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

I'm more on the inanimate object side of the fence.

I will sometimes fuss over them... but then they sit for a while once fussed to my satisfaction.

I will sometimes say something to them -- for instance, if they're flopping all over the place I might mutter, "Stay still!" but I don't expect compliance or a reasponse, and I tend to talk to (read: yell at/mutter at/plead with) things that frustrate me. I yell at software all the time, but I don't consider it animate or childlike -- if it were, my copy of Photoshop would be in such dire need of therapy I'd never be able to afford it. It's the same with the dolls. My poor cats are the unfortunate recipients of any 'baby talk' urges I get, though they're pretty rare. They, unlike the dolls*, are alive.

I don't care how other people treat their dolls, to be perfectly honest. There are a great many definitions of how to love something, and that depends on what it is and how it is perceived. If you perceive a doll as a living being or as a child, how to love it is going to be vastly different from someone who prefers to keep it on a shelf as an art object or creative project. Judging one group by the other's standards can lead to some serious hilarity. No matter how good the modder, for instance, I could easily see someone viewing a doll as a child being horrified by mods, as in: "Oh no! She was perfectly good as she was! You're going to make her feel bad about herself now!" "How could you mutilate your child that way!" Let's face it, the idea of taking a dremel to a living being is pretty high on the horror scale. To a person who views their dolls as a creative project, however, doing this and taking their time to do it right is the ideal expression of how to love or care for their project doll.

*Yes, I realize that thoughts an opinions on this vary. I'm just stating my position here.

 

I do not regard my dolls as children or friends. They are inanimate objects that represent fictional characters, and they are also works of art.

While I occasionally talk to my dolls, I do so in the same way that I talk to other inanimate objects - that is to say, I "yell" at them when I find myself frustrated by how they are functioning. I do not do so with the expectation that they would be able to somehow understand me, but rather as a way of expressing and to some extent relieving my own frustration. This is a normal human behavior.

 

Hrm, a combination of things, probably. I can easily have affection for inanimate objects to begin with, but I no longer feel the slightest qualms about taking them apart, wiping faceups, or things like that. I don't talk to them very often, but I talk about them like they do have the personalities they represent. Mine are all based on original characters, and those characters are fully alive to me although they don't actually exist . I often feel like my relationship with my resin union is more like a pet-pet owner relationship, like they're an especially convenient but far less furry and snuggly type of pet. I sometimes sit them on my lap and stroke their wigs, something I wouldn't do to a friend OR a child . . .

 

Maybe because I'm way too childish and/or sensitive, and live in my own little world, I tend to treat them as they are living creatures sometimes. I do not regard them as my children though. Its more like I apologize to them if I hit their head in the desk accidentally while putting them back in their place. Or they often sit in my lap in the evening while I'm lurking on the internet I talk to them during photoshoots as well, tellint them to stand still, or "Oh come on, you can do it" and such.
Then again, I talk to my laptop as well, encouraging it if its all fast and does things the way I want, and shouting at it if it freezes or something XD

So yeah, dolls are mere objects, but still, they represent a character for me, and oh well, I DO like interacting with that character, if I have the oppurtinity

 

I don't have any children of my own as of yet, but I like referring to my dolls as my babies just as a guy might refer to his car as his babe. It still isnt to the extent that I think of it as my child or anything, but its just a figure of speech seeing how much money, time and care I put into this hobby.

I still treat them as inanimate objects even though I like to pose my dolls as though they were "doing something" I don't really speak to my dolls IRL but I like to write figments of speech of what I think my dolls may say ie.:
Solaris(my doll): I had a new face up todayy yeys!
Me: I hope you like your new face!

 

Maybe not /children/, but I do talk to them and fuss over them quite a bit. I chatter at inanimate objects all the time--and hold full conversations with my pets.

 

My dolls are like pet rocks? 8'D Inanimate objects treated like pets. I like cuddling them and petting them sometimes, but when I don't feel like dealing with them, they go back into their bags. They're not decorations, because I don't have a big enough display space in my room, and I would worry about the hot tropical sun.

 

I treat them like what they are. Expensive inanimate objects. Really expensive inanimate objects. I treat them like little pieces of art with much care as I do not want to ruin their face-ups or scratch their resin or anythink like that, but I certainly do not treat them as if they were sentinent beings.
So no, I don't cuddle them nor do I talk to them.

