Thank you for your well-thought out response, Jackoleen.Jackoleen wrote:Dear Cheshire_Cat,
You could either buy the doll online, or you could just buy the doll in the store, anyway, and if anybody gave you a bad time, you could just say, "My little sister/ cousin just had a major surgery, and she wants this doll more than anything in the world!", or "My little sister/ cousin is really sick, and I know that this doll will cheer her up!", or "My cousin in Montana (?) just turned 5, and I know that her mom will not get this doll for her, 'cause she just got Furlowed." If any of THOSE responses don't make the offender feel guilty, I don't know what to tell you to do.
I used to catch flack for buying dolls, and I'm a girl. When I was in college, I had to hide from my cousin's wife whenever we were both in the store, because she didn't agree with the idea of a woman enjoying dolls. I'd have to hide myself, or hide any dolls that I'd chosen, or put them back quickly, or whatever. I was miserable.
I know that if you polled all of the parents who buy toys for their kids, at least half of them would admit that they at least WISH that they could relive their own childhoods, were that option ever to be socially acceptable. Why do you think that so many doll companies always use such phrases as "The doll that's just as lovable to your child as she was to you.", "She's as pretty as you remember, and prettier!", "Creating quality dolls that bring back the memories of yesteryear.", etc.?
The fact that doll enthusiasts (and I don't just mean people who lock NRFB dolls in dark closets, hoping to make their fortunes later, or to keep those dolls in their boxes forever) must somehow force themselves to be a "closeted" group is just sick, but it's nearly always true.
Doll collecting is the 2nd largest hobby in America, and yet adult doll collectors are still being made to feel guilty for loving dolls, even as the hobby is becoming more popular all of the time, and even as the Japanese are inventing the robots who will someday be our companions. Dolls are the wave of the future.
So, I say that you should do whatever you think is right. If you really, really want that Belle doll, you should be able to choose whichever example of her you want, at The Disney Store, if that's what you really want to do.
Thank you in advance for your reply.
I have two problems, though. I still live with my parents, and I don't know if they themselves would approve of my purchasing dolls. I probably would have gotten away with it if I were a lot younger, but now, it'll probably be irksome for them.
Also, the Disney Store at the nearest mall seems to have closed down recently, and I don't know of any others nearby. I can't purchase them online, either.
