Comments on: An Alphabet of Feminism #4: D is for Doll

By: Pet Jeffery

Pet Jeffery — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 23:48:38 +0000

I watched “Queen of Outer Space” (1958) last night, and was shocked by the level of casual sexism. In many ways, it wasn’t the worst thing, but perhaps the thing that grated most on my nerves was hearing women referred to as “dolls”. It’s easy to forget, talking about things in an abstract way, just how demeaning that sounds.

By: Pet Jeffery

Pet Jeffery — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 19:36:48 +0000

On a personal note, I observe the use of “pet” in this article: “pet name”, “any female pet”… Curiously, my mother’s name was Dorothy.

By: Pet Jeffery

Pet Jeffery — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 19:08:49 +0000

While sweets (unlike toys) were (and presumably still are) generally unisex, I think that dolly mixture (perhaps solely because of its name) was (is?) widely regarded as girls’ sweets.

By: Electronic Doll

Electronic Doll — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 15:13:07 +0000

Marvellous – a lovely bit of language history.

By: Hodge

Hodge — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 10:28:36 +0000

In reply to Russell.

You’re right, because part of my point is about the idea of worship, but what I’m really interested in here is the actual linguistic history of the word ‘doll’.

On the conceptual idea, it presumably also works the other way round: while the dictionary asserts that a ‘doll’ is, by definition, a female figure, I would be surprised to find that little girls never played with male dolls in the centuries before Barbie. Although, interestingly, their function in more modern times seems to be to complete a family or a female-oriented life (as with Ken). Ken *is* actually a ‘Ken Doll’ isn’t he? but cf. – Toy Story 3: ‘I’m NOT a girls’ toy! Why do people keep saying that?’

By: Hodge

Hodge — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 22:48:02 +0000

In reply to Miranda. Unless they're blow up dolls.

By: Russell

Russell — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 19:55:22 +0000

In reply to Miranda.

I LOVED the Care Bears as a child. I remember fondly the movies: Care Bears 1, Care Bears 2 (which was much better as it involved the Care Bear Cousins), Care Bears In Wonderland…

Of course, there was no continuity between the films. Even as a pre-schooler, this irked me.

No, the people selling them don’t call them dolls, although they are occasionally referred to that way by the “uneducated” (or people who just want to make a point). This doesn’t change the fact that the basic concept is the same: little people made of plastic.

By: Miranda

Miranda — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:56:07 +0000

In reply to Russell. (Only a little relatedly, I am always particularly pleased when I meet a man who can share my fond memories of Care Bears. It happens rarely. But now and again...)

By: Miranda

Miranda — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:54:45 +0000

In reply to Russell. They don't *call* them dolls, though, do they? The word itself has such a weight as a feminine term that they have to call them something else...

By: Russell

Russell — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:17:08 +0000

This may be more of a toy geek thing than a feminist thing *changes hats* but at least in the second half of the twentieth century, boys do play with dolls. The name is simply dressed up as a “figurine” or “action figure” but it essentially serves the same purpose (well, apart from spring-loaded action features, cue pun).