Calling BJDs "It"

I always name my dolls even though I end up changing a name several times before I'm happy with it. I name everything though,from my houseplants to the squirrels in the yard.

 

Mine are all boys and I refer to them as he or his. With other peoples dolls I do the same but I note what they have called them first as some are very androgynous. One of my boys has been referred to as a she so many times but I just laugh as he has long hair and eyelashes and is a total pretty boy

 

I call my floating head "it" but my other dolls have genders. The floating head is a male head which is going to be converted into a female when I can find a body that fits it. Neither "he" nor "she" describes its current form satisfactorily.

 

To be honest, I do not like when someone calls a doll "it"...

 

I only say "it" when I'm talking about a doll without a head or body parts. Like if I'm buying a body I refer to the body as "it." If the doll is complete then I'll use the correct pronouns.

These aren't rules I live by or anything, it's just what I tend to say. But referring to a complete doll as "it" is a little weird because the doll has obvious human resemblance and most of them are gendered. Even if the doll isn't gendered, "it" is typically an insulting pronoun for genderless people and I feel like an actual person would be offended by it if they overheard.

 

To myself and the people around me that know my attatchement to my dolls and the hobby, I say he and she or just their names. But if I'm talking to strangers or someone who would be iffy about the entire thing I use "it" to not show my level of care xD

Then again, we have two words for it in norwegian. "Det" is the word for an object it, and "den" is a more specific it, like "that", basically. I use "den" more than "det". We also have several dialects that don't use it at all, and use he and she about objects *shrug*

 

I call my own dolls by their gender names such as "he" or "she" and I refer to other dolls that aren't mine the same way. ^^

 

I usually say "it" to non-doll people, otherwise they tend to give me odd looks. However, to anyone that collects or knows a lot about the hobby, I will always call my dolls by their gender (well, the gender I've placed them as, my DZ Baby Raphael looks more female to me, so "he" is actually a girl to me)

 

I feel weird referring to my dolls by name, mostly an insecurity brought on by my stupid ex husband. So I'm guilty of calling my dolls "it."

 

I use their name or respective pronouns. If it's a floating head that doesn't have a name, I'll refer to it as "it" or by the sculpt's name. If it's a headless body, I'll refer to it as "the body".

 

As for what others like to use when they refer to my dolls, I do not really care.
I prefer to call my dolls by their names or gender-based pronouns/"girl/boy" or what not. I also name other objects like my laptop and car, and refer to them with genders too, so I have little to no reservations about referring to my dolls in the same matter (though I have not really spoken to non-doll people about my dolls yet).

 

I always say "he" or "she" when referring to my dolls, it seems odd to me if I don't

 

I don't call my dolls "it" however, I always call them by their sculpt names instead of by the names I gave them. >.< Maybe calling them simply by their company and sculpt name and not their name is in the middle between calling them "it" and by their character name? I've no idea why their names don't stick when I talk about them, perhaps it's because I think people can visualize my dolls better in discussion if I call them by their sculpt name instead? It does create that sense of detachment that calling a doll "it" may give off though.

 

Ehh I don't really like referring to dolls as 'it' but I understand why other people call them in that way I guess, since most of them wouldn't be doll collectors. But most of them that I see would usually say 'dollfie' or 'that doll' and etc. ^^
... Though I sometimes I call my boy 'it' and 'that thing' just to annoy him :'P Cause... It's the only way to get back at him. *cry*

 

I don't mind when others call my dolls "it". After all doll is an object. As for me, it depends on who I am speaking to. If I am speaking to other BJD owners, I use gender pronouns. Otherwise I will just mention it to avoid complications.

 

I've found that even my friends who think I'm a total wackjob for owning a doll(which would be all of them) will refer to the doll by gender or name if I talk about her that way. Which I find very interesting. As Benjamin Lee Whorf pointed out, the language we use shapes our relationship to reality and this is cultural. That last part explains why my friends pick up on that.

 

I've always called my dolls, bears and soft-toys by names and gender pronouns. Most of my friends and family just kind of follow along with it I think haha

 

I call my doll she or by her name. Sometimes I just say doll, but that is because some people are not used to dolls.

 

I call my dolls "it" in front of non-BJD friendly people. Otherwise I say him or her. It doesn't bother me when people who are into BJDs call their dolls "it", but it's kind of weird considering the nature of the hobby.

 

I call my bjd girl a She and her. I mean that is what she is a girl. People can deal with it :P