It is easy to dismiss adult toy-buying as a craze of little significance. But the appearance of the “kidult” is troubling from several perspectives, for it speaks of the state of a decadent culture that embraces childish and immature things. The kidult idea also participates in the postmodern desire to be what one is not. It is a revolt against the Creator and the desire to be the fantasy designer of one’s own identity.
Some years ago, people criticized the tendency of young people to defer adulthood and live as eternal adolescents. Youth were encouraged to engage in “adulting” by assuming at least some of the duties and responsibilities expected of fully developed individuals. Now a new word is circulating describing another postmodern absurdity: the “kidult.”
This curious mixture of kid and adult is the contrary of the “adulting” adolescent. It consists of grown-up adults who assume some of the attributes of children. A new niche market has opened up to cater to these now “grown-downs.”
A hot new trend for this demographic is the adult purchase of toys—for the adults’ own entertainment.
Kidult-Toys “R” Us?
It’s not just adult coloring books anymore, but all sorts of stocking stuffers. Toy companies are expanding special lines of products that appeal to kidults. Legos now has more than one hundred kits explicitly designed for grown-downs. Stuffed animals, dolls, and action figures are all the rage among those 18 and up. McDonald’s recently jumped on the bandwagon by offering Happy Meals for kidults, complete with a free toy inside.
Many claim the new trend is an effect of the pandemic. The stress and insecurity of withdrawal from society caused many Americans to want to reconnect with their past. They longed for the distant past of a childhood when things are often simpler. But unlike past adult toy sales based on nostalgia, the new toy buyers are actually playing with them.
The surge in sales is also connected to a feeling of entitlement. Adults gift themselves toys to make up for what they never had as children. They sometimes indulge in purchases as a means of satisfying the fantasies of their inner child. Doll owners like to appear on social media in matching outfits. Toys are finding their way into celebrations like birthdays, showers, and corporate events. Toy companies are right behind the kidults, meeting the demand with new teddy bears and Captain Marvel figures.
A Significant Chunk of the Toy Market
According to the market research company NPD Group Inc, toys for those over 18 now account for 14 percent of the U.S. toy market, up nine percent over 2019. A Wall Street Journal article reports that kidults rang up $5.3 billion in sales, nudging out even toddlers in sales value. Only customers 12 to 17 years of age bought more toys. Manufacturers like kidults because they tend to buy more expensive items and keep more extensive collections. They spend freely since they are not limited by allowances.
It is easy to dismiss adult toy-buying as a craze of little significance. In a free market, people can buy what they please. How people entertain themselves is their business. Moreover, if the toys reduce stress among those traumatized by the pandemic, then the trend should be encouraged, not opposed.
Childhood as a Time of Transition
However, the appearance of the kidult is troubling from several non-economic perspectives. It speaks of the state of a decadent culture that embraces childish and immature things.
Childhood is a transitory state through which all pass. It can be a time of innocence and happiness where everything is full of wonder and freshness. However, it is not meant to be eternal. Children are shielded from many dangers, so they might have the occasion to build character, establish good habits, and grow in the love of God that comes naturally to them.
These formative years also have a negative side, in which children display immaturity, irresponsibility, and weakness. Children experience whims, moods, and tantrums that must be overcome. Childhood is a time of intense preparation for life, and its lessons must often be learned in the school of hard knocks.
Before toys were decreed gender-neutral, playthings served as serious tools through which children could imagine their future lives. Girls often imagined their dolls as children. Boys envisioned their future professions with tool kits or uniforms.
However, the goal of childhood should always be maturity and dignity. The child aims to be a responsible adult capable of taking things to their final consequences without the silliness of youth. It falls upon the adult to set the example for the child by setting standards of excellence, establishing families, developing arts and worshiping God. In times past, young teenagers were given responsibilities or odd jobs as “little adults” to hasten the process of reaching the fullness of their human development.
Kidults reverse this process of maturity by thrusting themselves back into a world that is no longer theirs.
Being What One Isn’t
The kidult expresses the postmodern obsession to leave everything undefined. All must be an amorphous blend without commitment or clarity. The kidult is neither a kid nor an adult but something in-between.
Ironically, such pastiche arrangements reflect few qualities and most defects from the mixture. The metaphor of a large adult inside a child’s clothes highlights the tragic illusion of kidult life that cannot fail to lead to frustration and stress.
The kidult idea also participates in the postmodern desire to be what one is not. It is a revolt against the Creator and the desire to be the fantasy designer of one’s own identity.
Happiness comes from being true to self. This might entail suffering and trials. It often requires giving up past attachments like toys. However, those who live according to their nature will always sense the satisfaction of finding purpose and meaning.
Indeed, life is a process in which each phase has its purpose. Saint Paul expressed this truth well when he said, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But, when I became a man, I put away the things of a child (1 Cor. 13:11).”
