ARTICLE - VINYL CHILDREN

Vinyl children

Kovacic Yelena

Feb 1, 2012 15:21 Moscow Time

Dolls resembling babies in appearance are acquiring more and more popularity in Russia. And among women much more than among girls. Psychologists are trying to understand whether this can be regarded as cognizance of the time or as a mental disorder.

“What a cute baby! And what a beautiful suit set I’ve bought for him”! The owners of reborn dolls (this is how such dolls are called) treat them as if they were real children: they dandle them and also buy them toys, clothes, beds, and prams. At forums they discuss their “babies” and share their plans for buying new ones. 

Reborn dolls appeared abroad 20 years ago but for Russia they are a novelty. Such dolls are expensive, and to make them is a hard job. “It takes not less than 3 weeks to make one”, an artist, Irina Tsorn, says.

"This is a realistic handmade doll. Such a doll is not for playing with it – it would be just in place in your collection. All this is unique work. Such dolls do not resemble one another."

Such a “baby” – a reborn doll - could be taken for a real baby. There was a case in the USA, when a policeman broke the window of a car that was parked nearby, thinking that what was inside was a real baby who was left there by negligent parents. And once a female swindler posted a photo of her reborn doll on the global network in an effort to urge visitors to make donations, so that her, allegedly, ill child would be able to recover. Reborn dolls can really stir up sympathies, one of the owners of reborn dolls, Lyudmila, says.

"First of all, we are women, and if I see a doll – a reborn doll or simply a beautiful German doll of a 3- or 5-year-old child – they always trigger tender emotions."

Lyudmila is absolutely sure that buying reborn dolls does not differ from any other form of collecting - be that stamps, Bohemian glass or pictures. And this has nothing to do with maternal instinct. No dolls can replace a real child, she told a Voice of Russia reporter.

And still, there’re people who buy reborn dolls in order to recollect their youth: their children and grandchildren have grown up, and reborn dolls become an object to admire, and besides, they can crochet caps and other clothes for them. Psychologist Ilya Shabshin calls this immaturity.

"If a woman has children but wants to continue playing with her dolls this means that she didn’t have enough of that in her childhood."

The Russian psychologist says that there may be one more reason for that. The point is that a real child demands much attention. Not all women are ready for that but they want to feel what it means to be a mother.  

"In any game reality is becoming more simplified. And besides, to be successful in a game is easier than in real life. That is why instead of making efforts to resolve existing problems women want to return to their childhood."