Do you feel that ABJD's compensate for something you don't have IRL?

Good topic.

Same.

However, I will say my dolls and bears bring me comfort and inspiration.

 

i guess yes..a PERFECT friend,i will have in real life!

 

i think my DoD E-an really compensates for my body issues! what i wouldnt give to be tall and skinny with big boobs and butt. i like the idea that she can be classy or skanky or hip or hippy! IRL i am ... well... "motherly" lol.

but my LF Ante... i dunno... she doesnt really compensate for anything. i have 3.5 beautiful children already... but she is still my absolute FAV!

 

Yep. Not only bjds but also my puppets(if you know anything of Pili<=that's the code)do. I actually fell in love with those puppets first coz I am a big fan of the puppet drama series. These wood puppets dissolved my dislike for bjds (anything in a human figure, to be exact) . Now they are all my love.

I think having them has filled my emotional needs to a great extent. My parents were both busy when I was small. I got ill often and spent most of my time with myself due to my medical condition, and pets are not allowed at home LOL. I don't wanna blame my parents for their neglect of my need for affections and care as a child. But the idea 'if I were a parent I'd definitely take best care of my own children' has been growing in my mind. Then I realised my sexual orientation thus it's less likely for me to have kids. I might consider adoption when I get older but not now. I know there are sperm banks but I don't like anything sounds 'unnatural' to me. I dress my kids up, talk to them, celebrate their birthdays, take them out to picnic/theatre/travel...I love to see them spoiled. My partner doesn't share this hobby with me tho, and sometimes she envies them LOL. But anyway she is currently far away in Japan...maybe I should ask for her help buying the FCS doll on my wish list LOL? Anyway I'm so happy with my wood and resin children so far.

 

these are my thoughts, collecting something represents a feeling in your everyday life that you are not in control. This can be anything, weight, teenage children, a relationship, body image (any) I think it is a compensation method (one I participate in) In my case I desire to have my own band of tiny people that will not challange me, dress the way I want and fit an ideal of a character (in my case elves, sprites, or other fantasy beings) It keeps my inner child hopeful. I think (perhaps this is a delusion) that it far more constructive than other compensitory measures. In major stress situations, seeing my dolls calm and ordered has made me calmer and more ordered.

But I could be wrong (although I have spent as much as I would on a modest vacation for 2 (well not if they got drinks ;0 ) But the dolls will be here before and after a vacation and they don't have to be watched by anyone (like an indoor flower garden) That you can pose

 

I see some people use dolls for love/affection value, in that they create the kind of person they would fall in love with in real life - if they not specifically are turning a person they know and desire IRL into a doll. I also see some people achieve things they cannot be IRL into dolls - eg. being a girl, and having boy dolls, to explore male fashion. Personally the largest part of my doll collection consists of boys, because I feel my real world lacks interesting, handsome men with an edge.

 

Well, the way I see it, is that if I can't have a small fairy companion in real life, I can at least get a doll that looks like one.

Other than that, I don't think dolls fill anything but a creative niche for me.

But I don't judge poorly anyone who is using a doll to fill in for something that they might be missing; We all have ways with dealing with our lives and what we might want but can't have.

 

Do you feel that ABJD's compensate for something lacking within you?

It's a really neat question. Personally, I see them as just another way to express myself. I've been drawing since I was a little kid, and sewing clothing for dolls since my wee days as well. I love crafts and working with my hands.
ABJD offer a defree of customization and beauty that's simply stunning. If i have a character, I can bring them into the 3d world with a lot of dedicated crafting in the form of a doll. The detail and craftsmanship in these dolls helps even further make them that much more special.

So, no, while I may still be new at this, I don't think these dolls (or the earlier ones I sarted with the Pullips) are compensating for anything. They are a hobby and a form of expression and creativity.

 

Yes, my dolls live lives that I cannot and will never live. They are happy, content and forever infinately beautiful. They can wear victorian fashions one day, medeival the next and jeans the day after that. I can't.

 

Although I don't have a BJD yet, I have a few obitsu dolls that I think are just wonderfully lovely. I feel that they do compensate for a few things for me. When I was a child I always wanted an American Girl doll, desperately, but they were so far outside of my family's budget that I was lucky to even have any of the books. It stayed with me for years that I wanted to someday have a doll -- not a Barbie doll because as fun as they were as a child Barbie always seemed to lack character to me -- who I could enjoy dressing up and giving personality.

