Would you buy a doll for your son if he asked for one?

1. 60

   kcreeryposted 13 years ago

   Would you buy a doll for your son if he asked for one?

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2. 61

   shynslyposted 13 years ago

   Uhm... can we call it an "action figure"? My 3 year old girl got a big dollhouse with all the trimmings and a bunch of princess dress-up stuff for Christmas, and our 6 year old son seems to have an on again off again desire to play with them, mostly with her, but not always. That doesn't bother me too much, I think it's just a "phase".
   
   As far as actually buying him "girl stuff", though... I think I might have an issue with that. If for no other reason than the teasing he would take from his cousins and friends. If he grows up to be gay or whatever, I'm fine with that, it's his choice, but in terms of being a parent now... I guess I'm just "old skool" like that, lol.

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3. 61

   Lisa HWposted 13 years ago

   I did my buy my sons the occasional doll when they were little enough to show interest in them.  One son was three when a cheap, "fake"  Barbie-doll on a card in the store caught his eye.  The doll had roller skates, a helmet, and skating equipment.  Since it wasn't a "provocative-type" Barbie, and since it was cheap I let him have it.
   
   There was also the boy-baby doll here or there, a boy Cabbage Patch doll (with adoption certificate, and one of my sons is adopted; and named, "Gaspar", although my son couldn't remember the name, "Gaspar" and started calling the doll, "Oilbar" LOL).   Anyway, yes.  I bought my sons dolls.  Once they got a little older they were more interested in action figures and other "dolls" meant for boys.
   
   I wouldn't have given either of them something like a ballerina or prom-dress kind of Barbie doll, and I wouldn't have given them a doll that's dressed in frilly little girls' clothes - or anything like that.  If either of them had wanted that kind of doll (even as preschoolers) - I'm sorry - I would have found a different kind of doll for them.  They didn't, though. Their interest (even as preschoolers) in any one doll was pretty fleeting.  Doll-house people (like the Little Tykes ones) kind of filled the need to "play people" and "play family" for them.  That, they really did enjoy.
   
   My daughter had the American Girl dolls, and her older brother did find the historical reproductions of the accessories interesting.  He didn't particularly want one of the dolls, but he did say, "It's too bad they don't have something like that for boys."  He's always been kind of "history person", but those miniature reproductions of stuff of one era or another are also kind of just cute.   So, for me, it all depends on the age of the boy, the doll, the accessories, the kind of play that's associated with kind of doll, etc. 
   
   Having said that, I think it's important not to raise boys sending messages like, "boys don't want dolls," or "dolls aren't for boys".  Little boys need to go through their phase of learning to nurture and processing how things like social skills in the family work.  They often do things like make their sisters' Barbie doll race her sports car, so how they play with dolls is often different than the way some girls do.
   
   For the most part, even girls stop playing with dolls (unless they just collect them) at adolescence, so if I had a close-to-adolescence boy who wanted a doll - no.     Younger than that - I'm flexible.   

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4. 0

   Butch Newsposted 13 years ago

   Yes I would.  Trying to mold a child into our perceptions of what we think is politically correct will not change the person they are.
   
   One should encourage any kind of creativity.

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5. 61

   mkvealshposted 13 years ago

   My husband always helped care for our babies, thus our boys always seemed to think it was natural to play with a doll.  However, they seem to grow out of it much sooner than girls.  Our boys moved on to trucks and GI Joes by the time they were 3 or 4.

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6. 60

   Shendawgposted 13 years ago

   I would have no problem with it if it was something he really wanted.  I am a father who shares pretty equally the responsibility of raising our three young kids.  I do feedings, change diapers, give baths, etc.  I would hope he sees this as my role in our family and if he wanted to pretend doing the same with a doll, I would support fully.

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7. 60

   Nicole Breitposted 13 years ago

   Of course - why not? I have bought my son dolls. As a baby he always lit up whenever he saw a face, whether on a person or a doll or a toy. He has a few snuggle buddies, and some of them are soft dolls.

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8. 72

   JT Waltersposted 12 years ago

   Absolutely!!!  I think there is nothing wrong with boys having dolls.  GI Joe was a doll.  My son doesn't want one of those.

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