• YappyMonotheist@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    8
    arrow-down
    12
    ·
    edit-2
    1 month ago

    To each their own. I don’t think I could take someone seriously if they were too attached to toys and dolls as it is, for me, an obvious sign of an arrested development. But that doesn’t mean I should ridicule them, nor that others wouldn’t be right for them (or that they’re immoral people either, of course, which is what truly matters in the end); the world is big enough for both of us, and for your toys too!

    • LengAwaits@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      25
      ·
      1 month ago

      Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.

      • C.S. Lewis
      • YappyMonotheist@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        11
        ·
        1 month ago

        That’s a lovely quote! But I’ve never been afraid of being who I am and enjoying myself (I don’t have any ‘guilty pleasures’ when it comes to media consumption, for instance, nor I truly understand the concept), so it doesn’t apply to me… and even less so to what I was saying.

    • Soup@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      1 month ago

      My friend was embarrassed when I stayed over the first time because others had made her feel bad about these things. She’s a very emotionally mature person with degrees, social skills, and all the rest and I wasn’t about to act superior just because she had a big chipmunk that made her feel good.

      I’m not sure you’re on the side of this that you think you are and I hope no one has to deal with that until you can address it.

      • YappyMonotheist@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        5
        ·
        1 month ago

        I’m on the side of not bullying folks for ultimately harmless things. When it comes to dating, it just wouldn’t be my thing… but I’m a married man so that doesn’t truly matter either, lol.

        • Soup@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          10
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 month ago

          And yet you’re literally saying that someone liking a stuffed animal is a sign of arrested development. “I’m not bullying them but I am saying that they’re a little broken and don’t think they should be taken seriously” is so much more a showcase of your own deeply flawed character than theirs.

          • YappyMonotheist@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            9
            ·
            edit-2
            1 month ago

            There’s ‘liking’ like one likes video games and movies and jogging and whatnot, and there’s being obsessed about something that shallow and consumerist. I’m obviously talking about the latter, and while it does say something about them (enough for me not to consider them as a partner for instance) it doesn’t make them “bad people”, not at all, so one should be gentle if they find themselves in a situation like visiting a romantic interest’s home, finding 50 stuffed animals and deciding against continuing. Relax.

            • Soup@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              11
              ·
              1 month ago

              No one was talking about 50 stuffed animals, not a soul. You just decided to bring it up for some unknown reason like anyone cares at all what you think about your little made-up scenario.

              You’re not the person think you are, treating people like this and saying that your quieter tone of voice is superior while spouting these nonsense opinions and putting more unnecessary negative energy into the world for no other reason than stroking your own ego.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      1 month ago

      I know you think you’re coming off as magnanimous, but it’s got the same energy as “I’ve got a lot of gay friends actually” energy.

    • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 month ago

      The problem isn’t the toys and dolls, but being overly attached, which can happen to any material possession, even “adult things” like cars or clothes.

      • YappyMonotheist@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 month ago

        100%. Anything that can just be bought and seen but has no depth is definitely on the top of the list. At least if you’re into cars but talk to me about engines and technical evolution, or you’re into animals but fr and know classifications and curious facts about otters, like, even if I’m not interested at all I can’t help but respect a bit. It’s a passion with depth, an obsession I could never have but that shows you appreciate the less superficial and consumerist parts of the world. I’d have the same opinion about someone who has a massive collection of Bionicles (I get it, they were cool AF but there’s a time and place for everything…) in full display in the living room, or worse, anime bodypillows, lol.

    • Alaik@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 month ago

      I’m really not sure why you’re being downvoted. Your comment was polite, contributed to the discussion, and was made in good faith.

      I’m on the other end. I don’t think keeping a stuffed animal matters really. I have a functionally useless old timer pocket knife from when I was a kid and I just kept it for sentimental/memory value.