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Would you purchase a handicapped doll?

Oct 24, 2011

    1. I looked up the doll in question, and I really like the model, I think it's interesting. Then again I have a large interest in medical oddities (I love reading about odd conditions and the like, I think a lot of people do find those things interesting, but I definitely don't delight in the misfortune of others) and 'weird' things. I would probably purchase the doll if I had the opportunity, and if I saw any other disabled dolls that piqued my interest, I would do the same.

      I honestly think it's not romanticizing conjoined twins any more than a blind or wheelchair-bound doll would be romanticizing their respective disabilities. For example, I don't think most blind dolls are used to portray the real-life hardships of an actual blind person. That doesn't mean you're disrespecting blind people - but I think most people choose more common disabilities for dolls because they find them interesting for the character, so I don't see why other conditions should be treated any differently.
       
    2. @Miladyblue - you have the mind of a writer! I like the way you think. As a painter I thought the same only as ying and yang or black (all colors) and white (no color). Light and Dark would also fit into the equation.
       
    3. Since I posted this thread I've received a doll I had ordered from DDE - a LeekeWorld Ange. She arrived with the left foot separated from the leg. The screw in the foot was missing so both the ball joint and foot were just pieces in the box. I'd call that handicapped. After I bandaged up her foot she looked pitiful sitting in her chair. I now have to find a screw for the foot and re-string her to attache the parts. Till then I might need to find a wheelchair for her to get around. Poor dear.
       
    4. well ive already seen dolls with blind eyes and ive seen a doll with its lips stiched-shut because it was "mute" ive seen dolls with scars and injuries and ive never had a problem with any of them and am currently thinking about haveing my next doll have blind eyes so my answer is that i think us giving dolls medical abnormalities is just our was of making them more human just like the tails and horns and wings and hooves are others ways of making their dolls less human!
       
    5. I would buy one with a handicap. All dolls are different and special in their own way, though you might have to make all their clothes it would be a wonderful experience and I think it would be a wonderful way to kind of be forced to bond with the doll.
       
    6. I find this thread interesting. For me, I don't see how depicting real life can be disrespectful. Just because a company does this type of doll, doesn't mean they are demeaning people with this "disability". Just watch documentaries. There are so many people out there who are different, why shouldn't we enjoy the human condition in our artwork/dolls.

      Whether we like to admit it or not, most of us like looking at "deformities". It is interesting how life can continue when something is against what is perceived as the norm. I find most of these people, who live their lives like this just amazing. I don't know if I could do it. But then again, if I was born like that, I wouldn't know any different.

      I don't like DC dolls much, their asthetics are not pleasing to me, but I think the idea is amazing, and the execution isn't too bad. I look upon it more as an art form, than anything else.

      I think that if we did not do this with our artwork, we are looking at these people and saying.....you are too odd for us to include in our lives. I think not doing this.....is disrespectful.
       
    7. My girlfriend is thinking about getting the doll mentioned. She aims to get the weird ones that most people don't like or even sneer at the thought of. I admit I didn't like that doll as much as she did, not because of the deformity, but because I'm not a fan of the tiny breasts and the overall odd pear shaped body. The Siamese look was pretty interesting though. I would love to have a doll that has two torsos or something odd like that, just with a body type I like more. I may make one myself one day... <3
       
    8. Not too sure about the Siamese twins but I would love an amputee doll.
       
    9. Do you feel this way about disabled humans too? Nice.

      Personally I think those DC girls are pretty fabulous. If I had room in my collection and the money, I would get them because I think it's a very creative idea. I would turn them into the kind of freak-show girls you used to see in the early 1900s... very glamorous, oddly sensual, and extremely weird.
       
    10. As I think someone said before, when you has been collecting, or just looking at, dolls for lot of years (it's more than 6 years for me) you somehow get used to the standard beauty.

      Of course every so often companies are changing their aesthetics acording to the new tendencies in the little world of BJDs, creating them more anime-ish or more realistic from time to time, but the scent is always the same.
      Then the extreme fantasy dolls came, first with timid customs, then with large original optional parts. And hey, they all ARE great. I myself have a bunch of humanoid dolls plus some anthros and fantasy dolls. But I was missing something. Something I believe is more in the mind of the western artists (but of course not exclusively to them).

      I like humanoid dolls, so despite fantasy dolls are gorgeous I simply can't link them to my dolly family. But handicaped dolls are something else. I'm not a big fan of siameses, but what about dolls with stumps, or no legs, etc. Sometimes you don't know you are going to want a handicaped character since you see them! xD

      In my personal and humble opinion, a handicaped, or four-leged, or a super long-arms doll, or siamese dolls are much more on-topic that others with wing arms and claw feet because they are human-like (I'm not saying I don't consider them on-topic, I DO love fantasy dolls and I wish all them, anthros included, would be allowed here).
       
