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| Photo Accreditation: Jerry Kiesewetter |
People fear letting little boys play with dolls devour masculinity and encourage gay behavior. However, there's a huge misconception with the little-boy-doll-thing. What some parents don't know is not letting little boys play with dolls can be quite risky.
According to psychology doll playing can be beneficial for male children. Not only does dressing a doll allow little boys to practice fine motor skills which are the skills needed to aid in using the small muscles in the fingers, hands, and forearms, doll playing also inhance other areas of male development, like emapthy for example.
A lot of parents don't realize letting their sons care for a doll indirectly teach their
little boys how to understand and share peoples feelings. Clearly, learning how to empathize with others is a very important life skill; it teaches little boys how to build healthy relationships and connect with people on a deeper level.
What is more important is the fact that empathy breeds courage. In a 2014 study
Nicola Abbott and Lindsey Cameron, psychology researchers from the University of Kent, found children with higher empathy levels were more likely to stand up to bullies on behalf of other children.
Above all, letting little boys play with dolls can potientially stop the the bad-daddy-crisis. Little boys who are allowed to play with dolls tend to be better fathers. They learn how to change, feed, and emotionally care for babies at a very young age. Therefore, providing them with the emotional stability needed to stick around in their children's lives; doll playing also gives little boys the knowledge they need to bond with and care for their own children.
On another level, doll playing also aids in speech and language development. Little boys are able to build important vocabulary including:
- Crib
- Baby
- pamper and diaper changing
- Rocking chair
- Hungry
- Bedtime
- Wash and Feed