The world is falling apart and in dire need of adults. It’s time to put away the toys.
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The featured image is courtesy of Pixabay.
Very well said. I hear now in my own head a series of objections from friends who might’ve argued “but it makes them happy and doesn’t hurt anyone.” But the author addresses this well I think. Do you think that these same rules apply to those who play video games? Recreation it seems has a hierarchy of goodness and truth, as all things, and while there is far better ways to spend ones time than video games, I wonder if there is much leniency for things that might be more childish that adults can engage in. Thanks again for the article!
I don’t think it’s playing with toys that’s the problem, if one’s life is otherwise in “adult order.”
In that case, I’d argue it’s merely recreation.
I love spending hours on my bike, as a child might, but my wife and I raised 3 responsible children to adulthood. My wife loves building puzzles – so do 5-year-olds. Some men build intricate model ships. and so on. All good stuff.
My entire life I’ve known women who collected dolls. And men who collected cast iron steel toys from their childhood in the 1920s/1930s. The only people who are still engaged in the toy train hobby are old men. No one young does this any more. The same goes for model kits. My grandfather used to make ships that could fit in a bottle – who does that any more? My father used to race slot cars with his friends in the garage. Adults having “toys” isn’t anything new as far as I can see. The only difference is the toys have changed. Practically every law firm I go into has vintage toy cars either on the shelves or on the desks. I believe the author is seeking something that isn’t there.
I agree with you. I think there is something in every human heart that wants to look with fondness on things of childhood. I think having that fondness is beneficial to the person in that it allows him to keep the wonder of his childhood. Wonder is something that should not be put away with childish things. I think the author needs more distinctions. Many of the toys of modern day are cheap plastic-y things that, I believe, serve more to fill emotional voids, provide entertainment, and give a dopamine rush. More old-fashioned toys, while providing comfort and entertainment, usually tend to call someone to a higher reality, like the importance of motherhood, or give a sense of childlike wonder in general. Thus, the toys for adults are problematic, not because adults are enjoying toys, but because adults are enjoying toys which are not timeless–toys which are empty of the substance which make toys great.
Nothing gives me a case of the heebies like seeing an adult in one-piece footed jammies.
Nostalgia, modeling, collecting and appreciation is not the same. These items are modern, new, and possess no other qualities other than the pretense of juvenility.
Another factor I see is that young adults are not getting married and having children. They’re cohabiting and having pets. I believe that most of these young adults who have opted out of having children take refuge in toys to assuage their natural parenting instincts. They lavish toys on pets, but also on themselves, in the vain attempt to ignore one of the most important parts of being an adult–that of being parents in a stable marriage.
Great piece! The podcaster Matt Walsh made an interesting point about the “Adult Happy Meals” from MacDonalds. If adults have the opportunity to enjoy things they enjoyed in their childhood by having children and spending time with them. Even if it’s somewhat ridiculous to play with toys or watch cartoons as an adult, it’s perfectly fine to do this as a parent. I honestly find it more enjoyable. It teaches one to appreciate the innocence of childhood–something completely forgotten today.
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
I always get uncomfortable when one person starts taking jabs at another person’s hobbies. Almost all pastimes are “ridiculous” when looked at in a coldly rational way (and I’m assuming pastimes that are morally licit, of course). Why, for instance, does a hobby like golf get a pass by being considered “adult”, when it is no more than a bunch of men or women trying to hit a ball in a hole; or stamp collecting, which is no more than accumulating little pieces of paper that one considers interesting or valuable? I would suggest that these pastimes are no more laudable than a man collecting GI Joes or a woman collecting Cabbage Patch Dolls, or whatever else floats their boat. If it brings them pleasure, and they remain responsible adults in other areas, why does it matter?
A family friend of ours is an extremely successful lawyer. He has done very well in life and is worth enormous amounts of money, if that matters. He is likewise a good family man. He also happens to be an avid fan of Disney, and their lovely home if filled with memorabilia from the Magic Kingdom: pictures, toys, stuffed animals, you name it.. In their bedroom sits a life-sized stuffed Micky Mouse. Does this mean he has never grown up? Possibly. Would I want these things in my own home? Not really. But the fact that he derives joy from them and has them in his home is irrelevant to his worth as a human being, surely. One could go on.
This isn’t to deny some of the issues raised in this article or the above responses, but I still get the feeling many here need to lighten up a little. And might possibly subject their OWN hobbies to the magnifying glass.
Hi Daryl, I couldn’t agree more with you.
Presumably watching sport needs consideration.
What about reading The Hobbit ?
It seems to me that many of the perspectives here fail to appreciate the nuances between childish toys and mature hobbies. The root of the matter is the motivation and outcomes versus the activity.
Childish motivations are based upon dreams and fantasy. Mature motivations are based upon memories and fulfillment.