Gender and Object Identification in Childhood: Implications for the

Gender and Object Identification in
Childhood: Implications for the Classroom
Dr. Robin Lohmann, PH Karlsruhe
Dolls and stuffed animals as objects of
identification in childhood
Dolls work as mediators in four main “Areas of
Agency”
Dolls “born” more than 35,000 years ago as
a symbol of human life
●Self Identity: connecting the child with his/her
own becoming
Stuffed animals in 1883 (Margerete Steiff)
as symbols of living animals
●Empathy: connection with others
The revitalization of A Study of Dolls
A. Caswell Ellis & G. Stanely Hall 1897
“The educational value of dolls is
enormous…and to learn how to control and
apply it will be to discover a new instrument
in education of the very highest potency.”
(Ellis & Hall 1897, 53)
Pedagogical potential through relationship
and identification
●Imitation and Learning: connecting the child with
the requirements of the outer world
●Communication: among children and between
children and adults
Dolls work intra psychically (within the child),
interpersonally and in interaction between the
child and the external environment
Most potent area is the intermediate area
between inner and outer realities
Gender Differences in Doll Preference
Girls: baby dolls and Barbie
caring and “mothering”
exaggerated femininity
Boys: monster and action figures
action and aggression
exaggerated masculinity
Implications for the Classroom:
Questions:
Do dolls function as cause, intensifier or
sealer of gender-specific stereotypes?
Are children subjugated to exaggeration
of adult gender idealizations?
With purposeful application, these
objects of identification can be
effective partners in the four main
areas of agency within, across and
beyond gender boundaries.
Bibliography:
Ellis, A.C. & Hall, G. St. (1897). A Study of Dolls. New York: E.L. Kellog & Co.
Fooken, I. unter Mitarbeit von Lohmann, R. (2012). Puppen – heimliche
Menschenflüsterer. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Lohmann, R. & Fooken, I. (2010). A Study of Dolls Deutsche Übersetzung der
Studie von Ellis und Hall, 1897. Herausgegeben von der Stiftung „Chancen für Kinder durch Spielen“. Wiesbaden: Stiftung
„Chancen für Kinder durch Spielen“.
Lohmann, R. & Fooken, I. (2009). Puppen und Kuscheltiere. Schlüssel zur
Menschwerdung? Eine Literaturübersicht im Auftrag der Stiftung „Chancen für Kinder durch Spielen“. Universität
Siegen/Wiesbaden.