Baby doll
Baby doll refers to a range of dolls that are available ranging from traditional (perhaps homemade) cloth baby dolls for young girls to sophisticated infant simulators or high-fidelity inert dolls that are collectors items and perhaps even a substitute for having an actual child.
Variations
Some of the modern permutations are:
1. A traditional baby doll or silicone baby intended as a toy for young girls.
2. A Baby simulator (AKA an infant simulator or robotic baby) that are intended for:
- prompting prospective parents to consider the requirements of parenthood to make an better-informed decisions
- enhancing parenting skills in preparation for later parenthood
3. A reborn doll: an expensive and very lifelike doll that might be stock or made-to-order that is intended as:
- a collectors item for adults
- a substitute for a real baby for adults, some who are coping with the loss of a child, an empty nest syndrome or those who are voluntarily or involuntarily without offspring.[1] A 50-minute BBC documentary about this phenomenon entitled My Fake Baby was produced in 2008.[2] The phenomena began appearing more often in the USA shortly after that. Some have expressed revulsion to the phenomena. An early presentation of the notion was in the 1972 science fiction film Z.P.G. (Zero Population Growth).
4. A virtual baby, a software construction in the style of the much older and simpler Tamagotchi device, or more recent innovations such as virtual pets, that requires regular online attendance to satisfy its contrived needs.
