2015-01-01T15:26:39-07:00

Generation Narcissus: Where Even Parenting is All About Us

Forty-nine-year-old Linda is married with no children of her own. Now, she says she feels like a mother because she has Reborns — dolls made to look and feel like the real thing.

“It’s not a crazy habit, like, you know, drinking, or some sort of, something that’s going to hurt you. It’s like a hobby.and it doesn’t really hurt anybody,” Linda said.

These women are paying big bucks for this hobby, from $100 to a few thousand dollars. For Reborn owner Lachelle Moore, the fake babies fill a void.

“What’s so wonderful about Reborns is that, um, they’re forever babies,” said Moore, who has grown children and grandchildren. “There’s no college tuition, no dirty diapers… just the good part of motherhood,” she added.

Now this *could* be an infertile couple medicating their pain. But there’s no mention of that and one gets the strong impression that not what this pathetic subculture is about. Rather, it looks like, well, typical Generation Narcissus stuff. No kids cuz that gets in the way of the “lifestyle”. Endless adolescence. Self-justification about how my selfishness “doesn’t hurt anybody”. Opelent outlays of cash on self-gratification. Consumerism (“Just the good part of motherhood”).

And then the chin-pulling from the man in the lab coat: “Psychologists say there could be a problem if and when these women stop interacting socially with others in their life.”

My generation: perfecting narcissism to an art form.


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