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

My dolls are freeloaders who live in my house rent-free, don’t do anything useful, and still expect me to buy them clothes and other luxuries.

 

In the first for me dolls are inanimate objects, but... why I can`t tell with them?) And to care, and to think like about friend. Also I can to leave a doll on the shelf. Because this is a thing. Which needs care (cleaning clothes, changing wig, correction make-up etc.) and I don`t want to damage this frequent movement.
About talking... Sometimes all we talk with different things ( for example during long download Internet page or when we are waiting for a phone call). Usually this situations are not considered abnormal.
Generally, I successfully combine the attitude as to things and as a friend and I`m happy!

 

I see my dolls mostly as friends, I'll sometimes talk to them while I'm making them wigs or clothes. I also start to feel really bad if I don't bring them out to sit with me after some time.
But I think about their characters in my head all the time, so it's kind of like they're with all the time. So I guess you could say that my characters are my real friends, and the dolls are their physical shells that I can dress up and hang out with.

 

I treat my dolls like inanimate objects. More specifically, I think of them as 3D photographs of dear friends. I may talk to their characters aloud because they are ‘imaginary friends’, but I don’t talk to the dolls themselves. I like having them near so that when I look at them I am fondly reminded of stories and interactions in the past, like a photo from last year’s summer vacation. The positive feelings may elicit an occasional little hug or pat on the head, but that is for my benefit, not theirs. I don’t feel bad if I have to leave them unacknowledged for a few days at a time, because the people they represent aren’t them.

So... inanimate objects that elicit a strong sentimental response. I don’t know much about brain science but I would love to know what lights up in mine when I see them.

 

I feel like I treat my dolls as I do my stuffed animals. Like yea, they're inanimate objects but I love them and they have a lot emotional value to me. They're important and irreplaceable, even if if the replacement was identical.

 

My dolls are a family. When I got my tiny baby this week, I could feel the love between them. It was so weird. I couldn’t tell whether these melty feelings were theirs or mine. They are the family no one really has. They totally love and support each other, mixed racially, friend and blood relatives, no conflicts, all treated respectfully and with love. That must be my idea of fantasy.

 

I've had this story that I created almost 10 years ago when I was just 8 (crazy how long these characters have stuck around) and although the details have changed the general characters haven't. Once I discovered BJD's I knew that this was one way that I could "bring them" to "life".
So with that in mind, my dolls are both pieces of me and like family to me too

 

I see my characters as family, in a way, and my dolls the same way. Like, for instance, if you had family coming over to your house, you would clean it up nice and make sure you had the stuff for them to stay over, right? I'm the same way right now with my boys, wanting to clean so my room is nice and tidy and they've got my dresser top to occupy. I'm wanting to go through some old fabric and clothes no one wears around here anymore and make them beds and pajamas and blankets. I'm finding them little gifts like mini plushies and figurines to give them. I want their welcome home to be warm and as perfect as possible!

 

@MonochromeNocturne That is lovely!
I have a dollhouse which sometimes gets full of their toys and clothes. I always clear away the excess, straighten up the furniture and rugs, make the beds tidy, Then I set up the dolls having fun together in their rooms. It always cheers me up a few days later to see them in the poses I left them in. I used to pose them so my partner might notice and get a kick out of them but I mostly use the room where they are so now, I do it mostly for my own pleasure.

 

@Mahgiep Aww, it sounds like your dollies are very well taken care of! And I can understand being cheered up by the dolls, the thought of doing box openings of my Sera and Jean and getting to see them for the first time in person makes me all bubbly!

 

My dolls are all kid ages (in my mind) so yes I think of them as children. Some of them have little tantrums sometimes. So fun to imagine little scenarios for them.

 

Inanimate object. But I still talk to them and play with them!

 

I treat my girl like my child. When ever I get more dolls, I'd probably treat them like children as well.

 

I treat bjds like my other art projects... So I guess like inanimate objects, but ones that have been imbued with enough passion that they almost become something a little bit more. A lot of the time I go back to my old paintings or illustrations just to look at them, but the nice thing about dolls and sculptures is that I can actually pick them up and turn them over in my hands. There's something special about their dimensionality, I think.

For dolls I haven't painted (all off-topic dolls like LDDs) they are absolutely inanimate objects/display pieces. I like to look at them for inspiration.

 

Totally agree! To me, dolls are more like art projects & I care for them as such~ But there's also the element of character creation that I adore. I think the dolls/characters are special, but I don't particularly see them as children. ^^

 

I wouldn't say I treat them like friends but I definitely don't just treat them like objects, my dolls are very special to me and they mean a lot to me and I love to care for them, to me they are just art in its most beautiful form and that's why they're not only objects to me

 

Inanimate... friends?
They are my characters, I love them.
But I know they are objects. Beautiful objects and I respect them.

 

My doll, and stuffed animals are all treated like friends

 

My dolls are "my boys" - I don't think of them as my children but I am very emotionally attached to them, talk to them and fuss over them. I know they are just inanimate objects at the end of the day but I can't help feeling that giving something a name and character kind of gives it a "soul". I do keep up a "they are just dolls" front around non dolly people though - I don't want to come off as crazy, I'm just enjoying my hobby in a way that brings me happiness.

 

I treat them mixed. Before i dress/undress them i take of their heads, just because all my dols are elves and with that ears it is impossible to get some clothes on. It is simply more practical, also to protect the face up or prevent clothes from get stuck to earrings. But when they come together i talk to them, cuddle them every now and then and kiss them too.

Pfew..... my confession is out.....