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Baby Dolls

When discussing gender roles, there is a constant debate about nature versus nurture. Without taking a side this assessment will look into the different psychological impacts of the baby doll that are widely distributed throughout the female child demographic. It is not uncommon to discover a child holding a doll or clutching it at a young age and there are many reasons for this, but a couple primary points will be addressed here.

One advantage to a child owning and maintaining one or more baby dolls is the social impacts it has. When a child is first learning the social structures around them, their first and primary experience is with their parents. For this reason, the child projects the relationship of caregiver onto its surroundings including their toys, and the doll is just the logical extension of this.

When a child cares for a doll, the child is showing to the parent and plausibly researchers that the child has a creative capacity for a strong imagination. Although not foolproof, this can also be used to show how the child feels about certain issues, and it is a key method for psychologists to reach out and have discussions with children. A child feels comfortable and can relate and for that reason, opens up to the child, when being completely honest to an adult might provide a far more daunting task.

 

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