In World 203, psychologists in the 1970s established that seeing a representation of oneself benefited children’s self-esteem, and seeing representation of others helped develop empathy skills. Children were given doll likenesses of themselves with a wardrobe matching their own clothes. Some adults adopted their own dolls, and as the generations grew up, the practice became widespread among all ages and genders. Clothes are sold with matching fabric or even ready-made doll versions. Children are encouraged to learn to make doll clothes and, later, their own clothing as well. Dolls come in varying sizes and styles, and many people have several for different occasions.
What if …
everyone had a doll version of themselves with a wardrobe that matched their own?
Issue targeted:
representation, diversity, creativity and self-expression
Inspiration:
the post-WW2 Theatre de la Mode exhibit, my own doll collection
This World was contributed by Katrin Salyers (located in Sheffield, UK) using a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence which allows others to share and adapt the work in any medium and for any purpose, providing that they credit the author and share their material using the same Creative Commons licence.
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