Would you let your son play with dolls? Why or why not?

[Lucy68]

Would you be upset that he's playing with dolls or would you be supportive and allow him to play? Do you believe that playing with dolls will make him less manly when he gets older or would it prepare him to be a good father?

Currently I'm working at a childcare center and while at work I noticed a lot of the little boys (ages 1-4) playing with the baby dolls. And when I run errands or go to the mall I'm seeing a few little boys not only have baby dolls with them, but some even pushing the baby doll in the stroller made for baby dolls. I've also noticed some mothers encouraging their young sons to play with baby dolls, while some fathers are not too keen on the idea.

Yes

No

[SnowedIn]

Absolutely yes. We let our kids choose their toys as well as be influenced by what their friends played with and they subsequently asked for. Putting the kids into a box with toys is silly. My boys are boys and my girl is a girl by what they've done, not because we channeled their playtime, playthings, or content. One of my boys played with Barbie. Another had a play kitchen that Gordon Ramsay would have been happy with. My daughter loves trucks and G. I. Joe and helicopters and baseball. All of them love Nerf guns. All of them love building toys of any sort (Lego, erector sets, Lincoln logs, etc.). Let kids choose and we'll swiftly find there isn't a problem.

[Jamie05rhs]

Ages 1-4 is absolutely appropriate! No issues there. So yes!

by the way, I also had a doll when I was that age. He was a Cabbage Patch Kid.
My little dude. Lol

[Jamie05rhs]

Thanks for the MHO. :)

[Lucy68]

You're welcome

[TrueConfection]

Yes, of course. The first time my son held a baby doll, we thought it was so cute and 5 seconds later that doll became club. Bam! bam! We didn't teach him that, it was just natural to want to bang toys.

When I was little, my friends and I would play dress-up in our mothers' clothes. All the brothers would dress up with us. No one ever thought the boys were trans-anything. My son used to dress up with his sisters too until he decided he didn't want to anymore (around age 2 1/2). No big deal!

[exitseven]

One day my daughter was complaining that the clothes on her dolls were on backwards. I asked her two brothers if they knew anything about it. They just giggled and said no. I figured they were doing some weird sex thing with the dolls. I finally found out that they were dressing the cats up un the dolls clothes.

[TrueConfection]

@exitseven hahaha. I used to dress v my cat up in doll clothes too.

[exitseven]

I Imagine Harry And Sammy were not amused.

[TrueConfection]

@exitseven My cat was lazy and we had an understanding that he'd play along and put up with me for a while as long as I let him go when he was tired of me.

[dustybiker]

Of course. They will have babies eventually, too. Learning to care for young is a natural thing for men too.

[dustybiker]

Thank you for mho.

[Lucy68]

You're welcome

[Chazmatazz269]

You specify “baby dolls” in the body of the post, but not in the question. That’s an important distinction. Most boys play with dolls. We’ve just been calling them “action figures” for decades.
Playing with baby dolls has no impact on sexual tendencies or parenting abilities; none whatsoever. They’re just toys. I would encourage all kids to play with baby dolls and animal plushies. There are few better ways to teach empathy and learn your kid’s capacity for it BEFORE you socialize them with other children and animals, especially siblings and pets.

[HippieVeganJewslim]

What about dolls that ain’t babies?

[Chazmatazz269]

What about them? I don’t think the question is about them, but i did mention that most boys DO play with dolls that aren’t babies. We call them “action figures”.
The show on Nerdflix, “The Toys That Made Us”, goes into detail about how that term was developed so toy companies could sell more dolls to parents with little boys. It’s fascinating. And grandly nostalgic!

[HippieVeganJewslim]

Nerdflix? Is that the same as Netflix? That show seems interesting; thanks for introducing it to me!

[Prettygurl12]

If that's what he wanted to do, then sure.

I don't care and I don't see the harm in it. I never enjoyed playing with dolls growing up. I was significantly happier with being outdoors and playing with sticks 😂 so if I had a child, a doll wouldn't necessarily be my toy of choice for them regardless of their gender. But if I had a son and he took an interest in Barbie or whatever the dolls are called, I'd buy him some. The development that happens when children play has to be more important than the genders assigned to any type of toy.

[The_Shadow_Dweller]

I think girls play with dolls because they want to be like the doll. Dressing, makeup and everything.

What you did not specify is, whether the boys were playing with girl dolls or guy dolls. For girl dolls, they find them cute. For guy dolls, they also want to be like them. Just like they like action figures.

I think there is not much difference between action figures and dolls. The only one being, the material used in the making.

[NamerOfStars]

Sure. Expressions of caretaking aren't exclusive to girls and women. I don't have kids, but I seriously doubt I'd restrict what I let them play with for gendered reasons. I mean, it's just a toy. And even if he does end up more interested in babies because of it, so what? Each of us is the product of interaction between a man and a woman, so it's only natural we'd have some combination of male and female traits.

