Do you have a right to feel offended?

I think you said it really well, Jessica. Actually, it goes a bit further than that--I know people my age (about twenty) who still believe that it's horrible for girls to wear shorts. They're not that fond of girls wearing pants, either, but to them shorts is the epitome of slut-itude. Heck, give them a girl in a bikini and they'd probably combust. So, the idea of any of those sort of people being able to look at a doll in a dress and go "is that a boy?" is a little... well, it's just not going to happen. Even if they see the chest, they'd probably still assume it's supposed to be a prepubescent or flat-chested girl.

And, imho, a lot of BJDs have really effiminant features anyway, regardless of gender. I'm sure there probably arn't a lot who'll agree with me on that, but I can't help but be a little gender confused, anyway, just looking at the heads.

 

Welllllll, it not like I get majorly offended.
I just get pissed if you continue calling my boy a girl. End of story.

 

I mistakenly call them girls if they look like one. Expect that. I don't hang out with boys who wear dresses lol. They drag race.

But if you tell me its a boy - I'll call it a boy, just don't get angry if it accidentally slips out as a girl once in awhile LOL overused word: expected. Everyone has their own taste, so I'm cool with boys in dresses - just not my own.

 

That wouldn't bother me ....honest mistake really .

 

I don't think it'll bother most people... there're alot of owners who like their doll's gender to be ambiguous am I right?

 

If I were to dress my boys in dresses, I'd be expecting people to call them girls. Well, they ARE in dresses. Most dolls are rather androgynous, so to mistake a male for a female just because they're in dresses is almost a 90% chance.

Unless most like me would keep staring at the chests to realise if they are male or female, but then again, some owners sand their girls' busts to almost non-existent, so that is when confusion starts.

Well, if the owners do not want to keep repeating that the doll is a boy, bold and highlight the sentence/words in red that the doll in a dress is a boy. That would save the trouble wouldn't it?

 

I think it's kind of silly to be offended. It's most likely not meant as an insult, it's an honest mistake. If someone says it about the same doll over and over, well that's another thing.
If I put my guy in a dress I would kind of expect people to assume it's a girl...

 

I can see it at her point of view too, but honest to god if I had a male cross dress dolly and kept being asked every single day CONSTANTLY if its a girl, and being told how pretty she is. Id get annoyed too. But honestly if you dont know much about the dolls and see it for the first time, Id find it kinda rude if the person who owned the doll said somthing like "Its a boy!! Not a girl!! Just because hes a cross dresser does not make it a girl!!" which I know a few people who cross dress there dolls do. ( Not pointing out any names or accusing anybody )

 

I never get offended when non doll people call my dolls girls. I don't expect them to know the dolls are boys (even though I dress them like boys). So if someone says to me "wow, she's so pretty!" I say "thank you" and move on with my business. What's the point in getting all upset with the person? I mean they think your doll is pretty, that's cool.

 

When my daughter was younger, she had an unfortunate scissors-finding accident that ended with a shaved head. It eventually grew out to the most adorable Natalie Portman 'do ever, but during the few months prior she was constantly called a boy, even if she wasn't really dressed like one. I would politely correct people and they would get so flustered, tripping over their words trying to apologize! It honestly got to the point where I stopped correcting people because I didn't want to see them getting so upset over mistaking my boyish-looking daughter's gender. It was like they were expecting me to blow up all over them....probably because of how touchy everyone is nowadays. It's annoying how easily people get offended, especially when the offender meant no harm at all. :/

 

I have a doll who is obviously male (no boobs, obvious boy crotch, no hair, clothes that show off the fact he is male by showing his chest and obvious package downstairs) who is still mistaken for a girl. So it isn't just girl features I guess. Doll automatically equals girl. I don't correct people who say that though, usually it is said when I'm on the way home and am too tired to say anything back apart from 'thanks' (as it is oddly enough usually a compliment).
Though with crossdressing dolls, it does not surprise me that many get mistaken for girls. I mistake them for girls sometimes

 

I actually think it's pretty funny when you get to see the person's reaction when you tell them they're wrong. So I guess that means I'm not too worried about it. A lot of people haven't actually been 'exposed' to the visual, I guess, of extremely pretty boys.

However, it would get annoying if they kept pushing you/insist that they're right. Almost angry annoying *^*

 

I don't get offended. I just point out my doll is a boy and then say I can see where they're coming from. I can, a good few dolls have very feminine facial features and often, very feminine clothing.

