Contentious doll names - gods and so on.

no i don´t^^

 

*Waves* I'm a hedge witch

I think the names of saints, nymphs and demi-gods are completely ok to use as doll/pet/child names, but I would no more call a doll Zeus or Jesus than I would a child - that's one tough name and destiny to live up to!

As for Lucifer and other names like that, I don't see an issue with using the name because of its lovely meaning (light bringer) or the pleasant sound of the name, but I do have a problem with people using that name 'for effect' as in, they know that that name will bother people and so they use it to create drama for themselves (often a symptom of 'More-persecuted-than-thou Syndrome')

And when it comes to Hindu Gods, so many Hindus themselves are named after their Gods that I would find it difficult to believe that a Hindu would be offended by a doll named after a God, unless the doll was particularly degrading in itself and poking fun at the God. I happen to love the name Lakshmi and if I had a doll who was supposed to be of Indian or Nepali descent I would name her after Lakshmi.

 

I completely agree with you. Of course, you cannot forbid anyone to anme their doll like this, and I would probably not be "offended" in terms of starting a fight with such a person about whether their doll is "allowed" to be called like that, but I sure would remember this as a sign of an extremely poor taste and empathy.

 

If you dont mind me asking, What is a hedge witch?? And what do you believe?

 

I think this statement is kind of at the heart of this debate.
Ultimately, every owner runs the risk of being considered "in poor taste" for his or her doll's name, whether it's because the doll's name is sacred or otherwise very meaningful for someone, or because someone is just fed up with pale-skinned black-haired gawth dolls named Cain or Lucifer. Some of us will draw the line in different places than others, but I think so long as you're willing to discuss your choice in an empathic manner, most people aren't going to think worse of you than "in poor taste." And as much as I hope most people don't find me in poor taste, it's also a description I'm quite willing to accept, considering the vast diversity of "tastes" represented by this board.

(thanks, folks, for reviving the discussion aspect of this thread)

 

Undermost Salamander, I agree with your point about 'poor taste' being in the eye of the beholder. Ultimately we can't be held totally responsible for what others will find offensive, but I do think that social consciousness and awareness is a good thing.

If you grew up where I grew up, you would know that it would be in poor taste to call anything Jesus because around here, there's only one of him and anything else is considered 'poor taste'...whereas in an area with a high Latino population, the name Jesus/'hay-zoos' is normal, accepted and no one would consider it 'poor taste'. Someone in my area wouldn't use the name Jesus without considering the effect on the outside world and the perception of the wider community on the object named Jesus, whereas someone in the Latino area might well call their doll Jesus and be pleased with their choice and have no one condemn their choice in the slightest.

Now when these communities come together over the wonderful internet, confusion and culture-clashes arise because one community is shocked about the wide-use of a name considered to be off-limits and the other community is surprised that the other one could be so offended.

Open-mindedness will hopefully drag all of our communities kicking and screaming into the Century of the Fruitbat

Very OT, but a hedge witch or 'kitchen witch' is a practitioner of witchcraft, the natural successor to the village "wise woman", and I follow in her ancient footsteps - for example, I use my own herbs/plants/flowers to make medicines and salves for people and animals, I make my own talismans out of natural materials, I use spellcraft and candles to 'pray' for certain outcomes in the future... I am a follower of a nature religion - I'm a polytheistic Pagan, and I believe in the existence of many Gods, in the guises of both male and female. However, if you get 10 witches together in a room, you'll hear perhaps 13 different opinions. No two Pagans believe exactly the same thing If you would like to know more and get some educational links, by all means PM me

 

Wow. That was unexpected. ^_^.

The name Jesus is treated as offensive wherever possible in the UK. In high school one of my friends was banned from the library for being nicknamed Jesus (to the extent I never knew his real name). The librarian was really religious, and too scary for anyone to disagree with. ^_^.

 

May be unexpected but I think Jescissa made a really good point about different names being offensive and not offensive depending on where you live. Personally I am Catholic, but where I live the name Jesus ( as she said, pronounced 'Hay-zoos'), I have heard it used quite often and not once have I, or anyone in my family ever considered it to be something of of offensive.

However I am on the edge when it comes to constantly having to consider what others will or won't find offensive when doing something with my dolls, even as simple as naming them. In alot of these debates I read it over and over again, 'These dolls were meant to make you happy, you spent the money on them so why should other people dictate what you do with them?' so I'm having a difficult time understanding why with names it would be any different. If I wanted to name my doll Jesus no one would think anything of it over here and I would most certainly NOT be labled as having bad taste for it, so if someone from a different background would call me as lacking manners and empathy I find that rather rude. Sure, if I came from their background then perhaps I would be lacking in those things, but as I come from my own culture, does that suddenly make my culture bad? No, I really don't think so.

On a final note I actually do have an incoming doll who will be named after an important Biblical entity ( not Jesus though, btw ), however I have given him a sort of 'nickname' that I call him around the general public. But I like to point out this was mostly done because people had quite a bit of trouble pronouncing his name ( have actually done this with two names as my other boy's name was putting me in constant danger of sounding like I was cursing people )! To my closer friends and certainly in the short stories I write about him he does keep his real name because that's just who he is.