    11. Actually, I would love to know what company this is. I have a great love for Siamese twins, the musical Sideshow and particularly the Siamese twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, famous in the 20s and 30s. So I would relish a pair of Siamese twin dolls. If I could, I'd probably make a whole sideshow. I was in the musical Sideshow locally and I was the Armless Woman. I think these people who have these handicaps are strong and amazing because they continue to live their lives without regard for how they look or what their handicap might be.
       
    12. I saw Doll Chateau's siamese twins dolls, and I wasn't quite sure what to say, I felt confused and thought that it could be a comment on split personality, but then just realised it was part of their circus theme, and was upset.
      HowEVER! The doll that realllllly disturbed me was the Alberta doll. With four legs, like a centaur, with moose horns. The doll's sculpt, I though, was so beautiful (I loved her faceup, and her face, I usually like DC's dolls...) but it reminded me of The Human Centipede (offtrack), a horrible film which I haven't even seen (!) so I was looking at the site to see if the doll could be purchased without the extra pair of legs and waist thing... Well, it's possible.
       
    13. I don't think horns, hooves, or tails are medical abnormalities. They're just fantasy creatures, and some of them I love, some I don't. I wouldn't want an anthro, exactly, like a bunny-girl or cat-boy, for example, but I definitely have a thing for mermaids, elves, centaurs, vampires, and dragons. And I think Soul Doll right now has a 4-armed Hindu goddess type of doll that I would absolutely love to have if I had the cash to spare.

      But I wouldn't really want a handicapped doll. I don't even like scars on dolls. I guess they seem like flaws to me, like broken parts. If dolls only cost $20 I'd buy a huge variety to include 'injured' dolls, but when I'm paying a thousand bucks for a doll, his hair, his eyes, and his clothes, I want him as near to whole as I can get him.
       
    14. I was disabled (wheelchair user) for 7 years. Would I personally be offended by a disabled doll? No!

      I think there should always be a wide variety of doll designs. There are a LOT of similar dolls out there - why not make something different? I understand that the majority of people will want dolls to be pretty and perfect, that's part of the appeal about them. But why couldn't there be a doll in a wheelchair? My nephew has a playset of toy children on a school bus and one of the toys is in a wheelchair. Now, if a 5 year old boy can accept and play with a disabled toy, why can't an adult make a collectable with a disability?

      It wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, I don't particularly like the conjoined twins *shrug* but everyone has different ideas of beauty...
       
    15. Well it would certainly make for more diversity. And diversity always makes this hobby fun.
       
    16. I'm not that excited by the Doll Chateau Co-joined Twins, it ( the sculpt) and they just don't appeal to me that much although one of the face sculpts is rather pretty. Just not pretty enough for me to buy the whole doll or her as a single body. I admit it's clever engineering to get them to stand on one pair of legs, but not making me press BUY. I have seen really well done co-joined twin mods though which piqued my interest but I don't have any characters spring to mind that they would fit.

      For me that would be key, I would buy a handicapped doll in a minute if a character sprang to mind when looking at the face sculpt, because it's always the face that sells dolls to me. One of the main characters in my never-to-be-finished-why-do-I-still-keep-kidding-myself graphic novel is a Dwarf/ Little Person (depending on which is the more acceptable term in your country) and I love this character so much I would love to have him as a BJD but can't imagine ever finding a face sculpt soulful enough, that's before I even start thinking about what body it would work with.
       
    17. i would absolutely buy one if it fit my aesthetic interests. i think that if it is artistically executed properly, dolls with "defects" can be very interesting and portray a lot more personality or emotion than dolls that are "perfect". it depends on the doll in question though: some dolls are more suited to the traditional "perfect doll" look while others can be very appealing with what society would judge as a "defective" appearance.

      edit: and if you need a further example that many people also share this view, look at the popularity of "monster high" dolls and their respective artistic repaints. sometimes, a little "weirdness" or "ugliness" can accentuate the beauty in a thing. and as a disclaimer... i am not intentionally or literally comparing people or dolls with disabilities to monsters, but you can't deny there is a metaphorical connection at times.
       
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    18. I think I may be in a minority here. My life experiences have not always been pleasant so when I choose something for recreational purposes - like BJDs - I want to have something I perceive as pretty. I believe that it is easy to be disrespectful of folks with real disabilities if the subject is not handled with sensitivity.
       
    19. Ah, but "Pretty" and "Disabled" are not mutually exclusive categories.
       
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    20. It would mainly depend on what the doll looked like, and if I liked the look of whatever abnormal thing it had going on...