Being yourself, being popular, loving dolls

Highschool... Personally, I'm glad I waited until I was out of that place before I got to actually own dolls. My friend introduced me to bjds in high school but it was more of the "omg they're so beautiful, and I want one" kind of thing. (Even if I did experience interest in wanting one, I remember one friend going on and on about how much they cost when they themselves spend hundreds on anime goods... >>)

I don't really keep my dolls a secret since I blog about them and post pictures of them and such, so my friends know I have them, but I don't elaborate. Not everyone will be accepting of this hobby ...and I'm not expecting them to be. I don't bring up the topic of my dolls because I consider it a personal matter. In fact, I don't talk about my dolls with my friends at all so much that my other friend talks about them for me because she thinks they're interesting now... xD;;

I'd like to keep my professional/work life separated from my hobbies/personal life. They're completely different, and I'm glad that they are.

 

Well, I've never had to worry about being popular and keeping up an image that doesn't fit the dolls. I've always been categorized as the clever girl who spends all her time studying (oh how wrong they were...) and most of my friends consists of nerds and geeks...with the occassional popular person (who has an inner geek).

I don't make it secret that I collect dolls (well, I won't say it on a job interview as a hobby...I keep painting for that ), but all my friends, classmates, and family members know of them. They might think it's a bit strange, but I've never had anyone raise a fuss about them. They accept it as my slightly unusual hobby...or if they don't accept it they don't let me know it XD I don't go yammering about dolls all the time though - I see how it can come off as overbearing and boring for someone who doesn't care about them. But I'm lucky to have friends in the doll-community, and have non-dolly friends who ask about them occasionally, are interested in my faceup-works and are generally supportive^^

Of course I found out about BJDs after I went to the university so I have no idea how it would have been in a high school enviroment (I doubt anyone would have cared...I was considered really-really grey and boring )

 

I've never really been interested in socializing at school and a lot of people considered me eccentric. So it wasn't much of a surprise to my friends when I got into this hobby. Though a lot people were shocked that I was able to afford my dolls at a very young age ( I wasn't in high school back then ) but I enjoy showing my photos of them and so far I haven't received any negative comments. ^^

 

Since everyone in my high school knows that I am a serious artist, a devout Chistian, and since I dress in a very unorthodox, unique way, I guess no one really questions my hobby of dolls -- it seems to be almost a logical progression! I sometimes get people thinking I'm in Special Education because of my boy, but it's mostly people who don't know me very well because those who know me know that I am high-functioning, social, and intelligent -- a little crazy, but certainly not debilitatingly so. In other words, no, I do not keep my hobby a secret. I have brough Wylie to school and I plan to do so again very soon -- my best friend has a vinyl doll that I sold her so we are going to have a dolly lunch date on Tuesday! :3

I tackle having an out-there hobby with pride! (:

 

None of my friends have really looked at me any different when my hobby was shared.
Or in high school, the people who I would show a picture of a doll too didn't think I was crazy.
Surprisingly everyone has been very accepting of it. XD

 

I am pretty popular, and I think that helps the doll thing. If I wasn't popular, then I think the dolls would seem weirder. I don't hide my dolls. All of my friends think they're pretty cool. My girlfriend loves them, my parents love them, and my friends like to listen to me ramble about them. I am very lucky.

 

Oh god, I'm the "Crazy violent chick' at my school. And damn proud of it.
I love anime, and I love bjd, but oddly enough, they say separate. o Ao
I bring my blue doll almost everyone other week to school. My friends either love, or support my hobby of dolls.
I could care less what people think of me, I mean if I did, it's just gonna hurt more.

