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

Kinda. I have a strong obsession with customization. I've always been this way. And it's much easier to customize a BJD (and considerably less expensive...well less manual labor anyway XD) than let's say customizing my house. Haha.

 

I love to photograph and take portraits. But I can't just take pictures of people everywere so... I have my dolls for it. I can take how many pics I want, in the poses I want. No regrets.

And I always wanted to have a kid, but I will have to wait a couple of years to have my own, so I play with my dolls untill my real baby happens.

 

Do I feel like BJD's make up for something I lack in my life...

Well they do make up for my lack of live models that will be poked and prodded at for hours while I fit their clothes correctly. Oh and my lack of models that will constantly dress as I please :3.

Other than that, I don't think they really make up for anything in my life

 

Do you feel that you 'and/or' others around you are using ABJD's to compensate for something you don't have IRL?

Definitely not because part of the reason why I like BJD is that it represent a beauty of art since I self taught my self how to draw and paint, and seeing BJD's as something like a beautiful sculptures that capture the eyes of the admirer it draws me in. The other part is just that I like them...I feel that if I need to have something that represent a part of myself that I can't have then I'm not accepting the fact that in reality this is how it is...I just learn to love myself even if that part of me don't exist. I'll try to make something out of it that will make me happy so this is how I see it :3. It's not going to be true for everyone but I like to walk this route better x3.

 

Interesting thing... My mother were glancing over my shoulder as I was showing her some pictures of dolls, and among them were their owner. She then implied that she had her dolls to "compensate" for how she looked >.> But then again, my mom can be like that sometimes, and I didn't find anything particulary wrong with how she looked :<

As for me, I havn't gotten my dolls yet, but yes, I think that they will compensate for something. I've always been a dreamer, and building up my own fantasy-world where *I* can be in charge and have complete control, would be a way for me to relax. In opposite to my own current un-organized life x)

 

I love the clothing part of dolls, and yes i have my own issue with cloaths on myself as i tend not to suit dresses and frilly lacy things and wear more of a biker/alternative/army/boyish style myself, i tend to make my dolls cute frilly dresses to counter my need for girly things ^_^

 

Hmmm the dolls in them self, kinda compensate for my lost childhood...
My dolls I try to dress in cloth that I really would love to wear myself, but can't XD Besides I feel really bad and weird to use $150 on a dress for myself, but see noooo problem in using that on a dress for a doll x'D god...

 

I agree with everything you said really & what your mother said.
I haven't got my dolls yet either but I know they compensate for how little I like my appearance.
They're so beautiful & their bodies are perfect.
They can suit anything.
I can't, so I'm going to dress mine the way I wish I could dress.

& My life is also un-organized, terribly so but dolls make me feel calmer & I'm going to keep all my doll things so tidy.

 

Yes, my dolls compensate me for close companions that I can trust.
They're the closest thing to me aside from my pets.
And it's fun how I can dress them in clothes that I wanted but will never get/wear, as well as the customizations, and the aesthetic in doing face up and photoshoots.

 

No. I don't feel ABJDs compensate me for something I don't have in RL. That's what Second Life is for. For instance, I can't afford BJDs in Real Life, (and my RL attempts to sculpt them for myself ran into a brick wall once I hit the casting stage,) but I can make them for my avatar:





Incidentally, it strikes me how similar Second Life and BJDs are as a hobby. Both scratch the same creative itch for customization, making, mixing and matching custom and bought clothing. The only difference is, one hobby is virtual, the other allows you to hold something in your hand. While I like the idea of collecting resin dolls as beautiful works of art, the costs can be prohibitive. And I like being able to make something and show it off right away to people in SL. (Or sell/give away copies of it. And making a virtual doll takes far less time than making a real life one.)

I wonder, if anyone has used their Second Life account to design outfits and makeup for their RL ball joint dolls. It seems like it might be a useful tool for coming up with costume ideas (If you've wondered how a certain type of wig might look from all angles, or if you've wanted to see what a certain type of skirt might look like on a certain body type, etc.)

 

Wow--that BJD in Second Life is amazing, AmathystAngel! I work in the video game industry and I always wondered what a BJD video game might be like XD It's too cool to see one in a video game already!

