Stella Frank

Dr. Newcomb

Writing and Rhetoric

25 Mar 2022

Ruling the World for a Day through Dollhouses and Play

Dollhouses are one of the most popular children’s toys to date. Usually made of wood or plastic, they are a small replica of a house that opens up to allow the player to set up scenarios in each room. Some are large and elaborate, and others are minimalistic and small, but both allow developing minds to role-play domestic life and to explore ideas of agency and interpersonal relationships. Dollhouses satisfy a real need for children to have exploratory control over their personal narrative, and if a dollhouse isn’t present, typical kids’ play will often involve acting out fantasy or domestic scenarios with their bodies instead of dolls. This play is not only meaningful and fun for children, but a productive use of time where kids can develop psychologically. Dollhouses have historically been used to teach children how to behave properly, and today, they can be used as a creative learning tool or even as psychological intervention when necessary.

Although dollhouses are often seen as lighthearted fun, they haven’t always been used that way. Nancy Chen’s article, “Playing with Size and Reality: The Fascination of a Dolls’ House World – Children’s Literature in Education” explains that dollhouses first emerged in the sixteenth century and were sold as collectables for adults. In the eighteenth century dollhouses were used to propagate to cult of domesticity and in some cases enforce harmful ideals onto women (Chen 1). The fact that dollhouses weren’t always seen as a children’s toy and this speaks to the value on the growing psyche that being able to control and set up a miniature world brings.

The dollhouse sets up the player’s mind to be malleable and open to new rules and concepts, which can be used in hurtful ways depending on the implementation. In the twenty-first century, some might be looked down on for liking dollhouses as it may be seen as developmentally inappropriate, but this was a very recent shift in thinking. Historically, humans have liked dolls because they are small and give the player a sense of full control and escape. Many have memories of getting completely lost in narrative play as a child and being fully immersed in the experience. Chen goes as far as to look at this from different demographic perspectives, she explains that women take to dollhouse play most instinctually because they are made to feel like small objects in the real world and this playtime is a role reversal or act of resistance (Chen 1). Looking at it from this perspective amplifies the psychological value. Dollhouses can be used as a tool of empowerment through a role reversal of the power dynamic, one can live through a situation in which they were helpless but this time they get to control how everything unfolds effectively rewriting the narrative.

Looking deeper into the historical context of dollhouses one can see how they can enforce or resist the cult of domesticity. The cult of domesticity is the idea that women are meant for helping men maintain the domestic chores in their lives, always remaining somewhat subservient to them. The power to rewrite narratives can be used in harmful or hurtful ways, but when one is in control and doing it for their well being this act of resistance is not only personally meaningful but also creates an art form of its own. While Chen admits that some people view dollhouses as an idealized domestic life that exploits kids naiveté in preparation for a ruthless capitalistic landscape, and that potential is very real, dollhouses have actually ended up being a tool of reclaiming power for women (Chen 2). Trinn Jerlei, the author of the scholarly article, “The Secret Dollhouse: Craft and Resistance in Stalinist Estonia”, adds more nuance to this as she studies one woman from Soviet-era Estonia who used dollhouses to psychologically resist the war and preserve a sense of the world before. Pictured below is one of the set ups the woman created depicting her home.

Leonhard Lina, view of the dollhouse, 1944–1954. Credits: Tartu Toy Museum.

These highly detailed wooden pieces are not only a beautiful form of art but also an act of historical preservation, it’s almost as if Leonhard created her own museum in real time. While this might not be the typical dollhouse play the average person thinks of, the creative and productive elements have a lot of value. At the dinner table one seat faces towards one and away from the other, whether this is representative of connection or argument of the people who would be sitting there is up to the artists interpretation. The set up shows a lived in home and pulled out chairs, dishes on the counter, and items left slightly askew almost create a motionless story of what goes on in this residence. Not needing to wait to have her story told she took control of her narrative and recorded history the way she wanted it remembered. Dollhouses provided such an exact replica yet much was left open to interpretation, creating an immersive experience where the viewer projects their own mental dollhouse onto the artists. This art is a clear example that dollhouses are not restricted as a simple hyper-feminine toy and find the most use as a tool of personal empowerment.

The contemporary world has an ever increasing nuance to how we understand dollhouses and a toy, tool and art form. Lynne Murray, author of, “Children’s Social Representations in Dolls’ House Play and Theory of Mind Tasks, and Their Relation to Family Adversity and Child Disturbance,” did a study on children’s interactions with dollhouses. The study found that children exhibiting family dynamic adversity, like seeing parents fight, were the best at constructing and maintaining narratives throughout their playtime (Murray 1). This tendency suggests that children are not as clueless as many adults think. They remember moments with high stress or confusion and carry that with them until answers are found. This lead Murray to believe that dollhouses can be used in therapy for children who need it but aren’t yet able to understand formal therapy or psychoanalysis.

Dollhouses define childhood as they allow the child to to work through relational dynamics while maintaining the lighthearted openness of play.. It also suggests that there is a real need for this style of play that children instinctively know to search for. For a brief moment the child can grow up and access a more developed part of themselves that gets to control the small world in front of them. Through suggestion and guided play, adults can teach children coping mechanisms and complex psychological concepts without needing to be able to use exact terminology. This is also a great way to work across cultural differences with children as the unifying themes of dollhouse play are recognizable and universal enough that a lot of meaning can be conveyed in simple terms.

Childhood, as exemplified through dollhouses, isn’t a simplified version of the ideal domestic life. The idea dollhouses have no real use in the adult world is unnecessarily judgmental and a signifier that there is still much sociocultural prejudice to combat. Age shouldn’t prevent people from using dollhouses as a relaxing hobby or means of treatment. However, children should remain at the forefront of the issue and adults need to self educate on these aspects of play so they can be informed about the child’s psychological world and help keep them safe. Societally, we need to take play and formative years more seriously and increase our understanding to allow children to have the most productive play time possible.In order to increase the opportunities to benefit from this type of play ageist and sexist stigma must be actively combatted so the player feels safe and truly in control. Encouraging play and the value of it is essential for a child’s wellbeing and playing with dollhouses in particular is meaningful, liberating, and an expression so real and vulnerable its sometimes considered art.

 

Works Cited

 

Chen, Nancy Wei-Ning. “Playing with Size and Reality: The Fascination of a Dolls’ House World – Children’s Literature in Education.” SpringerLink, Springer Netherlands, 10 Oct. 2014, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10583-014-9234-y.

Jerlei, Trinn. “The Secret Dollhouse: Craft and Resistance in Stalinist Estonia.” Taylor & Francis, 5 Sept. 2017, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17496772.2017.1351104.

Murray, Lynne, et al. “Children’s Social Representations in Dolls’ House Play and Theory of Mind Tasks, and Their Relation to Family Adversity and Child Disturbance.” Social Development, vol. 8, no. 2, 2001, pp. 179–200., https://doi.org/ 10.1111/1467-9507.00090.