 

I got into dolls in eighth grade. I'll be honest, I've never cared what people thought of me. I'm me, and if people don't like it they can get over it. I'm prettyshy, and the type of person who has only a few close friends and I don't want to be around thier other friends. So it's not really a matter of having tons of people to explain it to.
But as for me, I just told my friends when i got into them. They called me wierd, I thanked them, we laughed, and went on with my day. I never tried to get them into dolls, but I never tried to keep them a secret. Some people know I have them and get interested. They want to see pictures and get excited whe I bring them to school, my best friend even have a blue acrylic eye I gave her like three years ago. Then there are the people that go through my phone, find a picture of one, freak out, and make a scene. There are people who don't know until they walk into my room and see them and it's all chill. It's really just whatever. For me it's live and let live, don't let people get to you, and do what you like.

 

Although I don't actually have any dolls yet, i can say that i wouldn't hide them away. I wouldn't mind if any of my friends knew i had one as i know they wouldn't mind, and if it is anyone else i don't know, again, i wouldn't really mind too much, and they probably wouldn't care what with the other crazy activites i do. I wouldn't go around saying the price though, otherwise i know a certain few people that would complain at me for spending all my money again! im normally fairly low on cash so =p

my sister owns a fair few dolls, and she tends to hide them when we have certain cousins around as they'd not really appreciate them, but with friends and such she'll have them out.

 

I started collecting BJDs back in my junior year of high school. I was already pretty weird there, which is saying a lot; The school itself was heavily focused on the arts and therefore filled with the outcasts and artsy types. But yeah, I was the ruffly gothic lolita chick and none of my peers were surprised that I got into dolls. Heck, a couple wanted some of their own. I never really had to worry about fitting in with my hobby because there was little I could do to weird out my friends in the first place.

As for my life as of today, my girlfriend lives with me and she loves my dolls. I don't say much about them to my co-workers, and since I just moved here a few months ago, I haven't really made enough friends to hide them from. -w-;

 

Hmm. I wonder how high-school life would have been like if I had gotten into this hobby at that time (I got into it a couple years late). I started out as the weirdo nobody asian chick almost everyone hated, even teachers (xenophobic hick-town, anybody?), but it was through some influential friends that I eventually grew confident; the more proud I was in myself, the less people bugged me (but I have to admit that having popular friends helped a little).

Now I kinda wish I had gotten into the hobby back then. I would've so brought my dolls to classes every once in a while--especially art class.

 

The more you make a deal out of something and act like you are expecting someone to think you are weird, the more people are going to make a deal out of it and react like it's a weird.

I didn't start collecting these dolls in high school, I was in college when I discovered them, but I was one of those apparently rare beasts who LOVED high school. I was never a popular kid, but I also never experienced the bad teen movie drama you hear about. I had a close circle of friends and knew just about everyone in the school. I never cared for the politics and never bothered with it. There was the rather amusing rumour that I was a witch for a while, but it always made me laugh. I've always been an odd duck and grew to be ok with that at an early age.

My coworkers do know about my doll collection, and I think they find them silly but amusing. I think the more boat rocking thing about me to the "muggles" I work with, if you will, is my complete disinterest in marriage and children at my age. No one really cares that I like to play with dolls and go to anime conventions in my free time.

 

I can completely relate to you, I'm glad I'm not the only one that has felt this way.
I first got into BJD's in my freshmen year of college. I don't know if I would call myself popular but I never felt I was an outcast. I've always made friends easily although I've also felt slightly awkward and out of place at doll meets before.
But anyways, when I was first getting into BJD's I was in a committed relationship. I trusted this guy, I felt comfortable with him but when I told him about getting into this hobby he completely shot me down. Told me it was lame, a waste of money, etc. Even when I compared it to one of his expensive hobbies, he still didn't accept it and this completely threw me off. He was very open-minded and artistic, out of everyone I knew I thought he would be the one to support me.
So as of now, I think that whole situation is why I'm so timid to tell people about my hobby.
My 2 best friends and my immediate family are pretty much the only people that know about my dolls.
My friends accept it because, they're my best friends haha and they wouldn't let something as trivial as dolls get inbetween our friendship. Although they do playfully make fun of me for it, especially since my one friend has a slight fear of dolls.
As for other friends, I never felt that they would accept it or I'm just too afraid of their reaction. Maybe if I got to know them on a deeper level, I think it would just depend.
I'm never about to admit my hobby to people when I first meet them either. I guess I should be more accepting of it, since it is a big part of my life, but I never want people to create preconceived judgments of me because of dolls.
When I get to know someone better, have a greater trust for them, and feel comfortable telling them, then I will. But beyond that I usually keep it to myself.

