Should dolls be anatomically correct?

[Charliefretz329]

Doesn’t the alternative cause confusion?

[Hardon-Collider]

No. It's not confusing; it's a lie that short-circuits a child's natural development. A child isn't a little adult who learns by analyzing. A young child learns through imagination, through the will. An anatomically correct doll is a dead end. It's a finished, fixed thing that says 'this is the way it is.' It doesn't engage the child's own creative forces. A simple doll, a cloth sack or a block of wood, is an invitation. It's incomplete, it's gestural, it's a question mark. The child's imagination and will must fill it in, must bring it to life. It's a living, breathing, imaginative lesson. It's how a child learns about the world—not by being fed a dead, abstract concept, but by participating in the creation of life itself.

[egan3141]

I like the idea but would like a clarification. Are you saying dolls shouldn't look close to the real thing? I. E. modern dolls are bad toys?

[Hardon-Collider]

@egan3141 this opinion was automatically made with my first anthroposophy-mimicking chatbot. So for a greater detail, you can ask google what Rudolf Steiner would have said on this matter. But in short using my own understanding, yes, dolls shouldn't be made anatomically correct. Lifelike toys of any type, be it dolls or trees, eliminate the need to imagine. Which is not merely a loss of imagination (like it would be for adults) but a host of other functions get broken, even for mere physiological health it is already devastating if children don't exercise their imagination.

[egan3141]

Never heard this stance before or thought about it, but I kind of like it.

[matchrestore]

We actually have a set of anotomically correct dolls for our kid. I think it's healthy for kids to have a basic understanding of the differences between them and their opposite sex peers bodies, and better to discover that through a doll they've had since childhood than an Internet search.

[SunnyCaliGirl]

I work and in child care and in my opinion yes. BUT WITH A HUGE BUT. I believe children should be though appropriately about their bodies in an educational way from an early age.


So yes I agree that dolls should be correct if they come with the proper education.

[purplepoppy]

I don't think they need genitals, let kids be kids without giving them hang ups

[Charliefretz329]

It’s a bit of a hang up when you don’t match the doll also.

[WhitneySnow]

I don’t think it makes a difference. I understood as a little kid that my dolls didn’t have a penis or a vagina because that wasn’t polite.

[Charliefretz329]

Why are genitalia impolite?

[WhitneySnow]

You don’t want kids seeing them and playing with them

[Charliefretz329]

They do with their own lmao

[WhitneySnow]

That’s different lol

[Charliefretz329]

When I was a child pretended they had genitalia anyway lmao

[WhitneySnow]

Me too! And nipples too lol. But as a somewhat mature adult who might someday have kids of her own, I don’t want my five year old playing with dolls with anatomically correct genitalia. Let them discover that on their own when they’re ready.

[Charliefretz329]

The only argument is that it’s confusing

[WhitneySnow]

Also that it inappropriately sexualizes things for young kids who are way below the age where they should start focusing on such things. I’m liberal in some ways, but more conservative in others, and I genuinely believe that.

[Charliefretz329]

It’s like how people overseas don’t even bat an eye to nude swimmers at the beach while in the USA we are appalled. It’s what you grow used to at a young age and accept as normal

[WhitneySnow]

I guess I’m not used to that

[Charliefretz329]

The natural nude body by itself shouldn’t be sexual. It’s just unclothed!

[WhitneySnow]

I guess. That’s ok for adults who want to do that, although I personally don’t, but I still don’t think children should be exposed to it.

[Middle_Sch_Whirl_Grl]

Girl dolls have boobies. Does that count lol?

[Charliefretz329]

Yes of course

[Middle_Sch_Whirl_Grl]

Yay for the boobies!

[dustybiker2]

Did we hit the trigger point to your snip obsession? I remember barbie men used to have bump/bulges.

[dustybiker2]

Ken. That's it... •snort• I was a transformers and my little pony girl.

[Charliefretz329]

Maybe lol

[SphynxUK]

Dolls are to play and make believe with; not to spend time analysing their gender.
A kid might pretend a spoon is a doll. Does that spoon need genitalia too?

[seeyounexttuesday]

you want to see pussy lips on a Dora the explorer? Weird, dude.

[Charliefretz329]

Why is the natural body weird?

[seeyounexttuesday]

It’s not a human body, it’s a piece of plastic. And a child. The FBI needs your laptop.

[Paige90]

So she can have boobs and a butt but can't have a vagina?

[Kori1236]

I mean I grew up with anatomically correct dolls. Really no different than my other dolls

[DrPepper12]

Good point. Yes! But it's about $ & mass production so androgenous is easier and no cancel culture BS to deal with!

[Anonymous]

Depends. How anatomically correct? I don't know... it seems kinda predatory if you add all kinds of details. Kids don't need that.

[Hellraiser1984]

Good question. I remember the pregnant barbie knock off being taken off the shelves when I was a kid. My sister had one.

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

I’m pretty sure parents would throw a fit if Barbie had a vagina and nipples

[Charliefretz329]

I find it more troubling that they are missing. Like when most dolls were white skinned and nothing else

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

I’ve seen videos of parents throwing out their kid’s horse dolls because they had anatomically correct sheathed genitalia. While I can agree that censorship in the name of “innocence” is ultimately futile and benefits no one aside from the people in power in those situations, I don’t think this is a fight you’re going to win

[Elliegirl]

I seem to remember that my Barbies had bras and panties that were her skin color so you could dress and style her clothes without the concern of her nipples or vulva being visible

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

Man’s is talking about fully naked barbie

[Elliegirl]

I was saying I don’t remember there being a fully naked Barbie when I was a little girl

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

I know, what do you think I’m saying here? Get me on the same page as you

[Elliegirl]

I’m getting confused myself. All I was saying was that my “naked” Barbies weren’t actually naked and there was no genitalia involved in my doll play. Barbie’s clothes were all outerwear and her panties and bras were built into the dolls rather than additional fashion pieces

[Elliegirl]

So if my Ken and Barbie wanted to have sex, why guess it would be with both their underwear still on

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

Yeah, this guy is talking about making it so they’re actually, visibly naked when you take off their clothes: accurate nipples, labia, dicks, not necessarily aroused but you get the idea.

[123Cows]

yes that fucking true

[Abbycado]

But then you’d go around hacking off the penises for practice. XD

[Charliefretz329]

Sigh 😔 lol

[Charliefretz329]

That would be mean though. It’s just mine I want cut off

[DrPepper12]

Pope Pius IX & his fig leafs would be SO PROUD!!!

[richm7023]

If everyone's genitals were the same then it would be ok but since everyone are different it's too complicated to give them identical ones then

[heruncommonsense]

Dolls should be fun for their target audience, which is usually little girls, and little girls don't usually care.

[exitseven]

Imagine the stuff that kids would be doing with Barbie and Ken?

[Charliefretz329]

Different than what they do now? I don’t think

[exitseven]

My daughter had many different dolls. One day she was complaining because some of the doll clothes were put on backwards. I asked my two sons about it and thy just giggled and said that they had no idea what happened. I did not believe them and thought that they were doing some weird stuff with the dolls. It turns out that they were taking the clothes off the dolls and putting them on the cats.

[Jennz6]

You want a penis on your doll?

[Charliefretz329]

We put all the other parts on there!

[Jennz6]

What other parts?

[Charliefretz329]

Eyes, feet, legs… all of them

[Jennz6]

@charliefretz329
Balls too?

[Charliefretz329]

Of course! All natural

[katiesmuff]

yes they should

[Charliefretz329]

It’s confusing to set false standards

[Anonymous]

Nope

[beefcakebradybatson]

Sure.