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

Mar 28, 2011

    1. I wouldn't say they are my children, but if any of the above fit it i guess that one would be it.
      I like many owners, fuss over their hair, and clothes, and shoes, and make them things when their wardrobe doesn't have what i think it needs and all that jazz.
      I also make sure their tiny rooms are kept nice and organized, and it seems i never stop buying them things to make their house/room perfect.
      But i'd like to state they aren't my "children", just very spoiled :P
       
    2. I treat them as what they are: really freaking expensive inanimate objects. I take care of them by keeping them clean and safe and I dress them to my satisfaction, but they're nothing more than things to me. I'm a bit paranoid over them sometimes simply because of the money involved, but there's no emotion there beyond wanting to take good care of what I've spent my money on.
       
    3. I think I fall into the category of the doll owner who doesn't treat their doll in a loving manner. Usually my communication with them is in the form of threats and/or snarky comments. I'll dress them and play with their wigs (sometimes even petting them for several minutes) and all that fun jazz, but usually that's because I'm trying to get them ready for a photoshoot.

      Don't get me wrong, though, I do love my dolls. I'm just very, ah, dysfunctional in how I show it.
       
    4. LOL I would never spoil my children the way i spoil my dolls.
       
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    5. I'd say my dolls are somewhere between friends and chunks of resin. I say this because I know that I value them more than just as inanimate objects. I think this has to do with me projecting characters onto them more than anything. I'm not emotional over if I'm bonding with a doll or not. It's a doll. I got it, I like it, but I am also connected to them to the point that it would be extremely hard to get rid of them.
       
    6. I'm on the 'inanimate object' side of things. Talking to your dolls (and thinking that they're alive or even somehow have souls) kind of skeeves me out, but . . . that's just me. (:
       
    7. Children? No, most of my dolls represent adults or teenagers, and I am too young to have children that age. :lol: Maybe the tinies.
      But I like to imagine that they are persons, and they have very detailed characters. So it is easy for me to guess what they would say in certain situations... if they were alive, that is. I know perfectly well that they are inanimate objects. But that doesn't mean that I cannot treat them as friends from time to time. Because for me, it is a big part of the fun.
      I don't "fuss" over them in the way of petting their wigs or pulling at their clothes, but I try to provide them everything they "need" (furniture, clothing, shoes, books for the adults and teens, toys for the tinies, etc). I feel uncomfortable myself if I see my dolls in uncomfortable poses, somehow; and I tend to think that they are lonely when they sit alone. I would also never leave one of the tinies alone, because they represent little kids and need to be supervised by the adult dolls. I talk to them, too.
      But there is a very simple way to turn them back into inanimate objects for me. The moment I put them back into their boxes, or just leave the room they sit in, they stop being "friends" instantly. That is not something I would want to say about a real life friend.;)
      It doesn't matter to me how others treat their dolls, though there are moments when I enjoy seeing someone treating the doll with care and love, because I like seeing people being nice to other people, animals and things.
       
    8. This.

      I talk to pretty much everything... my car, my computer, the cat, you name it... There was never any way my dolls were going to be exempt from that habit. But I don't believe for one second that they're anything more than pretty hunks of plastic. They're toys to me. Inanimate possessions that I value highly and like having around, but refuse to be overly precious about.
       
    9. I treat my dolls kinda like friends I guess. They are defiantly story characters, but still fun to play with.
       
    10. Mine are like a precious piece of art. I like to pretend they come visit me from the fairy Enchanted forest.
      So, I have presents for them when they come, hats, shoes, outfits, etc.
      Like most hobbies they are a part of me.
      ~Michelle~
       
    11. I feel that I have a pretty high tendency to mother anything small and cute X3 So my cat and my dolls are children to me I suppose.
       
    12. I think I'm in the 'pets' camp. (I wouldn't consider them children, because I consider children something negative) I talk to them like I would a pet, like others have expressed. (Yelling at them for kicking or not standing up, asking them questions for which I don't expect answers, etc.) Sometimes I will ask them things like 'Do you want to go with me to -place-?' and things like that, but I don't full on converse with them.

      I also take care of them like I would a pet. Care for their clothes, wigs, bodies, and buy them fun things, and play with them.
       
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    13. Well, in my case, it really depends on who I'm talking with! My 9-year-old Sayuki is such a tiny thing; he's like my child, almost. My Pullip is the same way, seeing as she's a bit naive and... empty-headed... As for my older boys, however, they're like child-friend hybrids, I suppose you could say... ^_^

      No matter what, though, I never consider my dolls inanimate objects. They're like little people to me. A little person that can bring such joy into my life can't possibly be treated like any old doll. They have undeniable personalities--each unique--that make them individuals. I love them to pieces for the "people" they are.