 

Ha! I dont even have my first doll yet and I plan to show it off to everyone at school when I get him! (Well after he has hair and clothing of course. ^^;; ) I dont really care what people say about me. They can call me eccentric or just straight out weird for all I care. lol, its stuff that I like! They refer to me as the japanese girl and I'm not the least bit asian D8 haha! Soo. I really dont care. and I will gladly take them to college with me too(when I get there xP)! 8D To each their own.. right?

 

I've never really been ostracized because of my dolls. Although initially, in my new school, my senior was freaked out by my boy and kept a huge distance from me. Other than that, people were just curious about my dolls. Even my lecturer showed great interest and asked me about dollfies. Thanks to my dolls, I'm quite a "celebrity" in school, I would say. I even have some juniors asking for interviews for their projects from time to time.

 

I've got into dolls while at university. I don't think I'm popular, but I'm well-known in my department. Today I announced to a couple of my friends that I have spent a lot of money buying my first doll, showed them photos, and they were mostly "What on earth..." one of them said he thought they were creepy, so I teased him and told him I would take lots of photos JUST for him.

This makes my friends sound mean, but in context, they certainly weren't. I have got to the stage in my life where I am able to choose to surround myself with people I like, and who like me. We tease each other about things, but wouldn't deliberately hurt each other's feelings. I wouldn't try and force an interest on one of my friends who isn't interested, and they wouldn't try and make me feel bad about liking it. They accept dolls as part of who I am and that's it - if somebody doesn't, then they are obviously not someone I want to be around. I am out and proud about who I am, and I am glad I am in an environment that facilitates that.

I am not even going to mention the horror that was high school, though...

 

i use to be a weirdo at skool. Hanged out with Punk - Rock kids, Was smart but couldn't be bothered to do homework. My life was made harder by my mum who was a teacher in the same school ^-^ Then after school i turned in to stereotype of a blond chick.
Now everything about me doesn't fit, my weird hobbies and people i still hang out with. But i dont feel the need to hide my dolls, my mum knows, and likes them, my friends know, and dont care much, sometimes i bring them at work, my boss loves them
Anyway i dont really care what people thing, as long as they dont try to attack me or my dolls

 

with the few years that i have gone to high school (i am going back this winter and getting my diploma) i was a lot of things but mainly the artist/goth girl. i was known for doing and wearing over the top weird things. but for the most part people either loved me or hated me... so i think if i had had dolls during those years people would have either thought i was even cooler or that i was even more of a freak XD but then again i always brought toys into school even if they were little things that i could hide in my bag.

now talking about this does make me wish i had a doll last year during my speech class so i could demonstrate how to dress him thus giving me permission to carry him around all day... although i know i would NOT trust anyone with him at that school...

and even though i was definatly a goth girl i almost never hung out with the goth crowd even when there were tons of them at that school. i have always hung out with the kids that had no where else to go. because that is how i felt. they wernt exactly nerds but they never fit into any group. so i know no matter what they would have accepted me and my dolls (if i had ever had any XD)

 

I just tell people frankly the things I like; I never hide anything. ^^ And I never bother to care about what people think of me either. ((Otherwise I'd be...so different....)) Dolls aren't any different. ^^

 

I've always been "universal" to school cliques - pretty neutral as to who I hang out with but have always been considered the "snarky" type of girl. I'm just quiet and try not too care too much about anything else, so sharing the fact that I'm into BJDs or even anime.. it just doesn't come to me easily. Sure I don't hide it, but it's not something I'll burst into telling just because we ran out of topics - if someone asks, I'll be glad to tell them, other than that I just keep it to myself (: