A Family Affair: Do your loved ones love dolls too?

My brothers think it's scary, my mom and dad aren't all that bothered about it, but my sisters are quite fascinated with my dolls.

They'd sometimes help me dress my dolls up, or I'd ask them about advice on dolly hairstyles and they'd tweak it! It's pretty cute, really!

 

I've read a lot of posts where people say they can share the hobby with their family, especially with sisters. That's so cool! My mom really likes my doll, she sees it as art, not a toy. My sister just says "creepy..." when she sees her or I mention her, which is weird because she has like milions of barbies, lol! Anyway, I know a lot of people find dolls, puppets and clows creepy, so I always try to face those comments with humour, like "yeah, I hope she doesn't stab me with a knife while I'm sleeping, but you know, it's a risk you know you're taking when you buy a doll", and we all laugh and it's ok.

But... well.. my father said something that bothered me more than it should have, and I wanted to share it here. I have my doll in the living room and sometimes in the morning, the sun is very bright, so when this happens I just put a cloth over her to avoid yellowing. My parents saw it and my dad asked me why I did that, and when I said that sun was bad for the resin, he didn't let me finish and said "are you sure you don't believe she's your daughter or something? Or maybe you think she's you! That's it! Nai, you know it's a doll, don't you? Hahaha!" (Because I'm very pale and I always use sunscreen, even in winter). I don't know, that comment made me feel... small, and like "the crazy doll girl". Is that normal? Maybe I should have laughed, but I just tried to hide I felt bad and changed the topic.

Woah long post, sorry >.<

 

@Naisha, that's a pretty common fear among many doll collectors that I've known or talked to—that our dolls are going to be perceived by non-collectors as weird extensions of ourselves or replacements for children.

Honestly, I think it's pretty normal that that comment bothered you. My sister also calls my dolls creepy (especially any headless, body-less, or bald dolls that I may have lying around), but I think that it would bother me far more if she or someone else accused me of believing that my dolls are somehow real. The underlying implication is that we've lost touch with reality and have slipped into the realm of "crazy".
Your dad was probably just joking and never meant to hurt your feelings, but I think you were completely justified in feeling bad.

 

noone really like them much, but yeah they don't hate them either XD my mom and sis call them pretty but were saying funny thing i own them considering i am a male ahaha ^^

 

@SaelaVe, thank you so much for your reply! You're right, he was probably just kidding and didn't think that it would affect me that way. It's true that nobody likes to be called insane, especially when a lot of people believe that we are, when they first hear about this hobby.
I've been asked some times if bjdolls are the same as reborn babies, maybe that's why people tend to think that we're trying to replace something it's missing in our lifes. And well, reborn owners know perfectly that their dolls are not real babies, they're not crazy! but it's true that those dolls usually help them in hard moments, like some kind of therapy, which I think it's good. It's very easy to judge, and sometimes even not judging, it's easy to make a cliché joke.
Anyway, thanks again for your reply, it means a lot!

 

I wish. My boyfriend doesn't really like my dolls but he also doesn't hate them.... He just doesn't like doll chateau... Even though they have similar body shapes lol.
But anyway he is ok with them and respects my love for them and the fact that i force him to look at dolls with me so its not so bad.

 

My family finds my dolls fascinating, and regard my collection as one of my quirks. My girlfriend, on the other hand, may have claimed an event doll from my current doll chateau order Yeah, she loves dolls as much as I do, I'm a lucky guy

 

My family is fully supportive, my mom is even interested in making clothes for them! My only problem is because of how big and open we are there are going to be mixed reactions...
My oldest brother is going to think it's cool but probably not too interested, my oldest sister is an artist so she would probably love it, second brother will probably be creeped out but understanding, second oldest sister could go two ways, she could be creeped out also OR she will see his private parts laugh and show it off to everybody... Finally my youngest sister will probably love to take pictures of him, very, very, VERY gory pictures of him...

 

My mom and I are starting this together, we both love it and can't wait to make clothes and get more dolls. The rest of our families think we're nuts though. They were appalled at the price and my dad thinks they're creepy. My husband did admit that my doll was "hot!" though.

 

I'm lucky that my husband seems to not care too much about them. He is interested in them and he always likes to see the new stuff I'm working on with them but I don't think he would ever get one himself.
My mother on the other hand feels like they are a waste of money. So I just don't post pictures of them on my facebook page anymore.

 

My sister really likes dolls, she has other toy dolls but wants to get a BJD badly. We talk about them all the time and I share pictures of dolls with her all the time. None of my other family likes them though.

 

my husband is a bit upset about their price, but he thinks they are beautiful, and even has a favorite. As his hobby is Videogames (he just bought a Playstation 4 and a couple of games) we try to balance how much each spends in our respective hobbies.

 

My kids love them they are used to my doll obsession but my husband isn't super fond of them especially the price.

 

I am one of the few lucky ones. My second oldest daughter is the one who got me into the hobby by buying me my first doll as a mothers day gift. She said she did so, so that we can share in such an amazing hobby together. She has 6 dolls to her collection and I am now the proud owner of 4 soon to be 5 of my very own.

 

At home, I have a wide variety of reactions. For example my father doesn't care about them at all, nor he comments anything about them. My mother, on the other hand, is not too fond of them but she likes helping me to dress them or put the eyes correctly, and she is always eager to open the packages with me when new dolls or stuff for them arrives. My sis is probably the most supportive, she usually asks about them, help me decide things for my characters... She even make presents to my dolls XD she does all that even when she isn't interested in dolls for herself at all.
Apart from them, my fiance is supportive too, but he does it in a more contemplative way. He has sometimes given me some money for spending in dolls and answers me when I ask if he prefers one thing or the other. I entered in this hobby when I was already dating him and he also has his expensive hobby, I think that makes him very understanding about the doll issue.

 

My partner and I collect off-topic dolls together and I'm sure that he would also love to get a bjd of his own but he can't afford it at the moment. When my first bjd gets here I'm definitely gonna include him since he'll be good at the stuff I'll be too scared to do, like restringing, sueding and body-blushing. I guess I'm pretty lucky that I've got a partner who's going to embrace and share my hobby. Though the rest of my family would laugh me off the planet if I ever let them know.

 

My parents think dolls are cute but too expensive and they are too "mature" for dolls. Luckily my bestie loves them, though she can't afford one. We get together on holidays and play with my dolls.~~

 

My partner also adore them) We are planning to buy him one or two because he wants to make a couple with my doll))

 

My entire family thinks they're creepy and weird But they tolerate my obsession with dolls and like seeing her new clothes! They even offered to buy me one for my birthday!

They do shudder when they come into my room and see me styling my doll's hair or even just playing with her on my lap. I do wish I had family to share my hobby with though

 

My wife doesn't care about my dolls, my daughter love them. My wife admits though, that they are beautiful, but I suspect she's jealous on them .. hehehe