Boys & Dolls

Just wondered what you guys thinking about giving little boys dolls to play with....

Aaron & I were discussing it the other day & he said it's a bit gay :-s I totally disagreed saying that if our son wants to play with a doll then there is no way that I'll stop him, he can play with what he wants.

It turned into a pretty heated discusion & pretty well ended with Aaron decided that if it was a boy doll then it would be ok. Now to me, you'd think that seeing as he mentioned it being "gay" he'd prefer his son to look at a naked girl doll, rather than a naked boy doll IYKWIM.

I flipped the conversation around as well & asked if it would be ok should we have a daughter for her to play with cars & trucks. he had no problem with this though...

Hi Sarah

My two year old son plays with his sister's dolls, her doll house, her ballerina dress, my makeup, jewellery etc AND also plays with cars, trucks, plastic dinosaurs, puzzles etc etc

I definately don't think playing with any particular toy will make him "gay". I like him to explore his caring, gentle side as well as his macho car-crash side. I think it will help him become a more rounded individual.

I had to giggle about Aaron thinking it was ok for your son to play with a doll as long as it was a boy doll.... especially since they're all the same "down there".

LOL, my DH said exactly the same thing! IMO, boys should be able to play with dolls if they want to - after all, in this day and age of shared parental responsibilites, our sons will probably be attending to their babies as much as their partners (hopefully a long, long time away!), so why shouldn't they have the experience through play? DH also said that Action Man is okay though ...hmmm. Having said all this, I think a lot of boys will show disdain at playing with dolls. I remember when my mum gave my younger brother a little plastic house with little people and furniture for christmas one year, trying to be open minded and allow him to explore different play options, and he didn't want a bar of it - he was insistent that Santa had given him one of my presents by mistake (even though he was four and I was 13!)

My DP thinks the same ways... he is adamant that Aidyn will not be playing will dolls... and frankly I think his attitude is really silly and homophobic... (not sure if thats the right term to use) but I don't think playing with dolls means they are/will be gay!

My male cousin played with various dolls, action men, AND barbies up until he was about 9 or 10... and there was nothing suss about it (we used to play dolls with him) but then he grew out of it and passed all of his barbies onto us...
And today I'm pretty sure he is as straight as the next guy.

My brother played with dolls as well, and I can assure you he is NOT gay!! I told Aaron this & he shrugged it off. I remember one year I got roller blades for Christmas, my sister got a girl rollerblading doll & my brother got a boy rollerblading doll - can you tell what the fad was?!

I suppose it'd be different if he was playing with his sister's dolls, but Aaron just doesn't like the thought of me buying him his own.

I think alot of it is what was passed on from his own dad, whose opinion is that his other son (my BIL) might be gay cos he dyed his hair blonde & is living with another guy. My BIL thinks this is hilarious!

Andrew had the same ideas Sarah. But Kameron took to a little doll (has no hair and isn't really gender related) that used to be mine and he would call it baby and took it to bed with him, and we were both fine with that. You can still buy the same doll in Kmart. Comes with a bath tub.

Love

DP had a tea set when he was little and he reckons he loved it. If you could picture my rather overly tattooed DP with a tea set, you would be giggling like me!! NOT gay!

Awww that is so cute lulu!

I also had one of those dolls when I was little, I know exactly which one you are talking about Kat... it was my favourite doll in the world! LOL

I bought my eldest son a baby doll to give to him when I had the second baby. My xh was fine with that after a bit of nagging. It hasn't done him any harm. He is now 18 and from what I hear very interested in the ladies :)
I think that if little boys want to play with dolls, let them!!

Harry has a doll that he plays with occasionally. He carries it around and puts it in the stroller and pushes it, then he gets his toy bottle and feeds it and burps it...It is really cute and I don't think there is anything wrong with it. If a little boy wants to play with dolls then fine. If you ask me, preventing a boy from playing with dolls and insinuating it is 'gay' will cause more confusion than just giving him one.