HOW YOUTHS CERISH DOLLS

What seems to be just dolls…the truth behind dolls
A ‘soul mate’ to the lonely, a companion to children and a playmate to the bored is what a doll is to most children. Perhaps that is why adults collect dolls. Any way, children cherish them and unmarried women spend nights next to them. Even some bachelors seem to be in touch with them.

They simply occupy a special place in the hearts of many. Manufacturers are making millions of dollars from their sale. They have recently become viable money-spinners. Egyptians make them in big numbers out of flat pieces of wood, Japanese from folded paper, Germans with porcelain, while Eskimos from sealskin.

However, the question remains unanswered; why the recent great desire for dolls? Why do they seem to have greater importance than what they really are? The World Book Encyclopedia charges that most ancient doll-like features were magical if not religious objects. They were not just dolls. Historically, Egyptians painted patterned clothing onto small pieces of paddle-shaped wood and adorned them with strings of clay beads representing hair. They them placed them in tombs of the dead believing that the dolls would be their servants in the life after.

On the other strand, vengeful people in the West Indies stuck pins into some types of dolls. They hoped that such dolls would harm enemies to the dead. Many cultures equally associated dolls to fertility rites. For instance, in ancient Greece, girls who were about to get married left their dolls on an alter of the goddess of fertility known as Artemis. Some Ashanti tribe’s women of Ghana carry a doll in their waistbands hoping it will help them bear beautiful children. Some Syrian girls equally hang dolls in their windows to advertise that they have reached the marriage age.

So what if dolls are associated with such rituals in some quarters? Is there any hustle and bustle? The world book encyclopedia states that the concept of making dolls was aimed at coming up with someone to teach children. Dolls were meant to teach children about their tribal gods in most setups. The Pueblo Indians on the Southwest of the United States for example used kachina dolls for that role. Such dolls are carved from cactus roots or pine.

Since these tribes often hold special ceremonies, a member of the tribe dress and act like one of the gods during these ceremonies. Afterwards, parents gave a doll fashioned like that god to their children so that as they played with it, they would become familiar with the god. The encyclopedia further charges that dolls provide an outlet for a child’s hurt feelings, anger and other emotions. The encyclopedia cites a Japanese Children’s Day Festival as one event when dolls are used to impart some beliefs in children. During this festival, one doll is displayed showing a young man dressed in a full armor of a traditional warrior. This doll acts as a role model to young boys whom it encourages to be strong and respectable members of society in relation to local culture.

This entails that there is an emotional bond formed between children and their dolls in most instances. To this end, some counselors argue that because of the bond formation, parents have to take serious the unprecedented influence dolls may have on their children’s development. Some kids become so addicted to dolls that they cannot sleep without their dolls next to them. They spend whole day with dolls without feeling bored. Some would like to dress and look like their dolls. They thus pester their parents to buy them make up and other ingredients that meet the looks of their dolls. This entails that dolls are slowly taking over the role of parents of being role models.

Such dolls can corrupt young girls with superficial type of communication that promote style rather than substance. Most parents are unfortunately mostly unaware of the influence their children’s dolls on the children. All they see are strange habits on their children that they do not their root cause-ritual dolls could be the source. Some are not just mere dolls.