[Static_In_The_Attic]

As for me I don’t have any kids that I know of however if I did have a son I would buy him a Chucky Doll & let him play with that & when he gets older & watches Chucky with his friends I’m going to laugh it up.

[Anonymous]

If I were an edgy right winger, I would self-destruct, but no my son played with his sister's dolls, and now he has a girlfriend in school, and he's a regular heterosexual kid. It's the parents that bully them and make the kid feel insecure that have the kids with emotional problems or who are confused.

[Wish4UrB00ty]

I’m pretty sure that every man plays with dolls at some point in his childhood. It kind of just comes along with life. At some point…. I wouldn’t be worried about it.

[OlderAndWiser]

A boy needs to grow up to be a man and he doesn't do that by playing with dolls.

[HippieVeganJewslim]

What if he wants to be a nanny? I’d a man nanny named Vitalik.

[OlderAndWiser]

@HippieVeganJewslim I would want my son to become a manly man when he is an adult.

[HippieVeganJewslim]

Vitalik was manly. If many other boys decided to play with the dolls of G I Joe, John Cena, The Undertaker, etc, would doll-playing be manly therefore?

[OlderAndWiser]

@HippieVeganJewslim Yes, if those toys help them to model and acquire adult male traits and behaviors, that would be acceptable.

[HippieVeganJewslim]

Nu, many boys have G I Joe, and I know a lad who collects dolls of wrestlers, men and women (Stephanie McMahon is one), and also some stuffed animals.

[OlderAndWiser]

@HippieVeganJewslim A dude collecting stuffed animals doesn't sound very manly to me. ¡No varonil!

[zeitgeist057]

Imagine a real manly man with a masculinity so fragile it could be irreparably damaged by a small toy.

[OlderAndWiser]

@zeitgeist057 That is a statement which gives the immediate impression of being profound and some readers may stop the analysis at that point, but . . . it really doesn't address the subject at all.

[HippieVeganJewslim]

He usually collects wrestlers, but also stuffed toys. Has like a hundred wrestlers and occasionally plays with them.

[zeitgeist057]

@Older it's not meant for someone to stop their thinking process, but to initiate it, and with a little thought, the subject is completely addressed and resolved for those who have done the work to understand their masculinity and have security in it. I understand that's not the case for everyone.

[OlderAndWiser]

@zeitgeist057 "Imagine a real manly man with a masculinity so fragile it could be irreparably damaged by a small toy."

1. The question is not about the masculiity of adult males. It is about allowing a male child to play with dolls.

2. Boys are not born with a completey formed male ego. They need to be developed so that they DO become strong and not fragile.

So, yes, you missed the point. No concession necessary.

[zeitgeist057]

It's you that has missed the point completely. Your concession is completely unnecessary and unsolicited.

The benefits of dolls and role-play in child development include independence, expression of ideas and feelings, empathy, coping with challenging life events, negotiation, delayed gratification, and a plethora of other social skills. Very useful to any child on the path of becoming a healthy adult of any gender.

[OlderAndWiser]

@zeitgeist057 NOw you are over generalizing the conversation and merey stating truisms. I am bored with this. Good bye.

[exitseven]

I used to wear my mother's apron when I was little. I didn't turn into a sissy. I don;t think playing with dolls would do nay harm.

[HippieVeganJewslim]

I used to wear an apron, too, when I was making something artistic for school; the teacher made me. Wearing apron also can be ideal for cooking.

[exitseven]

@HippieVeganJewslim I was 3 or 4 years old and just wanted to imitate my mother,

[HippieVeganJewslim]

That’s quite common. Parents are natural role models to children.

[CateM]

Sure, why not? I don't see the harm in letting a boy play with dolls

[Emilyis]

My dad has his G. I. Joe dolls from when he as a little boy. I'm sure they are worth a lot!

[TacosRAwesome]

If he wants a doll I'll get him a doll, same as if a girl wants a truck, I'll get her a truck. But if the girl likes dolls and the boy likes trucks then that's what I'll get them.

[melanieeeB]

Sure if he wanted to, I played with action figures and cars too... in the end it's just a fucking toy

[Kori1236]

I don’t have kids. But a toy is a toy. I really wouldn’t care what toy my child plays with providing it isn’t a danger to them. Kids are also influenced by what other children are playing with and often ask for the same or similar toy.

[Sour-rose]

If it shuts him up for 3 minutes, yes. Yes, please.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Yes, it wouldn't matter to me, I'd buy him a doll. Same if I had a daughter who wanted a truck

[Tyrael]

Kids that age don't know one thing from another, it's just a toy.

[HighValue]

Mothers are much more likely to support the trans agenda and participate in pushing it onto their kids. I would not allow it.

[Fuentes]

Right!

[BLP11520]

Formative years are important, you want boys in girls clothes? NO unless you want them screwed up.. we had Army men when I was a boy and G. I Joe.. dolls aka action figures.

[Anonymous]

Yeah but I probably wouldn't encourage it. I certainly wouldn't take them away from him, that seems cruel. I'd just let him do his thing and hope his interests develop in new things.