 

My boy Tyberius is going to dress very girly and have long hair and will have a bit of a makeup-y faceup. I know that if anyone calls him a girl meaning that he IS a girl and that I don't know my own character's sex and gender (yes there's a difference) I will get mad. If it's just them thinking he's a girl but believing me when I say he's a boy and I get an argument like your sisters I will calmly explain that my standards are different. I was born and raised in the norm with homophobic parents. Now I'm a true teenager. I realize that all these years I've been brainwashed. Maybe not directly, but even as a kid I had my suspicions that there was something past church. I now realize what's wrong with that. Break free and show the world something different. Who cares if it comes with a bit of correction. Ty doesn't care. He's flattered that people think he's a girl.

(Sorry for any spelling errors that may or may not be in that. I'm watching American Idol.)

 

I used to think that a lot of the male bjd were females lol

 

I totally agree with your sister :/
I mean, if it looks like a girl (i.e. long hair, makeup, and feminine clothes) then people are going to assume it's a girl.
It's a simple mistake.
And anyways, it's just a doll, being offended over a doll is stupid :/

 

I wouldn't be offended if I had a male doll dressed feminine and someone called it a girl. You have to expect that.

I'm female, but I did actually have a male friend in high school who had long hair. He looked and dressed very masculine, but because of his long hair he would sometimes be called a girl if people saw him from behind first. He'd just turn around, smile, and say something like "Nah, I'm a dude, but I'm trying to beat her." He'd point to me, meaning he was trying (for some silly reason) to grow his hair out longer than mine. It made guys shake their heads and girls found it adorable. I've always liked his attitude about that.

I'd have that attitude for my dolls. No reason to get offended. People typically don't mean any harm by it.

 

I'd be offended if the doll was very obviously male - Like an Iplehouse Luo, for example. Then that's just ridiculous. People typically have a stereotype that dolls are usually girls, but even so, you can tell those IP boys are not girls.

I'll try to come from a perspective that isn't totally biased, but this is a debate. I'm not a fan of crossdressing male dolls, I won't elaborate into the subject, because it's off topic for the thread, and I don't want to offend anyone.

Being relevant to the discussion topic; no, I don't think anyone should be offended if their cross-dressing male doll is mistaken for a female. Many male ball-jointed dolls do look like females, that's just the aesthetic, and sometimes it is indeed intentional. If your male doll is wearing female clothing, by all conventional thinking (which is the typical thought process for people outside the BJD community), the doll is perceived to be female.

You just have to be willing to accept that mistakes will happen and people are bound to be confused.

 

I don't think they really have a right to be offended. Annoyed, maybe, especially if someone insists on referring to a doll by the wrong gender after they've been corrected. Really, though, if one is going to dress one's doll in skirts and dresses with long hair if it is male, one really has to expect most people, at least non doll people, to think that said doll is female. It isn't usually meant to be offensive, it is just the assumption most people make. It has happened with my dolls, even though my boys are really not the sort to wear skirts/dresses (at least not on a regular basis), they are still sometimes mistaken for female, and I have a girl who's been mistaken for male once or twice. I don't get offended because hey, I'm the one who gave them the feminine/masculine clothes and hair and in the case of one, faceup. I think it's a little bit silly to get all offended because someone can't take one look at one's doll which is wearing a dress, long wig and girly faceup on an already effeminate face (because let's face it, ladies and gents, our boys aren't generally the most butch looking guys in the world) and think "Oh, yeah, that's definitely a boy."
I have one boy who is getting some slightly more feminine than usual (for my crew) clothing. It'a j-rock ish set that includes a pair of pants with detached legs affixed by chains and a wrap. At first glance it looks like a skirt. I know it looks like a skirt. He also has longish hair and very dramatic gothy makeup. I know he's going to be mistaken for a girl. I am fully aware that something that looks like a skirt+doll with long hair+gothy makeup and a moth on his cheek is probably going to get me a lot of "Oh, she's so pretty!", which is why I don't get why some people appear so shocked that their boys, who are dressed similarly get called girls. It just basic logic in western countries, at least. Really we should just realise and accept that it *is* going to happen and be able to laugh it off for the most part. Dolls are not srs bznz.

 

I think you have the right to be annoyed if someone is doing it just to be annoying. If you have told them and they know the doll is a boy, then they continue clearly to annoy you then there you go. But otherwise I'd have to side with the sister on this. Don't get your hair up over an innocent confusion. I love this board....LOL