A Guy's Love For Dolls

I'll be the first to admit that having grown up in Mexico City - a very Catholic and "machista" city - I never really felt comfortable playing with dolls as a kid. If I would have been caught playing with dolls at school or at a party I would have likely become a victim of social ridicule and bullying.

Guys are supposed to like plastic cars, toy soldiers, monster trucks, cowboys and guns. I was always a little bit different than other boys I grew up with. I liked My Little Ponies, Care Bears, She-Ra, and yes... Barbie dolls. While I never actually openly played with dolls, I managed to steal one from one of my cousins during a sleepover weekend. It felt so wrong and yet so right. I was excited to get home to play with it. I remember hiding it underneath the washroom vanity and locking myself up to bring it out.

Looking back now, I don't really know what I was so ashamed of. Society and cultural gender roles can have a big impact on the way we behave as both kids and adults but at the end of the day someone along the way decided what is considered appropriate and what isn't and it certainly wasn't me! Saying that a boy should not play with dolls is something society decided upon to reinforce the expectation of toughness and machismo men are expected to grow into and it all certainly seems quite arbitrary to me.

I am an openly gay man now and as such I truly value being able to be in tune with my emotions and to have the ability to express my feelings and views in a way many heterosexual men simply cannot. I guess I'm more connected to my feminine side but I definitely still feel that I am a masculine man. I don't know if dolls had anything to do with me developing these attributes or not but what I do know is that learning to care for care bears, dolls, and other cute toys definitely helped to develop the caring and nurturing nature in me.

But enough about me... I wanted to write this blog post to openly share my love for dolls with others for the first time.. My little cousin (who I adore) asked my mom to buy her a doll for her birthday. I happened to go to my mom's house the following week and that's when I first was exposed to Monster High Dolls Monster High dolls are based on a cartoon series depicting the lives of the offspring of famous monsters such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, Medusa, The Phantom Of The Opera, zombies, ghosts, and the abominable snowman. As the intro song to the TV show states these characters are "freaky-chic and fly" and combined they are simply unstoppable. Having watched a few episodes of the series (you can find the pilot below) made me quickly fall in love with the characters behind these dolls even more. You can watch the rest of the series online on the official YouTube channel here.



Now that I am an adult I was able to buy my first ever doll publicly with no shame to worry about. It may sound simple but I must say it was quite a liberating experience for me as it helped me to realize how many of my fears I have conquered through the years and how much more I love myself for who I am.

Once I got home I unpacked the dolls I bought and decided to take a few fashion shots of them with my iPhone. I am quite happy with the way they turned out. Here they are, hope you enjoy them!



Another set of dolls I have been obsessed with for a while are Blythe. These are fashion dolls with over sized heads and large eyes that change colour with the pull of a string. They are produced by Japanese toy company Takara and they have sparked a very large network of hobbyists who customize the dolls for resale and create clothing and shoes for them. You can check some of my favourite pictures of Blythe dolls on my Pinterest. I have yet to buy one of these!

Blythe Doll

I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about me and my love for dolls. Feel free to leave a comment below. Thanks for stopping by!~