Gender Socialization: Doll Collection

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses, from a sociological point of view, the collector doll phenomenon. It looks at what makes women buy dolls and treat them like children. The paper also investigates how gender socialization during the early 20th century pushed these women towards a nurturing role.

From the Paper:

"Since the dawn of humanity there have been "dolls"; representations of humans or deities that have been collected for medicinal, religious, and, increasingly in modern times, recreational uses. Early humans first started becoming artisans so that they could make fertility idols, dolls that would increase women's ability to produce offspring, or to appease a deity so that they could help women to become impregnated. However doll making and the purposes of dolls have changed throughout the ages, from Ka figures in ancient Egypt who were said to house the spirit of the dead, to Barbie today who is mass produced so that thousands of children worldwide can watch her in her latest career exploits; women continue to collect and crave increasingly lifelike dolls (Robertson, 151). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Robertson, A.F. Life Like Dolls: The Collector Doll Phenomenon & the Lives of the Women Who Love Them. New York: Routledge, 2004.
• Chafe, William. The Paradox of Change: American Women in the 20th Century. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
• "The United Federation of Doll Clubs, Inc". 2007. UFDC, Inc. April 20, 2007. http://www.ufdc.org/
• "Angie with Robin... Friends Fill Our Empty Nest". Cool Pet Sites. September 13th 2006. http://www.coolpetsites.com/collectibles/boyds-dolls/angie-with-robin-friends.html
• "Amazon Customer Reviews of Life Like Dolls". Amazon.com. April 20, 2007. http://www.amazon.com/Life-Like-Dolls-Collector-Phenomenon/dp/0415944511

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