      I talk to them a lot, too... "Hey, Sayuki!! I missed you today!" Or, "Hey, Evan, what's up?" It's not like I expect them to open their painted mouths and say something; it's just as if their ears know you're talking to them. :)
       
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    14. I treat them as inanimate objects, because they're just there to look pretty. I treat them as DAMN EXPENSIVE inanimate objects, but still. I feel like I should, because getting involved with dolls means we all run the risk of allowing dolls to replace people in our lives, instead of forcing ourselves outside to find more people. I don't want to end up that way.

      Obviously this isn't something that makes me fear dolls and not love them, but it's just to make sure I don't get too emotionally attached to them. Plus, me making sure I go hang out with real people and not resin people more also saves me money from buying more dolls in the first place. xD
       
    15. I'm not so sure of that, personally. After all, if you make new friends, you don't get rid of your old ones, do you? You just end up with more friends. I see my dolls that way. They're seperate from my real life friends, not a replacement. And I especially like it when my friends really like my dolls and enjoy playing with them. It's interesting to see people's reactions to them- helps you work out what kind of people they are, in a way! ^^
       
    16. I see them as an inimated objects. But I do care of them. When I look to my doll's then I do feel the love they give me. And I make a lot of things for them and buy more for them than I want... They are spoiled. But they are not my friends or children.
       
    17. I thought I was going to be like a lot of members and really do a lot of fussing over my doll. Turns out that wasn't the case.

      I actually find that my doll and my doll's character are very different things to me. My doll is awesome, and I've never regretted purchasing her, but for me, my doll is not considered my child, or a family member. I've never found it cunning for me to say that my doll wanted me to buy her things (even though I know the majority of owners use it as a joking excuse for buying other doll things). That's how I would've used it, but I just could never get into doing that.

      I think, since my doll's character came long after I bought her, that this kind of helps separate her from her character. As you can see, I still call my doll 'she', and 'her' because I still have *some* connection that runs deep enough that I give a gender to my doll.

      I also would never say "This is Emma, and she is..." I feel that her character is separate from the doll, itself. Instead, I'd probably say that she was supposed to be 10, an adopted orphan, and kind of stoic. My doll isn't stoic. Her character is. In fact, the only thing that I feel the doll and the character I've created for it share is her name. My doll's name is Emma, thus her character is also Emma.

      I'm currently saving for a brother for my doll. I think with this next doll, things may go differently, since I've created his character beforehand. Maybe I'll have a better attachment to this next one, and my perception will differ.

      But after all this, I still think it's kind of cool when people can treat their dolls sort of like psuedo-family members. As long as you keep in the back of your mind that your doll isn't an actual person, then I think it's fun. It's fun to pretend as long as you know it is what it is.

      I actually think I've bonded more with my doll's character than the doll because I don't have a lot of time to do things with my doll (and I'm ultra scared of the looks I'd get if I took my doll around my college campus) but I can do whatever I want to my doll's character because it's all up in my head. I'm always thinking about when her character grows up, and what exactly am I going to do.
       
    18. I don't agree with this at all. If anything I have more friends than I did before I started collecting dolls due to dollmeets...my social circle expanded by more than 20 people XD
      some of them became very close friends whom I see at the very least on a weekly basis, and dolls are usually not even involved (exceptions for new arrivals of course XD).

      I think this kind of thing has to do with the personality of the doll owner, not with the general hobby itself.

      Back to the topic, I treat mine like objects. Like many have said, I talk to them when I'm frustrated (visit me at work and see how often I talk to my computer, this is considered normal for me) but certainly don't expect a response. I could never treat them like children, many of them stay on the shelf untouched for weeks, sometimes months. They don't get their clothes changed daily, and I fling them in bags and tote them around rather than carry them in strollers or something. Not to mention pulling off heads and leaving them in pieces for days on end...and selling them when they don't work out. Can't really do that with children.
       
    19. ---Quote (Originally by Hikari Kame)---
      getting involved with dolls means we all run the risk of allowing dolls to replace people in our lives, instead of forcing ourselves outside to find more people. I don't want to end up that way.
      ---End Quote---


      ??? Forcing myself outside? Ive never needed to force myself outside.

      If anything, my dolls have enhanced my social life, ive met tons of people online, i cant go on a holiday to virtually every where without having the chance to meet someone i know from doa or one of the other forums im subscribed to. Plus ive went to several doll conventions in Europe and America where i met people i would have never met if it werent for my doll hobby.
       
    20. I agree with this :)