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Doll Mom

 Fascinating read about doll-moms and how social media responds to them. The logic here makes sense to a certain extent:

“My husband can play with cars, he can play video games, he can play Lego and everybody’s like, ‘That’s so cool,’” says Kiersten. “But the moment I’m like, ‘I play with dolls!’ I’m a weirdo who needs to have a real baby.” 

Maybe its about how far a person takes their play and what kinds of triggers it sets off among those who do not play and cannot understand what drives those that do. And if crossing that line, how much are they willing to share about what they do. Not everyone with a video gaming, or Lego obsession will share details about in casual conversation - a certain degree of trust must be earned and confidence that they will not be judged. It seems the issue at hand here is not so much the fact that a woman finds therapeutic value and satisfaction in being the mother of one or more dolls. It is about what happens when she chooses to share these facts widely - to friends and strangers alike. 

..Part of the visceral discomfort of watching these videos is the fact that they’re made for public consumption in the first place. It points to a bigger conversation happening right now around the ethics of “sharenting”—aka posting sensitive information about kids before they’re old enough to consent, says Jenna Abetz, PhD, an associate professor of communication at the College of Charleston who has studied combative mothering in mommy blogs. Sure, a doll isn’t going to grow up and sue you for violating their medical privacy, but there’s an increasing cultural unease with social posts that feel exploitative
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