A book newly acquired by the Thammasat University Library explains how a child’s toy may reveal unexpected information about society and history. Dolls Studies: the Many Meanings of Girls’ Toys and Play is a collection of academic research papers in the new field of dolls studies. Examining how dolls are experienced in eight different countries over three hundred years, the chapters discuss how dolls may reflect racial, ethnic, national, religious, class, and gender identities. Dolls Studies is coedited by Miriam Forman-Brunell, a professor of history at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, USA. Professor Forman-Brunell is a specialist in American cultural and social history, especially the history of girls and gender, childhood and youth. She has published books on the history of girlhood and dolls studies. She earned her MA in women’s history from Sarah Lawrence College and a Ph.D. in US history from Rutgers University. She is co-chair of the Girls’ History & Culture Network (GHCN), associated with the Society for the History of Children & Youth. According to its website, the GHCN

seeks to foster conversation, communication, and collaboration among scholars, museum professionals, teachers, activists, students, and others interested in girl-focused research, teaching, publishing, pedagogy, policy, politics, etc.

The coeditor of Dolls Studies is Jennifer Dawn Whitney of the Cardiff University School of English, Communication, and Philosophy Department.

Among the subjects dealt with in Dolls Studies is the Japanese celebration of Hinamatsuri or Doll’s Day which will next be commemorated on March 3, 2019. On this special day, a set of ornamental dolls are displayed representing the Emperor, Empress, attendants, and musicians in traditional court dress from over one thousand years ago. It took quite a while for dolls to be taken seriously by a large number of academic researchers. Although some early writers pointed to the educational significance of dolls to the way girls grow up thinking about themselves, only in the 1990s did many ajarns in cultural studies follow up with research on the subject. Among these is Dr. Jasna Gržinić of the Department of Preschool and Primary Education, Juraj Dobrila University, in Pula, Croatia. In an essay from 2010 on psychological aspects of dolls, Dr. Gržinić observed that there are psychological, sociological and philosophical aspects to understanding their effect on children. A doll sometimes

stimulates tolerance, emotional intelligence and empathy, develops richness of metaphoric thinking and expression, the growth of imagination and creativity… Therefore, it is shown to be of extreme importance.

In 2010, Doeschka J. Anschutz and Rutger C. M. E. Engels of the Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, published an article entitled The Effects of Playing with Thin Dolls on Body Image and Food Intake in Young Girls. According to the abstract of their article,

This study experimentally tested the effects of playing with thin dolls on body image and food intake in 6- to 10-year-old Dutch girls… Girls were randomly assigned to play with a thin doll, an average-sized doll, or Legos in a no doll control condition. After 10 minutes, they participated in a taste-test and completed questionnaires about body image. No differences were found between conditions for any of the body image variables. However, girls who played with the average-sized doll ate significantly more food than girls in other exposure conditions. Although no support was found for the assumption that playing with thin dolls influences body image, the dolls directly affected actual food intake in these young girls.

Since girls who played with average-sized dolls ate more than the girls who played with thin dolls, parents who like their children to have healthy appetites might consider these results before buying toys for their daughters. Since fashion dolls are often thin, we may be affecting our children’s appetites by buying them dolls that are underweight.

Thailand and dolls

In the Kingdom, dolls have long been part of childhood sanook, from wooden dolls made in villages to more elaborate toys seen at the Bangkok Dolls House and Museum. As the Bangkok Post reported in 2015, the Bangkok Dolls House and Museum displays cloth dolls in the form of classical Thai dancers and traditional characters. A museum, showroom and doll factory in Ratchataphan (Mor Leng) Alley on Ratchaprarop Road, Ratchathewi district, the museum was founded by Khunying Tongkorn Chandavimol who trained at the Ozawa Doll School in Tokyo. According to Arbhas, his mother Khunying Tongkorn created the first batch of dolls in 1956 and started Bangkok Dolls in 1957. Initially, she imported materials from Japan. In starting production at Bangkok Dolls, Khunying Tongkorn received advice from experts such as Professor Silpa Bhirasri, founder of Silpakorn University, on the facial features and shapes of dolls. The manager of Bangkok Dolls is Arbhas Chandavimol, son of Khunying Tongkorn and a graduate of Thammasat University. Among the museum’s popular displays are classical Thai dances featuring episodes from the Ramakien, Thailand’s national epic derived from the Ramayana. These include the Battles of Maiyarap and Kumphakan and the birth of Ramakien.There are also characters from Thai literature, such as Sangthong and Rojana, Sangthong and Rojana from King Rama II’s Inao, a dramatic version of a popular traditional story. On view are also dolls of Wanthong, Khun Phaen, and Khun Chang, all characters from Khun Chang Khun Phaen, a Thai epic poem based on folklore. The TU Library owns a copy of the English prose translation of the poem by Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit. Khun Chang Khun Phaen explains the problems arising from the love of a handsome but poor man for a lovely woman, who is also loved by a less handsome but more rich man. In addition there are dolls representing Lilit Phra Lo, a tragic-romantic epic poem inspired by folklore about King Phra Lo and two women whom he loved, Phra Phuean and Phra Phaeng. There is also Prince Aphai Manee, hero of Phra Aphai Mani, an epic poem written by Thailand’s national poet, Sunthorn Phu. Clearly these dolls remind Thai youngsters about their cultural heritage and also inform foreign visitors about a literature they may be unfamiliar with.

Another noted place to witness the importance of dolls in the Kingdom is the Chiang Mai Dolls Making Museum owned and operated by Youthana Boonprakong. The Million Toy Museum on U Thong Rd., Tha Wasukri, Phranakhon Sri Ayutthaya, is yet another example, opened a decade ago by Krirk Yoonpun, a children’s book illustrator. The TU Library collection includes a thesis, Management of a Specialized Museum: a Case Study of the Million Toy Museum of Krirk Yoonpun. In addition to these dolls of cultural and historical significance, dolls in Thailand received some international press attention in 2016 when luk thep dolls had a moment of popularity. As Time Magazine reported, according to this short-lived popular fad:

To certain luk thep owners, the dolls can be seen as a source for a family to stay focused, and as something therapeutic to overcome obstacles and addictions, such as alcoholism.

However, bad publicity surrounding the dolls made this is a relatively brief phenomenon.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)