Reborn Dolls – The Weird Side of the Internet

Reborn Dolls – The Weird Side of the Internet – by Liam Sweeny.

“Reborn” dolls. Have you ever seen them? If you saw a reborn doll in a crib straddling the railroad tracks with a train coming, you might just risk your life to save one of these things. They’re so real, they cause problems, especially in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

It’s, of course, not the dolls that are the problem; it’s the owners. Isn’t that the thing about objects, like nothing is bad until people come across it. So maybe it’s the people who are nuts. And if you knew me, you’d know I don’t aim the crazy finger at anyone. So you know what? Let’s not call these women nuts. Let’s call them… compelling.

So some compelling women in the world have taken to buying realistic “reborn” dolls to, I don’t know what. Play mother?

This has gotten all the way to Brazilian legislature, which has had the task of responding to a spurious accusation that these women are taking their dolls to the hospital for imagined medical ailments. As I said, spurious, because there are no documented cases of this happening. Funny how often we’re legislating to protect ourselves from our own imaginations.

I can say that I don’t know what would possess someone to love a doll. I get it if someone lost a child, but how does loving a doll not make it worse? Is it wrong to love a doll? Not really, not to me. The libertarian in me says that, short of felonies and strong misdemeanors, everything is good. But I find myself saddened by this. I mean, this is probably the best kind of baby for me to have. Doesn’t cry, doesn’t poo, doesn’t spit up on my shoulder. But I can’t teach them to say cool, NSFW stuff for when I bring them to work for “take your kid to work day.”

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