I find this assertion implausible. It’s for UK men but I really don’t think US men would differ in this respect. I know some men really like to keep and sleep with stuffed animals but I thought it was mainly a subset of some gay men who did this as adults.
Is it plausible that 51% of all adult men still have their childhood stuffed toys around the house and 28% of all adult men not only have the stuffed animal but sleep wit it? It sounds nonsensical but I might be wrong.
I would think that cultural influence matters greatly, and would wager the numbers in the U.S. would be very low.
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Does a semen encrusted tube sock count?
My son took the ratty old blanket he’d had since he was an infant off to college with him. We haven’t asked if he still has it, though.
I have my stuffed koala. (Yes real, if you can believe it.)
But don’t sleep with it.
I still have my stuffed bear from when I was a kid. I couldn’t tell you where it is but I stumble across it every once in a while. It’s a bit creepy because when I stored it away sometime in my early teens? I protected it by stuffing it into a way too small quart size ziplock bag. Its the stuff horror movies are made of.
As far as 28% of adult men sleep with a stuffed animal, that sounds pretty BS to me. 25% of those were probably men just screwing around on a survey.
Looks like it was an online survey with 1,000 respondents, most likely self-selecting. I wouldn’t put too much stock into it. And I probably would have answered that I “still own” a childhood cuddly toy because my mother kept a lot of that stuff. But the fact that it is in a box somewhere in the garage doesn’t really say anything about my psyche.
Those were gone decades ago.
But yes, a few lady friends have given me a plushy or two and I keep them on the shelf.
I dont know ANY guys who still have their childhood cuddly. :dubious:
I find this claim doubtful…
I don’t remember what my cuddle toys were! I probably had a couple but don’t remember.
My parents would have thrown that stuff out long ago.
Were this true, it would appear frequently as a question to advice columnists: “My new boyfriend likes to sleep with his old stuffed Sonic the Hedgehog doll. Is this normal or should I dump him?”
Personally, I have never seen such a question.
I have very few relics of my childhood, certainly no stuffed animals - I don’t think I ever had any of those since I was maybe 3, anyway. I liked Tonka trucks and things like that, and I don’t even have any of those anymore.
My childhood plush toys (a panda, a dog, a pair of koalas and an elephant) are probably in a cupboard at my parents’ house.
I’m pretty sure they didn’t throw them away, especially since I told them many times that I absolutely wanted to keep them. Actually, I’d be really bummed if they told me they got rid of them. I’ll admit that when I wax nostalgic about my childhood, my plush toys are a big part of that feeling, along with the football matches in our garden.
But no, I wouldn’t sleep with them now.
I like the typo in one of the picture captions. “Gay” should have been “Gary” according to the rest of the article.
Anyway, I think the results are total nonsense. For example, a number the OP didn’t mention: 30% have NEVER owned a stuffed animal? I don’t believe it.
The 51% owning their childhood toy is the only part of the poll I can believe, but I wouldn’t put any money on it.
My oldest possession is a bong. Not very cuddly.
My husband has his childhood bear and blanket - and while he doesn’t usually sleep with them, they both came out to be cuddled with when his brother passed away.
I still have one of the plush toys I had as a child. The rest have gone to young relatives. But sleep with it? No. Sleeping with a childhood plush toy is something I - thanks to TV - associate with women.
My nighttime comfort rule is that I don’t want any part of my body touching any other part.
So I sleep with an extra long pillow for my lower-body and I have a big stuffed pillow that kinda-sorta looks like a walrus with sunglasses that I hold.
First off: Mr. Walrus is hilarious looking.
Second off: He serves a great purpose that keeps me comfortable at night.
So it’s not a “childhood toy” but I do, technically, sleep with a stuffed toy as an adult.
Male 56…No and No
I had my favorite childhood stuffed critter until recently. It just lived in the bedroom closet on a high shelf next to other unused stuff. My wife had hers nearby. Both were, as is typical, pretty ragged.
Both got jettisoned in our last move to smaller quarters along with a vast array of other miscellaneous memorabilia we just never had a particular reason to get rid of. College class notes & texts, old Christmas cards, souvenirs from jobs and trips long past, etc. We were both in our upper 50s at the time.
The last time I slept with my critter was about age 5.
I call BS on the OPs article.