 

Well considering I have full blown conversations with my laptop I think I get emotionally attached to things rather easily, but saying that the exact same laptop is coming to the end of his life and I have no issues replacing him. (with probs the same model (macbook) as I seem to get on well with the mac OST)

Same goes for my dolls but, strangely, on a lesser scale. I'm on my laptop EVERY DAY. My dolls characters are the most important thing to me so I do see the dolls more as shells of that. They DO keep me company to an extent but I wont ever get a reply from them. Sadly.
Dolls make me happy. C= That's enough for me!

 

Fun question!

I am more on the inanimate object side of thing, as well. My dolls are things to me, although I treat them with due respect and I don't like to leave them with hair in their face and half-dressed. My dolls spend their lives in boxes, and is only taken out when I photograph them, sew for them or when going to a doll meet. My dolls personalities is shown in my pictures, I don't think of them that way in RL.

Occasionally I talk to them, especially if I dropped one or I think they look at me badly. This is probably not a sign that I think of them as friends or anything. I used to be terrified by dolls when I was a kid and even though I have gotten over it by now, they sometimes scare me a little. And then it helps to talk a little. Yup, I am a little nutty

 

^Lol, this. That's actually the only time when I'm talking to my dolls, when they don't want to do what I want them to do. And I appologies to them when I do something stupid, but then again... I appologize to my TABLE as well when I bump into it. Heh.

Any other time I'm just treating them like inanimate objects. They spend months on a shelve and though I'm looking at them and I'm happy with them I don't feel the need to do anything with them.

But I don't care how others play or don't play with their dolls. It's their live, they're their posessions and I guess that we all do something differently. That's what makes this hobby so interesting, I guess.

 

I feel like I should mention this here, I once allowed a close friend of mine to borrow one of my dolls for a few weeks so that she could practice sewing before her doll arrived. She then messaged me at one point saying " I'm sure Alaire is missing his mommy right now."
My response? "I'm not his mommy, I'm more like his landlord..."

I think that pretty much sum it up right there.

 

I treat them more like a friend/inanimate object, I guess? They represent me and my friends' characters so, sometimes, I find myself talking randomly at them. But I did that before I got dolls. Characters become like actual people sometimes and it's like I can't help it. Now that there are visable representations of them, sometimes I find myself saying things to them without even thinking about it. But, then again, I just DO that with inanimate objects. I talk to my computer a lot when it's acting up, I got a sewing machine this weekend and kept yelling at it (because my bad sewing was completely its fault, right? ), etc. I don't find it weird anymore.

And it's not like I think they'll talk back. When I get to that phase, maybe I might question myself a little. XD I also don't view them as my "children" even though I may dote over them sometimes (and my incoming girl had better watch out now that I found some dress patterns). So, yeah.

 

I don't think of them as real people, except in my imagination. I occasionally make remarks to them, but they don't answer back. Yet.

 

For me, how I treat them depends on the doll's personality. I don't really treat them as inanimate objects, and I must say I feel guilty if I leave them just sitting there for a while (not saying this is a bad thing to do, it's just how I personally feel). But how I interact on them depends, as I said, on their characters. I have some dolls that love to be cuddled and I'll constantly feel the need to be cuddling them- and again, guilty if they're just stuck on a shelf! Likewise, I have dolls who hate to be cuddled. Sometimes I'll cuddle them just because I like them- and like annoying them- but I do that against their wishes, if that makes sense, because they would prefer to be on their own.
The same goes for posing, dressing, hair-brushing, and talking to. Some dolls love to be preened, others love to be chatted too, another may like to be petted. Some of them don't, so I don't do it so much to them. It's not that I love them any less- it's just a matter of taking their personality into account.
After all, if you had a friend who didn't like to be touched, you wouldn't bound over and give him a massive hug every time you saw him, would you? And if you had a friend who was very tactile and touchy-feely, you'd hug him and touch him without thinking about it. For me, it's the same with dolls.
So in short, I treat them as I would treat anyone else! Oh dear, that sounds a bit odd...

 

Inanimate objects. I'm more connected to the characters they represent than the actual doll 'form'. I do 'talk' to them as one would talk to a computer or other inanimate object, but I don't imagine having conversations. They sit on my shelf, get 'played' with daily and tweaked every few weeks.

 

I talk to my dolls just about as much as I would talk to a toaster, if such toaster needed talking to. That being said, I do think of them as more than just another object to put on my shelf, but that is because they represent characters of mine that have the ability to come to live on their own. Because of this I will say something to them now and again, especially if they're falling over or being difficult (I've been known to shout "ATRUS!" on a regular basis, as my DOI likes to fall over at the worst times) I treat them exactly as they are: expensive dolls that house characters of mine. They're special, and have more meaning to me than say, my Playstation, but even then I don't think of them as my children. I draw the line at having conversations as if the dolls themselves are alive, such as that they don't like their wig, or they're unhappy with a new doll that I've bought.