 

Do you feel that you 'and/or' others around you are using ABJD's to compensate for something you lack in your life?

I can not talk for others but I find it a really interesting subject. At this moment I'd say they add to my life an extra flow of creativity I was missing in a way. They make me want to learn to make things, I would never make for myself. But for them it's fun.
The only compensation I can think of is that they are all male and I'm transgender not transitioned. I that case they can make up for the boy in me.

 

I think Silvertongue said it all, LOL!

Everyone has a different reason for what they do, but in the doll fandom I bet that's the majority of first thought, first response answers you might expect to receive.

I'll add that I deliberately made myself chose dolls over any more cats in my life, because I was having too much trouble recovering from the loss of 20 year old pets passing away. I know that the doll will not replace the cats, but then, dolls don't fight being posed for pictures and dressed up. Everyone has their reasons, but to roughly quote a joke, "sometimes, Freud, a cigar is just a cigar" ? *shrugs* Good question though.

 

Well I can only speak for myself. I see them as mini creations and an art form in themselves. I dont see them as replacing anything in my life or substituting for something lost, lacking, or not found. To me they are an expression and extention of my creative abilities.

 

Do you feel that you 'and/or' others around you are using ABJD's to compensate for something you lack in your life?

Considering that I've always had a part of me that wished I was a male growing up (simply because they got to play with all the cool toys, do the cool activities like boys scouts, and such) my first doll is naturally a male. I'm not saying I'm not proud to be female, I am. I am certainly very proud. However I do have days where I feel as if my life would be so much easier and better, if I were a male. My doll fills this gap for me. I'm able to dress him how I feel like, whether manly or not, without having to worry too much about how society will/would view him. He's able to act however he pleases, and in a way, I let my boyish side quietly live through him. I want him to flourish without the double standard society has. To not have to worry about being too masculine, feminine, or anywhere in between. He can be a combination of things, and/or a mixture of everything. He is who he is, and he is accepted and love for it. Maybe this is what I'm getting at, is that growing up, I didn't have full acceptance of who I was, or who I wanted to be at least from my father anyway. Everyone else treated me like royalty. I definitely feel that rejection issues with father figures and males in general also play apart in this. I'm not perfect, and I realize this. However, I am proud to have made it thus far in my life, and I am proud of who I am.

Some people see it as just a hobby, and some people see it as more. Either way, does it really matter to the other? Most owners don't go buying dolls for the sake of pleasing others. We buy dolls because we like the particular doll and it pleases us. What does it matter that my doll may mean more to me than a hobby, or etc? It is a very personal topic, and people feel very strongly either way or in-between about it. In the end, your dolls are yours, and mine are mine. That's my two sense on it anyway.

 

Kind Of...Im modding my girl into what I would like to do with myself soon (and by this I do not mean I direct copy, she is still her own person and all but she is in the style I love) . Im only saying this as I am in school at the moment and I am not allowed to do anything seirous (i want to dye my hair darker *achieved ;-)* but bleach parts bright coloured and get some piercings) but I cant right now as my current school wont allow it. My dolls are just a way for me to get my creativity out and bring my style out. Its my way of showing me, but in a Resin way ;-)

 

Do you feel that you 'and/or' others around you are using ABJD's to compensate for something you lack in your life?

To be honest--it's the clothes. I want to be able to sew cute, frilly clothes that I just could not get away with wearing myself. Historical costumes, too.

Dolls don't outgrow clothes or get fat/thin and not be able to wear them!

 

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! And a doll's perpetual youth ensures that she will never be too old for a trend.

 

Of course it compensate me that I don't have a lot of models to try my dress-design ideas. It is much cheaper to make experiments for them than for real people. May be it compensate me real fashion-design company.

 

Do you feel that ABJD's compensate for something you don't have IRL?
Yes and I don't think there is anything wrong with that. People get all offended and think, "So you must think that I think that I s*ck and my life s*cks!" No, far from it but life isn't perfect (not that all BJD stories or characters are perfect either) but we all need ways to escape. Many things we do are "escapist" in nature... Movies, TV, hobbies, sports... EVERYTHING is a way to keep you busy.