Boys and dolls  

My son who is now 25 has two sisters, so he often played with them even with their dolls.

I have to say, my son grew up to be a wonderful father to his two children.

He also played with action figures, and he doesn't have a violent bone in his body.

I think any toys that develop imagination are good, besides they learn more violence from watching tv and playing video games than any doll could teach them.

My son has played Barbies with his little sister and I see no problem with it. I think it's fine and would never tell him, "you're a boy you can't play with dolls". I don't say anything when my daughter plays with her brothers cars either. They are just kids playing and thats it.

I've never had a problem with my daughter wrenching on the car wtih her dad, workin in the garage wiht her stepdad, playing rough and tumble nor have I had issues with my son playing with dolls when he was younger in fact he owned one of his own when I was pregnant with his sister...I dont see why ppl get all bent out of shape over it...My ex (my oldest twos father) was silly like that...so is my brother for that matter....I have zero tolerance for that kind of narrowminded thinking

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I personally do not have a problem with my son playing with dolls. He has a baby Cabbage Patch doll and he just loves him. My son plays with both "girls" and "boys" toys. He loves Transformers, trucks and ninja turtles, but he also enjoys playing with his sisters My Little Ponies. My son is not violent at all and he loves his action figures.

My daughter on the other hand has never liked barbies, princesses or anything like that. Until she was 5 her favorite toys were dinosaurs. Now she will play with Ponies and Littlest Pet Shop, but no other girly type toys.

I don't have a problem with either of my kids playing with toys geared towards the oppposite gender. As long as they are happy that is all that matters to me.

My brother and boyfriend both had Cabbage Patch dolls growing up and they are now both normal, grown men.

I grew up with two sisters,and spent most of my time with them playing house and what not,with plenty of dolls,both my sister and myself now collect dolls.
and for those that believe this makes me a sissy,let me show you the medals I earned in Viet Nam.
I am now 60 years old and have a pretty good collection of older dolls.
Thank you for a good discussion.

Both my sons, especially my youngest has played with dolls. I'm talking about 'girly' dolls such as ones that look like babies, not the GI Joe type. I think it's good for kids of both genders to learn to take care of babies as one day they may be parents (or even big brothers/big sisters), and one of the best 'tools' to use are dolls to help them learn, in my opinion.

I've worked with kids of all ages while I was a teacher and every boy in my classes from age 1-5 played with a doll at some point. If the parents came in during that time they would often freak out about it. I would explain that every boy in there did it.
My oldest son is now 5, his 2 favorite "dolls" when he was younger were 1 that was a Bob the Builder doll and one that was a stuffed Rottweiler (like our real one) and nobody said anything about it because those were more boyish.
My 2 yr old has a little boy doll that he carries almost everywhere. Luckily my husband sees nothing wrong with it and has even drove 20 miles round trip to go get the baby when left at my dad's, because our son couldn't sleep.
Both boys also love tools, trucks, tractors and everything else most boys do.

Isn't it good that boys do play with dolls and girls play with male oriented toys? The main point is, this will make boys more sensible to girls and will behave differently with them. You wouldn't want guys to treat girls in the same manner they treat their boy-friends. Similarly, girls will be a bit more tougher in life and will have the confidence and attitude to compete with anyone else. Childhood sows the seed for the future of their life. So, these minor, simple steps go a long way. But, the catch is, it should not be forced on the kids, but, let the kids enjoy what they want to do.

I don't think a lot of people realise that the dolls and action figures both lead to imagination and help children act out what is bothering them. It's all a part of dramatic play. They work out a lot of issues through this type of play. It helps them sort out what they see in their environment all the time (more specifically dramatic play and toys including dolls, not necessarly action figures) and how it relates to them. I think boys playing with dolls is a good thing. I think it teaches them a lot about how to treat women and how to treat other children.