 

I treat mine like special possessions, like any doll that I've ever owned and loved as a special character... I don't make any sort of imaginary relationship with them, like "mum" or "babysitter" or even "home owner"- They are just my dolls, their characters have a completely separate sort of make believe dichotomy to play around in, that's what it's there for. No need to put myself into the the story at all. That said, I hug them, or cuddle 'em, and occasionally kiss them, but its like that with my favourite teddies too. I'm a snuggler personality-wise, I like to cuddle my special dollies/bears etc.

Funny enough though, I do talk to them- sometimes, the same way I talk to myself, the TV, my laptop, any pets that are around, and just about anything else XD I know they don't answer, it's just something I do- and like doing- frankly. The other thing is, I do sometimes see a doll on the MP for example and think "I wish I could give you good home!" I.e a better face-up, a wig that flatters, nice new clothes, and a pretty shelf to sit on XD

 

As for me I treat my boy as a person who has his own soul, character, wishes, dreams, dislikes. Well I believe it's rather easy to imagine I cannot be with him together all the time, he stays at home when I work, but I let him go visiting our mutual friends and friends' dolls as well for a day or two when I feel like he's bored, that's usually the people I fully trust. Very often I make him read or sit still close to me when I am working at home or show him anime or different kinds of movies. We try to go out every weekend, to take pictures, to laugh together, to feel the time going on being together. Well I know he understands everything, he knows I cannot stay with him forever, I need to be there and to go here... He wishes to be always with me, but that's impossible and he feels sorry about it. I call him my family, that's it. He's my little friend who feels, cares, sympathizes, loves and stays always himself whatever we cosplay, do, pretend, play and look like.
And when we are apart for a long time he comes up my mind and I feel him and see as a teenage boy at the staions, on the bus, in the streets, in a cafe... He reminds me I it's time to come back home. I see him in my dreams and he ever saves my life in my nightmares, staying with me till the end, holding my hand in his.
He's a simple ordinary boy doll and he's always more than that.

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

LOL I would never spoil my children the way i spoil my dolls.

 

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.

 

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. (:

 

Children? No, most of my dolls represent adults or teenagers, and I am too young to have children that age. 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.

 

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.

 

I treat my dolls kinda like friends I guess. They are defiantly story characters, but still fun to play with.

 

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~

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

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! ^^

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

---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.

 

I agree with this

 

Interesting question. I was kind of thinking about this last night...

My dolls, well my doll as I only have one complete, is a representation of a character I've had for ten years. That character is (as lame and disturbing as it may sound) as much a part of me as any of my actual real friends. I know everything about him as though he were a physical person, and have wondered for quite some time if he is not a ghost haunting me, y'know? -.-
I think of him as that ghost. He's not always there in that shell, but when he is, I 'feel' him, and I interact with him a lot more than some other times. He comes and goes, and when he's not 'there,' he's just an inanimate object, a beautiful work of many separate arts. There are those times though, like recently, where I've been compelled to (this happened last night AND I FELT INSANE WHEN I DID IT because I know he's a doll and he can't hear me or enjoy it) sing to him, because I know that character likes Jason Robert Brown. I felt like a mental patient. I really did. But somehow I really felt as though he heard me. I was kinda freaked out.

Take it as you will, hallucinations or overactive imagination, whatever. Tantalus is very strange to me, but I wouldn't have him any other way.

 

Inanimate objects. My dolls make beautiful decorations. I project my ideals onto them via creating characters for them. It's a creative outlet for different parts of myself. Yet, I don't treat them like live beings, much less children.

 

I have a tendency to talk to inanimate objects, though not as much lately as i used to when i was younger, and usually only with humanoid/animal-like objects or objects capable of some sort of intelligence like a computer or oddly enough a book. So I treat my dolls similarly to a computer, where I may converse with them but overall don't expect an answer and that they are really expensive and must be treated with care so as to not break or cause damage to them. I do however bond strongly to my posessions so i do treat them a little more lovingly than some other people might.

I can't see them as children anymore than a table from Ikea is a child, unless the doll's character is based off of a living child in some form or another though. If anything they're more like a pet. But that's just me personally.

 

personally i do not have a Doll YET but any 'dolls' i have had before have always been like children to me and i expect nothing less with the one im about to get. i never really plan to have kids (or at least not any time soon) and they are just as expensive to me. but my lovely girl will go everywhere and be in all my moments of life just like any family member. so yeah a child for me!

