What would Freud say?

I think most of the psychological answers would involve unsatisfying childhoods, childish fixations, or the subconcious/conscious desire for children. Few people in the psychological field accept "Just because I do" as a viable answer, despite it often being the closest to the truth. I never could get into psychology for that reason. Sometimes people do what they do just because they do.

 

Someone had a thread about doll attachment and I was thinking about that and how we treat the dolls as if they were real. I think it's a need to nurture. I've nurtured plants, pets and children, but that still doesn't stop me from giving love and attention to inanimate objects too. I believe I've seen pictures of apes loving up stuffed animals. Although, in that case, it may be a case of mistaken identity.
Isn't that why we give baby dolls to little girls--to bring out that nurturing quality and teach them to be good little mothers?

On the other hand, there is also a fetishistic quality to doll adoration.

 

I think it really varies depending on the type of collector. Underlying reasons will be different for those who collect dolls for display, those who collect dolls to modify and photograph, and those who collect dolls as companions.

There are different ways people interact with their dolls in this hobby, and I think that the psychology of each would differ greatly. For example, those who collect many dolls to display and admire could be seen as having a need to acquire objects. Whereas those who treat dolls as their children could be seen as having the subconscious desire for children without the responsibility of actual children.

I'm not saying I personally believe either scenario, just what could be brought up in a conversation.

 

I'm no psychology major, but I have a few ideas:

--Possibly links to childhood. As sadistic_x_blood mentioned, there would be thought of a skewed childhood.
--A Peter Pan complex, issues with not being able to accept adulthood
--Depression. Using dolls to fulfill something.

On a more sexual scale: Pedophilia, even if the dolls are adults. Dolls are usually associated as being a kid's item.

 

Not just being a kid's item, but looking like children, even the supposedly teenager and adult ones... very few BJDs actually look like adults in the face... I'd say minimees, a few 70+cm sculpts and... yeah that's it xP And many of us buy faces because we think they are yummy and attractive.. Considering the success of Volks and Luts, I'd say babyfaces are pretty dang popular.

And with Freud, isn't everything sexual?

 

Are you saying that a pedophile would be satisfied with a doll or that he would use the doll as bait? I think the latter is more likely.

 

hmm yes, a peter pan complex sounds about right,
Also, the point about sexual sides to these dolls by E.Hadrian, quite a valid point that the dolls all have younger faces.
I also watched on a BJD documentary that some think of it as replacing what you cannot have. For example if you wished to be a boy, the dolls you have would mostly be boys and visa versa. Not to mention they are extremely beautiful. Most people are attracted to beauty and want it.
It was mentioned that others felt the dolls were suppose to be thought of as the person from another life

perhaps as well is the links these dolls have to the japanese and Korean cultures. Many people who have these dolls (not all however) have an interest in these cultures wether it's music and/or art

 

Freud was a sexual deviant which is why he saw everything in sexual terms.
There is alot more but I wont bore you all with his problems.
I see my dolls as works of art.
And really who couldn't complain about one thing in their childhood that they would change or wish was different no matter how insignificant.

 

Hmm.... while I've delved pretty deeply into psychology as a hobby, I've never paused to explore why I love these dolls so much.

I think a Peter Pan complex does have a lot to do with it for some, although that isn't always a bad thing. What better way to keep your creativity alive and recapture youth than with something you have to carefully save up for and take good care of? I can think of worse ways, believe me.

There's the artistic side, of course, as many folks use faceups, customizations, or costuming their dolls to express themselves or their artistic talents. Boring psychologically, but logical.

Perhaps the only reason I can think of that would interest Freud is owners who buy gorgeous dolls and feel as though the affection and attention they pour into them is reciprocated in some way. Perhaps it's a way for them to make up for the fact that they don't think someone that beautiful would have affection for them in "real life"? It's easier to buy something perfect and believe it loves/cares for you than to find one in the big bad world, so maybe that's part of it, too.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by phanuel
On the other hand, there is also a fetishistic quality to doll adoration.

By definition:

broadly : a material object regarded with superstitious or extravagant trust or reverence b : an object of irrational reverence or obsessive devotion

anything to which one gives excessive devotion; idolized object

 

Nope, because my only experieince with a shrink was an encounter with one recently back to work from a "rest". He lied to me, used my comments against me and twisted what I said to make me sound bad, so I dont trust psychiatrists and have absolutely NO interest in anything one would say about me.

 

(I love this topic. Freudian interpretation is so fun!)

I think many psychologists would say about me personally (I cannot speak for all of you as I don't know you very well), would probably be something about my lack of a "real" childhood and having to "grow up too fast" (what does that even need) causes me to now try and recapture my lost youth through dolls. I don't necessarily believe that (I just like them!), but I can see how someone would come to that conclusion quite easily.

 

There are so many different reasons why people collect these dolls that it is impossible to try to find a generic Freudian explanation that applies to everyone in the hobby.

Perhaps there are some people in this hobby who are using the dolls to fulfill some sort of psychological need, but I don't think that applies to most people in the hobby. The dolls are pretty works of art and the well made clothes, wigs, eyes, etc. are examples of excellent, admirable craftswork, not objects to be fetishized.

As Freud himself said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes a doll is just a doll.

 

Well, if we are talking me personally, they would say, and I would probably agree, that it is that I want to be a pretty androgenous thing xD (I'm a girl). Since I have strived for an androgenous beauty (and somewhat failed often since I have such a girly figure >_<), it makes sense that I would want an androgenously beautiful doll. And I like boys more than girls, so I have an androgenously beautiful boy. But I would have zero issue with having only dolls that were gender neutral... In fact, part of me would prefer it.

What would Freud have to say about THAT?

 

(First thing that came to mind-- off the top of my head..) One might also consider the customizable factor. Those that desire a feeling of control. Face, hair, eyes, clothing, modification -- all of these things are at the collector/artist's finegrtips. Perfectionism or certain fixations with beauty and aesthetics.

 

Freud! I would only be half-interested to hear what that raving old cokehead had to say about adult doll-collecting, and then only for the entertainment value. He'd probably just boil it down to thwarted desires for sex & power, and accuse the lot of us of mass penis-envy and self-infantilization. *yawn* That kind of insight I can get from my hairdresser.

And he'd sure have a field day with the lolita scene....

 

And mommy issues. You can't forget mommy issues.

 

The main reason Freud's work (as it was originally presented) doesn't hold much water in psychology today is because his sample pool had no variation. It was all middle-aged housewives, that were well-to-do but not wealthy. His own psychological issues did play a part, but his results were also extremely skewed by his samples.

To answer the original topic- well, honestly, I'm not sure. I've never paid much attention to Freudian thinking, given the reasons stated above, and it's rarely wise to do too much self-examination of a psychological sort without proper training. One cannot be detached or properly unbiased. If there's some deep unconscious reason as to why I like dolls, that's nice; but in my day-to-day life, I like them because I do!