Ethno Doll Vs. Barbie: About Psychotherapy Of Our Ancestors - Society

Back in the middle of the 20th century, children played with rag dolls. And only since the 1960s, with the production of factory-made plastic toys, the tradition of making home dolls faded away. Now we perceive the doll as an object for the child's entertainment, but this is not entirely true.

The doll is important in the development of the human personality. The child learns from it different strategies of behavior, draws conclusions, forms beliefs and sets priorities. Through such play, the child identifies himself with a person of his own gender, adopts patterns of behavior. The doll helps children develop communication skills. With the help of the doll and playing with it, you can experiment and change behavioral skills.

We are close to Slavic mythology, culture and symbolism, we grew up on Russian folk tales and myths. Knowledge about dolls was passed down through the female gender from generation to generation.

In the Russian folk tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful" there is an image of a helper doll, which the mother passed on to her daughter. According to K. P. Estes, the toy in the fairy tale symbolizes inner knowledge and intuition, because it helped Vasilisa go through all female initiation and reach maturity.

Working with a doll is carried out not only on a personal, but also on a cultural and archetypal level. The toy man can be controlled, he is able to perform any actions, he is open for dialogue. The functions of the doll are to help the person manipulating it to “animate” the thing, to move with it to “you”. At first, the child identifies himself with the doll, can replace himself with a toy and do with it what he could not himself. Thus, he explores himself and his capabilities.

During the game, the child gains experience of communication with the outside world, which allows him to become more adult. Dialogue with a doll is a universal means of getting out of the state of isolation, stiffness and embarrassment, which is characteristic of children at an early stage of development. The doll plays the role of a carrier of childhood phobias and a tool for overcoming them

A doll is an image of a person. It focuses time, cultural history, history of a country and people, reflecting their movement and development. The traditional rag doll carries the memory of culture and makes it brighter, deeper and wider than any other toy. Examining old dolls, one can see hidden symbols characteristic of the mythological consciousness of an ancient person, for Russian folk culture. Therefore, in the manufacture of traditional rag "little men" there were no coincidences - there was a certain meaning in everything.

Recently, the results of research on children's perception of the proposed toys and interaction with them (play) have become known. Children from 3 to 5 years old were divided into two groups, one group was offered to play with "Barbie", the other - with homemade Slavic dolls. They played all day. The group of children who played with the Barbie unconsciously chose plots related to competition, reproduced "adult" scenarios (for example, going to a restaurant, a date with a boy, kissing and "something under the covers"). During the game, this group behaved quite aggressively, which was expressed in fights, shouts, general tension.

The themes of games with Slavic dolls were related to interaction with mom, dad, grandparents. The plots resembled the real life of a child: we go for a walk / to the zoo / to the cinema, I have a girlfriend, we play together.

These games had more "we" and more interaction, more feelings and contacts. The children were more relaxed, calm, polite to each other. We wanted to make such little people for ourselves so that we could continue to play with them at home. By the end of the day, the children with Barbie, apparently tired of the overwhelming emotions that could no longer be sustained, moved into the next room to the children with ethnic dolls.

According to the results of the study, it can be concluded that the image of the Barbie doll as an adult ideal woman or a character from a fairy tale prompts the child to identify with the role of an adult for which he is not yet ready. But Slavic dolls evoke an emotional response in all children, "recognition" of archetypal images, the importance of contact, trust, intimacy

Parents who picked up their children in the evening noted their calm state and the absence of the usual hyperexcitation.

Play dolls enable children and adolescents to socialize by playing adult rituals (girls' games, matchmaking, weddings), “adult” interaction (household chores, daughters-mothers, etc.) and work out their fears.

In the days of our ancestors, a doll was made by a mother or a grandmother for a small child, and this was an additional resource, a sign of connection with the mother, with the family. And today, the most beloved children consider those toys that are sewn by a mother or another significant person, even if they are nondescript.

Try to make a doll with your child, this will help not only establish a close bond between you, but also give a toy that will become the most beloved and important