What is a doll? That was the question at the center of my Legacy of Black Dolls lecture at Tatter.

How is defining something so simple complicated by history, geography, by gender, by economic class, by race and further considerations of who is allowed leisure, who is allowed to be a child? We, those of us enraptured by dolls, seek to illuminate these questions, and more, through historical explorations of doll history, memorabilia, contemporary doll collectors, new perspectives and representation in museums collections and more. But, those explorations don’t necessarily get us closer to the essential question – what is a doll?

I am on a journey of sorts to find an answer.

For my purposes, and what I think I set out to explore when I was invited to give the lecture, is closer to what Black writer and academic, Margo Jefferson, captured in her entry for the book Black Dolls from the Collection of Deborah Neff.

Jefferson states:

“Dolls are the only toys made in our image, the only human-like creatures’ children are given dominion over. You, the child, are the creator of an ordered existence: a miniature kingdom that can imitate or disrupt the logic of your everyday life, the life conceived of and run by adults. They do what they want with you. You do what you want with the doll. You’re loving, you’re fickle; you’re imperious and stern. You coo and comfort the doll, you hurl it down and spank it. You dress and undress the doll, as you are dressed and undressed. You speak to it, you speak as it, you speak for it. So much of your time goes to courting and evading adult attention. You reenact all this with your dolls. You try to improve on it giving them what you don’t get (not enough of anyway) from those humans who rule your life.”

How would you respond to the this question? What is a doll to you? Please comment, below.