I also love fashion. I love nice clothes. But I'm not nearly confident enough to wear the sort of things that I like. So, I suppose I'll be living through my dolls vicariously in that way.

And although there's not a lack of it in my life because I literally surround myself with it, dolls satisfy my lust for beauty. Beautiful and cute things are like my driving force, so I like to have lots of beautiful and cute things to see and "play" with.

 

Probably.
I have never wore clothes that has that many frills. And probably will never look as nice and have such a nice complexion as them... Tomato wear clothes I wouldn't wear. And I don't buy many nice clothes IRL because I don't think they look good on me, hence I won't invest in them. But they'd look good on Tomato, so she can have lots of cute clothes. XD

Though and quite not as much. I think ut is more a compensation for lack of 3D modeling skills that I can play with "my characters" so to speak.

 

I wouldn't say my dolls compensate for something I don't have IRL... They're just fun for me to have and play with!

 

My dolls are characters in my own fantasty world. I have a very active real life and I like to escape to their world every now and then.
I do think my girl Nefert, has a lot of my personality added to her, but her other have Shane is nothing like the person I would like to date, so she is not really a fantasy me.

I think mostly my dolls are like ideal visions, perfect storytelling props.

 

Well... my only SD boy, DZ Floy (with ears modded to human), is my way to compensate for... everything, I guess. I've wanted to be a guy for a long time xd A sweet Asian boy. Well, I don't feel as if I'm trapped in my body, so that's not exactly the case... but I can make my Hikaru into what I would love to be. That's why he's got more piercings than I do (lip piercing and a horizontal bridge; will have plugs and and industrial, and we'll see what else) and is going to have a tattoo. He can also wear things I would love to, but wouldn't look good in.
Yeah, my doll does compensate for something I don't have... or rather, someone I am not ^^

 

Ha. Not much.
I don't think dolls can make up for things in real life, anyway.
The only thing I could even remotely think of is that we have been trying for a baby for a while, and will continue to until we are successful. We're looking into iui and ivf options at this point. Anyway, having something to care for and buy things for is nice. However, the cats account for a lot of that already.

I hope that everyone on this thread gets what they want eventually.

 

Nopes! Everything that I plan on getting for my doll, I could get for myself (or have already gotten) if I wanted to. And if I want to spoil anyone, I usually spoil my mom when I can. A BJD is just a BJD to me - a lovely work of art, something nice to look at and play with. Nothing more, nothing less. It definitely won't take away my procrastination and work issues, haha.

 

Definitely, yes.
I have many wonderful things in my life, but I feel like there are so many other things missing, or just not good enough...

I'm not totally satisfied with my looks.
I wish I had different clothes, but then, I probably would be too shy to wear them.
There are so many things I wish I could do, and say, and be... But for now, it isn't possible.

So having a doll and being able to portray that in her, to turn her into the "image" of someone I admire or wish to be like...
It makes me happy and it's soothing. It even made me look at a few things in my life differently since I started creating personalities for my dolls.

 

No, I don't think my dolls compensate for something I don't have IRL (I'm pretty satisfied with my life ).
I think I just love looking at something beautiful or cute .

 

Yeah. I can't have hooves and a unicorn horn in real life.

Haha no really, their fun and sit around and look great. Perhapse they are just a physical manifestation of some deep-rooted need to express masculine traits [all my crew is male, when did that happen?] or have shiney white hair or live in ornate clothing and forever be that perfect physical form...perhapse they are just nice dolls to have around.

Sometimes I think the deeper mentality behind it can be cool left alone, basically. Though I suppose that somewhat defeats the point of this thread? It has been interesting reading people's reasons to. I guess being able to portray something one may want and can never have in a representation they hold dear is fair enough. Looking at my own dolls I do see alot to be analysed in relation to myself and who I am...heh. They are mostly characters...I just never looked deep into how those characters might represent a part of me. Ah, well...solong as they make you happy~

~Salvagore, really would think hooves to be ace in real life!

 

Compensate? No. Not really, but a stand in...sort of.

What do I mean? well, As much as I like Gothic Lolita, It's not really my style, I try to dress more retro or Barneys-esque. So I feel like I get to dress up my doll in things that arent really me, but are fun to see and play with. I'm an illustrator, and Its sort of the same thing that I do with my fashion illustration.

Also, I like to take photos and she's a great model, so that I can pose her and be behind the camera!

But I think its really a confidence thing, I'm pretty happy with who I am now, but if I had been introduced to the dolls back say...when I was in high school, I might have different feelings about them.