 

It shouldn't be any different with names. If someone feels offended, then that's the way they feel. However, no one gets to go through life without ever being offended. I believe in being respectful of my fellow hobbyists, but that goes both ways. They have to be willing to cut me a little slack from time to time too and understand that just because they don't like something doesn't mean that that thing is actually bad. It's important to keep some perspective and be able to take a step back from time to time and ask "even though this might bother me personally, objectively is it really that much of an issue?"

I think this is really true for a lot of things that pop up in the debate forum, because so much really comes down to 'to each his own' whether the issue is a name, adding a scar, modding an LE, taking a photo in a graveyard, or putting your boy doll in a skirt. Much of what we do with our dolls doesn't have a concrete sense of right or wrong attached to it, and there is no way to make everybody happy with what you do--we're too big and varied a group for that. While it is possible to go about things in a way that is intended to be offensive, I think most of time it's just a case of seeing things from different perspectives.

 

I personally wouldn't take offense to whatever someone decides to name their doll. If that's what they want to name their boy or girl, that's their choice. And I'm not really offended that easily either.

That's just my two cents, though. I'm probably going to end up with a doll named Leraje, which is the name of my zodiacal demon and a demon character of mine.

 

Oh I'd have to agree with Lakshmi. I am tempted to name one of my BJD's that. But I am quite scared of people being offended by me calling her that. I don't want to take her to a meeting to get into a disagreement over what I have decided in calling someone. However I would probably take on the stance that people call their own Children strange things, so why can't I have the right to name something I cherish after a god / goddess I adore?
Mah own two centies.

 

I think the name Lucifer is beautiful.

 

I plan to name at least three girl dolls after Devis, after doing quite a bit of research on the subject. Since I don't imagine anyone I know will ever ask me my dolls' names, it hardly seems like it will be controversial, but, in fact, researching religious history and names gives me more respect for the traditions of other cultures. I know little enough about history and culture to know that there is so much more for me to cultivate.

 

I don't think there's a single stigma out there that would hamper my creation of a doll. Art is organic for me. If that's to mean I have a doll that may be preconceived as contentious then so be it. I let my dolls be as they are. Although, this may mean glossing over certain details on DoA in favor of other forums where it wouldn't be against the rules.

I can understand how you would find that disrespectful but in the same term I would have no qualms about doing it. For instance, I'm in the process of acquiring a doll who's modeled after the Greek god Hypnos.

That's funny, I have a character modeled after Jesus Christ in the back of my mind. I don't think there are any names that I would avoid other than there being an aesthetic disconnect. I wouldn't name a doll Jesus or Zeus more because I'm not too fond of how it sounds.

Perhaps I'm just shallow and corporal but I don't see anything wrong with it. ^^

 

Simply put. A name is a name. So I wouldn't take offense to any name, for that matter I consider myself as someone who has a free religion, haha, more like I believe in parts of every religion. So I don't care what you want to name your doll, you could even name him Hitler. It's just a name after all. I think humans are too sensitive and we put too much thought in bad events with certain people behind them, and fail to see that there is something better to think about. Hitler did a bad thing, but that doesn't mean the Hitler down the street is a bad person too.

 

I don,t have any problems with "holy"names if it fits the doll then i would say go for it! it still is only a name!

 

As long as the name fits the doll/character i don't see why it should matter it it's "holy" or the name of some religious figure past and present. One thing that does bug me is when someone uses a name without actually knowing the meaning or the personality (etc etc...) of the diety (or whatever) that they're borrowing the name from.
I'd totally use Lucifer as a name for a pet/doll.. anything.. if it wasn't so overused.

 

Um...I find no wrong in naming dolls after Gods, Angels or Demons.

In the end it's up to the owners right?

I named mine Apollo and another Helios. They're most definitely Greek Gods names. I'm considering Lucifer for my elf head.

I realised that there are a lot of Lucifers out there, but no one ever questioned why they named their dolls Lucifer. I bet if someone named the doll Satan, there'd be a few questions raised.

To me, if I name a doll after Gods or Angels...erm...I don't really know how to phrase this properly but it shows how much I either like the name or that I respect and honour them. Thus using the names. I'm a rather contradicting person in the sense that I'm a free thinker, but yet at the same time believe in the old pagan gods.

Maybe to Christians, naming a doll Jesus is something that one could get into trouble for(I've ever joked about naming my doll Jesus to a few Christian friends and got scolded and stuffs), but I see no wrong/harm in it. To me, it's like showing how much the owner actually love Jesus in order for her/him to name their dolls after Jesus.

But then again, if the doll named Jesus was made to wear punk and gothic or devilish forms, would the owner be in deep trouble?

But I do realise something though. There are so many dolls out there with demonic names and yet no one had been questioned or issues had been raised.

Is it because only Gods' names are more important/sacred/holy? That's why they can't be used?

So in bold is what I'm very curious about and hope it wouldn't be off topic...but really...why demons are okay...but not gods...

 

i just try not to name dolls and characters after historical figures, or known characters, or friends and family members. it just gets confusing, and in the case of the well-known characters, seems pretentious to me.