 

I don't know how I see my doll. Yet, I don't think she's only a usual inanimate object .. but she's something magical to my eyes.
She's not a simply doll, absolutely.. neither an inanimate object like a pen, or a computer..
okay, she's not alive, but in my personal world, she's near to be alive.. she's alive in her being a doll (that sounds crazy I know..it's just me XD) ..well, a very special doll!
So I talk to her, but also only in my mind.. maybe imaginating an answer and debating too XD
(This is me in my daily life.. I 've my *personal* world..where there're no precise or rational laws allowed to... that's up to my mood, my imagination.. eheh.. But I like this aspect of myself.. I think it's a gift and not something to be afraid or feel ashamed of. Not so many people nowadays have the gift of a creative , yet crazy XD imagination, unluckily..)

In addition, if I saw these dolls like normal dolls (like barbie and so on) I would probably never think to spend a lot f money in them XD
I see a piece of art in them and also a way to keep alive my imagination, my fantastical world..
They give to my daily life a bit of magic! I just Love it! ^^

 

I don't know what I'd consider my doll, but I can't think of her as just an inanimate object. It's silly, but a part of me expects her to just up and start moving every time I have her with me. I know she won't, but I feel like I wouldn't really be surprised if she did. I don't consider her a child or a friend though, just a doll. She's my doll and I'm her human. XD So maybe more like a pet than anything else lol

 

Having two "soft resin" kids of my very own I'm all too aware of the differences between children and dolls. One of these things does not need diaper duty, okay? ~_^

I talk to them on occasion, mostly when they are being "stubborn" about getting an arm into an outfit or suddenly getting the wonky eye disease or utterly refusing to stand. Just like I yell at the TV.

In my deepest heart of hearts they are "friends" to me; but I'm fully aware that they are resin beings; chunks of expensive plastic. It's more along the lines of "these are embodiments of ideas I've had and times I've enjoyed." And most of the time they just sit around and look purdy. The fact that I'm very attached to some of them doesn't mean I would treat a VERY adult-looking male doll as a child. Um, no.

Now then, cats -- I've seen several people mention talking to cats in the same sentence as talking to the TV. Of *course* I talk to the cats, they're part of our family and have very distinct personalities. Each has a distinctive method of communication (and I swear the littlest one argues with us; I've never known a cat to behave that way before). Thankfully, there are four adults and near-adults in the household, so if it's the crazy talking, it's not simply personal crazy. TV = inanimate object. Cat = live, often VERY "animate," fuzzy being. Doll? inanimate but highly valued chunk o' stuff.

 

While I do consider my own cat much closer to a child or a friend than any inanimate object, I don't think that's a universal... or even majority... view among people in general. You might be surprised how many people react poorly to the idea of talking to animals beyond giving a dog basic commands. I've gotten quite a bit of snide commentary for talking to Sara from more "rational" types.

I can only imagine what those "aggressively sane adults" would have to say about doll owners talking to their resin minions and treating them as if they were alive.

 

That depends on the person, I think. I'm sure there are people who have replaced flesh and blood friends with dolls, but they can also be a bridge to make new friends. I know I have had a more full social life since I got into BJD and became more active in the community. I was practically a hermit before that.

If I had to define my relationship with my dolls, I'd call them "acquaintances" or "roommates," or maybe even "pets." They share my space, I spend time maintaining them, but they aren't central to my existence. I direct comments at them, if no one else is around and I just need to voice a thought, but I don't have full-on conversations with them. (I talk to my cat the same way.)

That's a really interesting point. Where is the line between doll and character? Are there details that are "true" for the character that are not true for the doll? Does that separation affect how you relate to the doll? Would you feel more connected if the doll and character were the same? [general "you," not "you" personally] (This is juicy enough to be its own debate topic, really).

My dolls also represent made up characters but the dolls are the only representations of those characters. I feel that the two are indistinguishable. I think, at this point, the character could exist without the presence of the doll, but they wouldn't mean as much.

Even though I don't think of my dolls in the same way as a living person, when speaking about them I still like to refer to them by their individual names. When I was a little kid, all of my favorite toys had names - even my stuffed Littlefoot the Dinosaur ("The Land Before Time") wasn't named Littlefoot. Naming and using those names is, in my mind, another form of personalization. This isn't just a doll, this is the specific doll that I happen to own. I'm so used to speaking and thinking of them that way that I actually feel a little awkward when I have to switch from saying "Vesper this..." to "My doll that..." But I do it because there are only a hand full of real people who would know what I'm talking about.

