress him, maybe tell him how handsome he looks and put him in my bed, but I know he's just an inanimate object and I certainly don't let other people see me handling him to that degree.

 

I refer to them as my kids since I don't have any real ones of my own. They each have distinct personalities and quirks. I treat them as people even if they are inanimate objects. I do spoil them quite often too.

 

I think its more like treating them like a pet. I talk to them a little, make sure theyre clean and properly taken care of, but mostly they just do their own thing and hang out

Also, every time I skim the forum I accidentally read the title of this thread as "Treat dolls like chicken..."

 

LOL @Cydril I saw chicken as well!!

I treat my dolls more or less like children. I don't talk to them but I do buy a lot of stuff for them and clean them. I do create different personalities for each and take them out for photos and stuff.

 

I'm already attached to my first doll, LeaAlix. She goes with me most places, sits next to me at work on the computer (I have my own little private office at work, so nobody knows!). I often feel like she's looking right at me. Her stare when she has her original blue eyes in is so direct and almost challenging.

My second doll, Niall, hasn't really spent as much time with me, yet. For one thing, I am still waiting on his wig to get home, though I've sewn him a handmade fuzzy wig, a handsome suit and kitted him out with pretty green eyes. He just isn't that good-looking without hair! I feel like he will probably go more places and develop more of his own personality when he has a proper wig. Plus, he has a kind of oddly sarcastic smirk on his face. I think I need a new face-up for him.

 

I treat mine as a very dear friends. I talk to them, cuddle them. Treat the well in general. i NEVER think of them as just objects. They are family. Each with their own feelings and personality.

 

Some people see their dolls as very expensive art pieces and don't get overly attached, others buy them for companionship or just for the fun of working on them and dressing them up.
I guess for me, I see them as kinda like pets.
They're your little buddies you can turn to for comfort when you're feeling down.

As for people who see them like their children, I can understand that.
We take care of them, clean them, dress them....do everything for them so I can see how the brain would make that kinda relation.

Either way, I always thought it was healthy to hold onto your childish side.
It makes life a little more interesting and fun! There is nothing wrong with imagining your dolls are 'real'.

As for people who don't see it that way, and are very much 'This is resin art I collect and nothing more' well, that's what they get out of the hobby and that's fine.
Everyone has their own reasons for buying BJDs.

 

I treat my dolls like they are my own children. I guess that can be viewed as strange or unhealthy, but I have a really strong maternal instinct, and the way I see it, is that dolls are cheaper than getting pregnant and having an actual baby, so it allows me to get all my feelings out without the mess of a real baby

 

Pets is an interesting idea. I guess I treat my dolls like pets, too - or pets that are very, very self-sufficient.

During the course of the day, they usually just hang out on my dresser while I'm away or doing something else. I'll look at them, but they mostly remain there. This is mostly due to time constraints, and not having the supplies to do other projects for them

 

Perhaps i'm a bit nutty, but I tend to treat just about everything in my life as if it's alive. I'll apologize to my laptop if I bump it, feel bad for the radio if I leave it on when no one is listening, and feel like crying over a broken mp3 player, because even if I replace it it's not ever going to be the same one. With dolls, because they look human, it's even easier to treat them that way. But I figure that's just my way of connecting with things in my life, and I know it all comes from my head. And I don't sit and have conversations with them or anything like that.... well, not out loud at any rate xD

 

Fewer dolls more spoiling. ^^ I do treat them very well and adore them so in that sense I guess they are my 'doll children'. ^^;;;;;;

 

To me, my doll, Kihona, is just an inanimate object, but I do like to daydream or imagine about her adventures, stories, and the like. She is after all a character I created years ago.

Sometimes I might refer her as a person, but just around my BJD friends, for example:

"Yeah, I just bought Kihona some Pajamas!"

"If I don't buy this for her, I have a feeling she'll put a knife to my throat"

"Oh yeah, she loves your dollfie, I believe they'll be good friends"

But that's all just in good fun, its not to be taken seriously. I'm also guilty of talking to Kihona too, like "Aw damnit I'm sorry babe, I didn't mean to do that", but just like some earlier posts, its the same with other objects like a video game kicking your butt and you curse at it until you either finish it or throw the controller away.

All said and done, this is just me and everyone else is unqiue in their own way. I won't bash anyone else if they treat their dollfies as children, friends, or objects. (As long as there's no mistreatment, I mean really, spend that much money just to destroy it? But that's for a different thread.)

 

I find it a little strange to treat a doll as if it were a real person, be it a child, a friend, whatever. But I've nothing against it. To each his own, you know? It's just not something I would ever do. However, I wouldn't say I treat my girls like inanimate objects, exactly. That just seems a bit cold. Basically, I treat them like... characters. I don't talk to them (except when I find myself saying, "You're so pretty.") or pretend they have personalities or anything. But I do 'play' with my dolls. I change their clothes, make clothes and toys and food for them. Create scenes in their room diorama and pose them and stuff like that. You could say I treat them people in their own world, separate from myself. They're little characters that I am completely responsible for, and that require some attention, but they are not my children, if that makes any sense.

 

I don't think that people who leave a doll on a shelf are necessarily less fond of their dolls (or love them less, as the OP suggested) than people who actively play with them. It strikes me as a bit unfair to make an assumption like that.

And frankly, even for people who think of their dolls as "alive" in some spiritual sense, I think it's fair to say that they're not actually treating their dolls like a child or pet even if they think of them that way. I mean, presumably they aren't feeding their doll, toilet/litterbox training it, planning for the doll's education or taking the doll to the paediatrician or veterinarian.

 

Hmm, I guess I'd be in the middle camp. My dolls wouldn't be my best friends, that would be plain weird to me but I would occasionally talk to them if dressing or whatever, simple stuff. Thing is, a lot of ABJD's have been created with a specific "look", their characters sometimes really shine out. I have chosen a doll with quite a different look from the pictures I saw so they will be a character of their own but I get the feeling that ceratin dolls would define the clothes you created for them. I really liked the doll Shuiquing, a dikadoll sculpt, the way the doll was posed/dressed etc. gave her a specific persona whereas the doll I eventually ordered is pictured much more demurely and less rough-and-tumble.

I had planned to purchase some SD size trainers for the Dikadoll but wouldn't consider them for the one I ordered, so I guess they do have some sort of personality but I'd draw the line at talking to her everyday even though I did that as a kid to my teddy bear; it would just feel weird as an adult but that's just me

 

I love my boy Vincent. I refer to myself as his mommy and my Fiance as his other mommy. I even named him Vincent as thats what my fiance wanted our first son to be named.