Brazil: Regenerated dolls … a harmless hobby or a threat?

A young woman publishes a video that seems to be hugging her baby, Bento, and preparing her bag for the hospital trip. She calls her « one of the most busy and frightening days for me. »

He takes buns, a bottle and medical documents and puts him in the back of a car. In the hospital, they weigh and lie on a bed, where he pulls out his pacifier, feeds him with a bottle and wipes a few drops of his cheek.

But it was not a real emergency medical condition – it was a role -playing game player – and the baby was not a real baby. It was a shocking realistic doll, called a « reborn doll », which is handmade to look like and feel like a baby.

The video, which received more than 16 million views in Tiktok, is part of a social media fury that has been transformed into a cultural and political ignition in Brazil, According to the New York Times.

@yas_reborn Bento Teve Que Ir Para O Hospital… Maternidade Aos 18 Anos #mãedereborn #bebereborn #maternidade #maternidadereal #pediatria #avent ♬ Som Original – Aqui é a yas!

Dolls… a harmless hobby or a threat

Videos of widely circulated women show women taking the dolls, in the parking park, celebrating their birthday with cakes and songs and simulating childbirth. (Some even simulate the dolls to have nose bleeding or to be trained in the toilet).

« What I like the most are newborns, » said Juliana Druz Magri, 36, who lives in Kouritiba, the capital of the Brazilian state and works in the human resources. He said he started collecting dolls in 2018 and now he has 22.

« The world of fantastic thoughts is an escape valve for me, » he said. « And, no, I don’t treat him as a real baby. »

Some consider them scary. Newspaper columnists, influencers and legislators have expressed their opinion, with a variety of degrees of sincerity, about what some perceive as a threat to social class and what others have described as a harmless hobby.

In the northwestern Amazon state of Brazil, a legislator, Joao Louise, recently transferred one of the dolls to the legislative power and argued, without evidence, that some women demand public benefits for dolls. His colleague, Joanna Dark, also expressed her concern.

« You can’t force a doctor to a hospital, for example, to be brought to a regenerated doll as if he were a child who is a living being, » he said in Step. « You can’t force a teacher to accept a child at a kindergarten because the person wants the regenerated doll to study it. »

The official… scratching

In something that looked like terrorism, the official social networking account of the City City Hall of Kouritiba warned the « mothers » of regenerated dolls not to sit in the yellow seats on urban buses intended for pregnant women. « The reborn dolls are cute, but they don’t guarantee a place in the yellow position, okay? » The post wrote.

In defense of the dolls, the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Council approved a proposal to establish September 4 as the day of the regenerated stork, a celebration in honor of the craftsmen making dolls.

But the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Pasis, vetoed the proposal. « With all respect for those who are interested, this is not going to happen, » he wrote on social media.

How much do they cost

Dolls have been around since the 1990s, when people began to remove color and hair from the shop dolls bought from the store and process them in a meticulous way to be more realistic. And the interest in them is not limited to Brazil.

Dave Stak of Cleveland, owner of ReBorns, an online market for reborn dolls, said he has seen a « slow and steady increase » in sales since starting the website in 2012.

He now sells 40 to 60 dolls a day, from about 10 a day five years ago, according to his website.

Most cost about $ 200 to $ 250 and are made of vinyl, while some limited dolls from softer silicone have been sold for more than $ 4,000, he said.

Who buy them

A small percentage of dolls are bought by mothers who mourn the loss of a child, said Stak. Others have been purchased by memory care centers, lawyers who use them for court representations and people who turn films and television broadcasts. But most buyers are « just people who love babies, » he said.

Some popular videos created by content creators show the dolls bleeding on the nose, going to their first exit to the target or vomiting in the car.

Jennifer Granando, 43, who makes dolls with her husband and daughter in Indiana, said that about half of her clients are collectors and about half are facing some kind of trauma or loss.

A client, Mrs Granado said, goes to her shopping dolls and in the office, feeds them with baby food and take photos with Santa Claus at Christmas.

« She can’t do children, so this is the closest thing that can be done for her and her husband, » Mrs Granado said. « There is definitely a large group of people who do not understand why an adult would play with a doll. But they don’t see it as a doll. They see her as a baby. « 

‘Art is worth being appreciated’

Mrs Tru, the Couritiba collector called the dolls « a tranquil, fun, I would even say innocent hobby » and said she was disappointed to judge her for her interest in them.

« I hope that after all this is done, we will be able to continue our collections with our privacy and do what we want without characterizing us, » he said.

« I think the reborn dolls are art and art is worth being appreciated. »

Photo source: New York Times, Wikipidia