 

Inanimate objects. They're kinda like "3D-drawings" of characters from different stories. So I can better imagine what those characters look like. I WILL sometimes talk to them, like "leaving now - take care of the flat while I'm away, boys" but I also will talk to my computer, now and then (like "don't you DARE crashing on me again!"). I will say "this is Luken" or "this is Celaran", but probably only cos it's shorter than "this is the doll that's supposed to look like Luken". I'll also say stuff like "Luken doesn't like this or that" - again cos it's shorter than "the character this doll looks like doesn't like this or that".

Although the dolls look like the characters they represent, I don't in any way feel like THEY are a certain character. I don't really connect the character traits with the dolls. Dolls and characters are two separate things, really. The dolls just LOOK like Luken, Celaran, etc. who "live" inside my mind and in the stories I've written about them, so far. Have they helped me getting to know the characters better? Sure. Cos they make it easier to give the characters a face and maybe also a voice. It's so much easier, for me, to write about someone I can "see" in my mind instead of some kind of faceless, voiceless phantom.

 

i would like to add to my earlier post that i do see my dolls as having the ability to have souls rest inside them and take residence, so i do keep my dolls very happy for that, however they do not come before bills, food, travel and so on in my daily life, if something is too much then they dont get it and they have to wait, just like me. as much as i would love to spoil them i dont have the money, nor will i for a very long time i expect.

 

I mostly call my dolls as my daughters or my sons, but I never think they're a replacement of a real daughter or son for sure. I still have my mind, that they're a doll, not a real human being. Sometimes I talk to them, I brush their wigs, change their shoes, I even randomly ask them, "Which outfits you want to wear today ?" and just laugh after that. It's because I give each of them a character, and treating them like that will ensure me to continue their story.

 

Oh, not surprised at all; I'm all too familiar with it. Usually this view comes from the same people who are (well, were, since the kids are nearly grown now) so impressed that we talked to our children, and theirs, as though they were real people.

O_o I would look at these folks and say "of COURSE they are real people; just because they have less-developed vocabularies and bodies doesn't mean they are idiots or have no opinions of their own..." I would often find myself having much more interesting conversations, albeit at a much simpler vocabulary level, with the kids than with their parents!

Heck, I've had my cats say more interesting things than some of those folks! (yes, exaggeration).

But sadly, never the dolls. I'm just as glad they don't talk to me. They'd probably have to complain about being ignored most of the time.

 

This! Oh man, this x1000. The furballs here have so much personality, too. If they weren't here being so animate, maybe the inanimate things would seem more so, to be fair. I don't really know.

I don't believe one has to believe something is alive to have fondness for it, either. What form the expressions of that fondness takes is going to vary, though. I suppose I mostly wish people would grasp that -- along with the notion that 'play' and 'enjoyment' and 'care' take varying forms, too. We're all different people, after all. There's not a 'wrong' kind of person to be on issues like this. With children or pets, there are certainly wrongs and right. With resin? Not so many, and not as serious, no matter how important our dolls may be to us.

 

i talk to my dolls from time to time ...(get more sense out of them than my partner sometimes lol ) i guess i do treat them like my kids even though i dont want any actual kids of my own
also i feel as though when i take photos of them sometimes i get the "oh not now" look

 

That's sweet you talk to your Mac like that, ss it isn't well though Maybe it
just needs some new parts? I used to talk to my old powerbook and I cried
like a baby when Apple killed it...I'm getting sad just remembering it. And I
sleep with my iPad next to me Crazy? NP because I love it!!!

BUT I rarely talk to my dolls. I will complain about a wig not working, or if
they move about when I need them to stay still. Just not confessional secret
type talks. Maybe it's different if you get actual comfort from your dolls??
I have my house full of furry and feathered babies to talk to and cuddle with,
that brings me far more happiness because they actually understand and can
return the sentiment.

edit: just the other day my Jardine Oscar said "you BAD!" in a really cute voice &
gave me the raspberry, because I didn't uncover them at their usual time....my birds
are scary smart and always let me know what they are thinking
It makes me glad my dolls don't "talk" to me...I'd worry what they would say.

 

Some people take it way too far. I think they forget their dolls are, well, dolls. So when they gush to non-doll fans over their babies and talk about their life story/likes/dislikes/favorite types of vegetables etc etc, some people get a little freaked out, and I can understand why to an extent. I normally don't go any further than naming my dolls. I just don't feel the need. It doesn't appeal to me...

 

surely if you name your dolls you are giving them a soul. at least by my religion you are, but i do believe that peoples religion will hugely change their view on this matter....what about yourself. i personally belong to a pagan- type religion.