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

Mar 28, 2011

    1. I think that saying "inanimate object" is a little too oversimplified--because they're a very specific kind of inanimate object that really has no place being lumped in with, say, a desk, or a lampshade, or a coffee pot. They're dolls--small toys made to resemble humans and therefore to encourage play that mimics interaction with actual humans. So no, I don't think of them as my children, my friends, or even my inanimate chunks of resin--I think of them as my dolls, and play with them accordingly. :)
       
    2. Strangely, I do kind of get bummed for a moment when people say that our dolls are just inanimate, or chunks of resin. I mean, I get what they mean, but sometimes objectifying dolls too much bums me out. Even when I said what I did, I still have more affection towards my dolls, or even a teddy bear than (as you said) a lampshade.

      Toys are toys for a reason, after all. A lot of toys, like dolls, are used to encourage socialization, so of course we'd have a very varied view of our dolls as we become older with greater social connections.

      Good points made.
       
    3. I'm somewhere in the middle. I treat my dolls like I treat my stuffed animals. I love them, I occasionally play with them, and I enjoy looking at them/ cuddling them/ talking to them when I'm really lonely or down in the dumps. In spite of all that, I never lose sight of the fact that the are inanimate objects.

      If I ever thought of them as being more than just pretty objects, I don't think I'd ever be able to change my clothes around them again lol. :XD:
       
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    4. You should try to do make that debate topic! I'd totally reply.

      Allow me to walk on the... psycho side of things for a moment; I think my doll is partially a representation of a character, though the character came second because I really didn't know what to do with her at first. But at the same time, I think it's really cool to have a doll of some character or culture you find interesting. It's like... stealing a part of life, or something (told you it sounded out-there;)).

      Like, I'm seriously considering making a doll who's from the Puritan times, maybe the Salem Witch trials. I think the BJD hobby is cool like that - if you want a princess, you can make a princess. If you want an alien, you can make an alien. If I want to have a little, Puritan 'person', I can have that, too.

      For me, names are probably the deepest bond I can form with an inanimate object, or a toy. When you give something a name, it's like you're acknowledging it being there. Like, it's not quite just a doll anymore, but a little more than that - but you still know it is still a doll.

      (by now, I think you all think I've gone insane, but I'm just sleepy) ;)
       
    5. I treat my doll like most people; I talk to him, fix his wig, sometimes carry him around when I'm bored or feel like creeping my parents out XD and I'm completely aware that my doll isn't "alive". I've even tried to play with my doll like I used to play with my Barbies, but it just doesn't seem right.
       
    6. @Lord Noir, indeed. In very deed.

      I think of them as toys. Very expensive toys. But toys nonetheless. I play with them and enjoy them.

      glory
       
    7. I don't have a doll yet... but the other doll related stuff I had before -Say teddy bears, or something- were just like things, but I do hug them, sometimes I yell at them something like ''Stay there!'' if they doesen't want to stand where I want and they may fall, or sometimes I just stare at them and think ''oh you are so pretty'' and stuff. I think if I had two dolls atleast I would pose them to look like if they were doing something, or talking between each other in photoshoots. And maybe I would say ''I don't like that for you'' if a shirt or a dress that I bought doesen't look good to me, and then take it off, because they aren't animate objects so they won't really care if I paint a scar on them, put a bright blue wig and sit them in the shelf naked. But the characters are something very different because they are original of me, and I create the whole personalities (F/e what they like and don't like, favorite food or color, things that they don't like to do, if they like more thay than night, etc), but I won't talk to them as if they were my friends, or even my child.
       
    8. I see most of my dolls as inanimate object (but not that 'cold') except my first doll. He came to me in a very special period of my life and accompanied me getting through a big sorrow. Somehow, I have a very strong emotion to him. It is complicated to say that he is my babe or friend but I do miss him when I leave home for days without seeing him!
       
    9. I treat my dolls like favored inanimate objects. I have to kind of qualify that, since I treat my car and my laptop (and dolls) VERY differently than I do the foot stool. I talk to my car sometimes (mostly "Go go gogogogogo") and my lapatop, and think of my dolls in the same sort of mindset. I guess I acknowledge them more than, say, the rug, but at the end of the day I know they're inanimate-even if I apologize for dropping them, but don't apologize to the book I just did the same thing to.
       
    10. Kinda feel like this, though i never feel like getting the rug some small baby rugs.
       
    11. I feel the same mostly.. though I don't apologize if I drop them. I mostly say some expletive and then examine the doll for damage. :)
       
    12. I don't think of them as inadament objects but rather as objects of my affection. Like beautiful works of Art to be loved admired and cherished. I don't think of them as children or treat them as such although I enjoy that some of my dolls look like children and in my heart I think of them and treat them like a little child. That is to say these feelings that I have for them do not get expressed in words or outward expressions but just as adoration in my heart.
       
    13. This sums up how I feel much more eloquently than I could manage. Technically she is an "inanimate object" but I feel that label lacks the fondness I have for her, as others have said - it feels too cold. At the same time I don't view her as a friend or a child, and I don't talk to her. She isn't a living thing to me but at the same time she has more character and I feel more affection for her than I do for, say, my desk or laptop.
       
    14. I treat most of my dolls as inanimate objects! I'm very bad at choosing names & trying to have a background story for each. I love looking at them none-the-less ^^
       
    15. hmm, i'm more of a "I treat my dolls as friend" kind of person. I don't talk to them, but they talk to each other and have personalities. but mostly they sit on my desk and get changed occasionally, but i look over to them frequently <3.
       
    16. I treat my dolls like a combination of companion and inanimate object X3 While they live in a dark cupboard except when they come out for meets, when I go in the cupboard I always say hello to them and sometimes apologise if one's fallen over and then right them, or talk a little to them. But then again, I talk to inanimate objects all the time - just not in quite such an affectionate way :lol: I don't consider them to be 'real' in any sense at all - as in, there's no life or soul in them - but I do consider each of them to be very unique and personal to me, and their characters are extremely special to me as well so they're definitely more than just pretty objects, but less than living beings X3 I like to have them around though, it's nice cause I feel less alone :) Sometimes I'll bring one down to the sofa with me if I'm on my own in the house, just to have someone to talk to even though they don't talk back. I guess I'm a bit freaky, lol!
       
    17. Uhhh, definitely inanimate objects. I think that if someone thinks that a doll is their legite friend they need to get help. I can understand how you spend a lot of money on a pretty doll and really like it, but seriously, it's plastic. It's not going to be your friend. Or child D:
       
    18. Hmmm... I've never thought about it! I guess I treat my dolls like inanimate objects... as that IS what they are! When I got my first doll I was all over her and talked to her, frankly I dont have much time now so they're just sitting in a shelf -___- but I still "Love" my dolls and buy stuff for them on the internet! nothing out of the ordinary...
       
    19. I find that it's hard NOT to treat them like children. I keep telling them how beautiful they are, and holding them with care, not because I am afraid of dropping them, but because I feel like I could hurt them. If I accidently "hurt" them, I apologize and freak out. I feel like a bad mother when I have to leave them, but I know they still love me. ^.^
      I mean, as much as resin can feel love. XD
       
    20. I react to my dolls on 2 different levels. Intellectually I am aware they are inanimate objects. Emotionally, they are little people. I'm very imaginative, what can I say? I'm being honest. I wonder if it depends partly on our personalities, how we react to them. I have just begun to collect, and I can tell you, my cat IS jealous...that might tell you quite a few things about me. Haaa