Sunday, September 18, 2011

Puck!

Puck, getting a kiss.
Puck is a doll that I had especially made for Rowan, even before he was old enough to have he imagination to play with dolls. Dolls are important in all children's play, allowing them to act out scenarios and ideas in their heads and resolve puzzles and problems that they may have on their own. It is quite difficult to get a male doll these days, which is ridiculous as it is sad. We are not allowing our sons to fully develop these important skills! We are stunting our sons and our culture by denying them dolls- all in the name of "manliness".

I wanted to get at least one male doll for Rowan, but most of the ones out there had two major issues for me: most were strange non-human things with no genitalia AND the ones that were "anatomically correct" were always circumcised! I wanted Rowan to have a doll that was like himself- a boy doll that had a penis that was intact. He has lots of other stuffed animals and even a vintage (ugly and genderless!) Cabbage Patch Doll rescued from our Birth Center when it moved locations. But I wanted at least one of his pals to be like him physically.

That blur is Puck dancing.
So, like most things in life, when something does not exist, you have to make it yourself or ask someone crafty to make it for you. I found someone, and put in an order. It took quite a while to get- it turns out that this skilled doll-maker had NEVER made a penis and testes on a doll before and didn't really know what a child's uncircumcised penis looked like! I find that sad as well. Nevertheless, I laughed as she told me that many penis prototypes were made before she mastered making genitalia out of cloth thread, stuffing, and a needle.


Puck needs to go potty, says Rowan.
When we got Puck, he was adorable, and his button eyes are the same brown-blue color that Rowan's were when he was a newborn. His hair is particularly impish, hence his easy-to-pronounce changeling-inspired name. And his genitalia was intact and... HUGE. Puck is, er, particularly gifted in that arena, shall we say- which is just like his namesake.





Robin Goodfellow, aka Puck.
And Rowan now calls for his friend and plays with him almost daily, I am glad to say. He feeds Puck, undresses him, and his best friend is Baby (the Cabbage Patch Doll). They are about the same size. Since dabbling in potty learning, Puck has been quite helpful in showing Rowan how to put his penis inside the pot while peeing. Puck is a winner.

If you have boys, do they have dolls? Are they anatomically correct? Does anyone know a source for such a doll (I had such a hard time! It would be great to help others who may want one...)

3 comments:

  1. I don't have any kids but I always hoped that when I did I'd be able to let them grow up in a genderless environment for as long as possible so they could explore every side to themselves without prejudice or censor. Ahh nice dream huh!

    I think it's really great that you're raising your son to be able to explore and problem solve without getting caught up in what 'boys' and 'girls' should do. I could have screamed as a child being asked to wear pink and play with dollies (of the very girlie variety - Barbie was not my flavour).

    I'm also fascinated by your decision to get an anatomically correct dollie for Rowan. It has always seemed bizarre to me that we would make children's toys into sexless, genderless figures. It only sought to confuse me when I was younger as to why my doll wasn't like me.

    Great blog.

    In Peace

    )O(

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  2. When I was a kid I had an uncircumcised, male, baby doll named Bubba (I couldn't say Baby when I named him)I didn't realize that they were so very difficult to find!

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  3. I want one of those dolls....I have a daughter but when and if I have a son I will be looking into this!

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