Are Dolls OK for Boys?

[Calivano]

I found this article online challenging the belief that cars and trucks are for boys and dolls are for girls. http://www.parenting.com/article/dolls- ... s-for-boys
I agree with the premise that children should be given both dolls and cars/trucks to play with in order for them to develop a strong imagination. I think its time for us to grow out of this antiquated thinking that dolls are for girls and tractors are for boys. But some people nonetheless will find it odd that a boy should play with a doll, maybe perhaps even a bit creepy. However, even GI Joe is a doll but no one thinks that is strange because he is a stereotype teaching boys to be tough. Thoughts?

[Kirahfaye]

We have several single and married guys in our local group who enjoy dolls.

[K2!]

They call them action figures now.

[Vetinari]

HATEHATEHATE gender labelling and stereotyping - Just let people be people and leave them alone... I'm looking at you generic public who give little boys weird looks for wanting to play with barbies and insist that pink is the colour for girls

[Greyhaunt]

One of the main reasons I try very hard to avoid the color pink is because of the gender stereotyping of it. When we were kids (back in the 60s/70s) my brother had a few dolls - I know because when he "outgrew" them I ended up with them. He also had some GI Joe's and other "boy dolls". I took those too LOL. I see no reason why boys can't have dolls if they want them and I think the assumption that if a boy/man has dolls he must be gay is unfair as well. I have some friends back in texas who collect as a couple, and the husband is as dedicated to their Barbie and Gene collections as his wife is to their Star Wars/Trek collections. Seems that whenever I talk about the doll group and mention K2's dolls someone asks me if he is gay - at which time I point out that generally speaking the gay BJD collectors tend to have MALE dolls, not all FEMALE dolls. Not that they don't own girls too, but I am endeavoring to make a point to the clueless. Stereotyping of any kind pisses me off ><

[Linteia]

Wonder where I've heard that one before. Kiddo has his own dolls, has since he was a baby. He had one ratty baby doll he would drag around and give Eskimo kisses when he first learned to walk, then he had a defluffed cabbage patch kid. Now he has a Hujoo Suve. *shrug* It's not his first love but if he wants to play with dolls then so help him, he will. I don't want him to be all flowers and tea parties, but if he wants Baby to wreck his train and be defeated by Twilight Sparkle and a ninja puppy, that's cool with me.

[Evelien]

Every year at Dolliverse I see lots of guys walking around with their dolls, both gay and straight. I love it

[Yanagi-sen]

Growing up, I played with my brother and his GI Joe's and He-Man figures and Transformers and we all shared the Star Wars stuff. And sometimes he'd come play with the Barbies and My Little Ponies with my sister and me. We didn't have 'girl toys' and 'boy toys'... we had TOYS.

I remember when I was student teaching in a Kindergarten class (around 15 years ago). It was a very odd mix, 11 boys and only 2 girls. So it was a very different play dynamic than what you would usually see. There were some boys who would only play with other boys, but there were a couple that crossed the lines. I remember one of the girls would go into the dress up/kitchen area. She would grab a briefcase and some papers and go to 'work', while one of the boys was a stay-at-home dad and took care of the 'kids' and 'cooked'. I thought it was AWESOME. And they didn't just do this once either, it was a daily thing!

[DollyKim]

William Wants A Doll... There was a recent Sesame Street where first Baby Bear was embarrassed but then he couldn't wait to share with Telly how much he liked playing with his own baby doll, he found Telly wanted to be a pretend dad too. All the boys on Robot Chicken play with dolls. If I had a son he'd be getting a mix of my old toys and what ever he wanted to play with. I can feel the sick of the pain of those who want EZ Bake ovens in real colors. My 70cm twin boys gave up finding many things not overtly girly.

I played with toy dogs, who were boys and girls, Hot Wheels, and paper dolls along with a few Barbies. I was allowed to get any toys I wanted, we could afford, growing up so $1 Hot Wheel or paper doll was cheaper than a doll. I do know I wasn't a baby doll fan. Fashion then custom dolls themselves kicked in more as I got older.

[Iwa_Hoshi]

The guys I hangout with are pretty okay. Some of their dolls are more feminine than mine. If anything they treat their dolls as a photographic model(I do that). someone to make miniature props and sew costume for(I do that too).There's a handful who are married or have girlfriends

Its like how a military doll (ok action figure) store owner crafts his own diorama and sew his uniforms to display his products. I dumped my Barbies in favour of Bionic Six and TMNT but still keep my plushie animals. And see what happen over a decade or two later? I'm back in Obitsu dolls making them dressup as video game characters like Street Fighters and Final Fantasy and Metal Gear. Games that I enjoyed when girls my age phase were chasing pop idols.