Do you hide your hobby from certain people?

If it’s relevant to the topic, I’ll talk about them. I don’t hide them and they can be seen easily in the apartment, but I don’t go out of my way to shove it in everyone’s face.

 

During College year, I did, especially when I lived away from home and had roommate. my roommate scared of bjd and i never displayed in room and no one knew that I had it. And after I graduated and came back home, I put my doll out everywhere in my room. My parents hated it especially my mom, but now days they pat the doll head sometime and dont care about it anymore

 

In school I hid my hobby. Since everyone else was growing out of playing with dolls and I wasn't I felt like I would be made fun of for it. I also thought they would compare them to dolls you can pick up at Target and did not want to have to explain the difference). I even went as not inviting friends over to my house and closing my bedroom door when guests were over because I did not want any questions about it. In college that really was not an option since my roommates and I shared a room, that is when I started to realize that most people did not care, and those who did were more curious than rude. . . Granted all my bjds stayed at home, I only brought cloth dolls with me.
But since college I am more open about it. I do not introduce myself as a doll collector (unless it is a first date, lol) but if someone asks about my hobbies I do not hide it.

 

I don't usually, but the first time I spoke to my crush, he said "My brother collects dolls, isn't that weird?", so I've chosen to zip up about it around the folks from my university, lest he think I'm a freak. qAq Which is to say, he probably already does, but I'm just trying to salvage what I can of my image.

 

I was once terrified about telling my parents about the hobby. My mom never understood why I liked anime or video games or why I went to anime conventions and I didn't want to add yet another thing to the list.

My friend -who spent Christmas with me one year- took the doll I had shipped to my parents house (because it would be arriving when I would be down visiting) and showed her off to my parents. Surprisingly, my mom loved her and I got to talk to her about bjds for a few hours without her judging me.

 

So my doorman saw the embarassing junkyspot postcards on the outside of a box..... (Warning: Tiny Person Inside!) ugh, i hate those. It was awkward picking it up and he commented, "Haha, I hope it doesn't come to life!" then i laughed and explained to him that I paint and customize them and he thought it was interesting. I learned he was an artist himself because of that interaction.

My family like my hobby but they don't know the cost XD
I also haven't shown them my more "provocative" dolls and clothing so.....

 

Well.... my boyfriend and all my friends think bjd are weird and they kinda fear my dolls . They say that the real face thing is a little scary , but all respect my choices and my hobbys

 

My family and boyfriend know but my friend hasn’t seen them and I don’t tell strangers. Which just lead to awkwardness since I was asked what project I was working on and didn’t wanna say wiring my dolls lol.

 

My ex was supportive but definitely weirded out by it. My family understands I’m a creative type and assume it has to do with my art, someone else had something similar earlier on in this thread.

I am nervous to show off my dolls to new dating prospects, I’m also “older”, but I’m not ashamed or embarrassed, it’s more like I’m nervous showing off anything that I use to express myself with, wether it’s my art, my writing, or my dolls. I just place a vulnerability in those things I guess.

 

My husband is definitely supportive but my more "human" dolls are too uncanny valley for him (which is understandable). He's even more creeped out by in progress dolls (a blank doll), though he does like my more fantasy dolls and he's fallen in love with a few Dollfie Dreams so he just has a particular aesthetic.

 

My other half understands my hobby....often unhappy with the cost! He see’s my BJD the same as me - they are pieces of art....someone has crafted these!

 

I don't hide the hobby from anyone that comes in my life, It's a big part of me, it's what I do for a living and the dolls themselves are on display so anyone who comes over can see them. The people who wouldn't tolerate this part of probably wouldn't stay long anyway because then they can't tolerate a huge chunk of me. If we go out in public, and people ask we tell them about the hobby, the ones who just make comments are ignored really.
People don't have to like dolls to tolerate them, like we have a friend who actually has a phobia of dolls and he still comes around and really just acts like they are not there. We didn't even knew for a few weeks because he didn't want to hurt my feelings.
This specially applies to closer relationships, if my friend or boyfriend shames me for collecting and working with dolls then we are just meant to be together and that's fine. But if someone can understand it they are a keeper, they don't have to like it, just understand it.

 

I hide my hobby from most people even though they are out in the open next to my desk at home in the living room. I have social anxiety so I don't share much about my life to begin with, but the idea of risking someone saying rude things about something I'm passionate about makes me extremely uncomfortable.

Thankfully, my significant other (who is the only person who I actively share my doll experiences with) supports me wholeheartedly.

 

I wish I could say that you should be totally open about it and screw everyone who doesn’t accept you but honestly I’m embarrassed about the hobby too. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to keep it to yourself, but if keeping it to yourself is something that makes you uncomfortable and it’s sometning you really do want to share I don’t think you should hold back. I found the best way to keep the hobby and my personal life separate was just by making separate accounts. Coming up with an alias and making a new account that no one from your real life knows about is really nice! You can post whatever you want about your dolls without having to worry, and you’ll meet lots of other people in the hobby who you’ll make friends with. Just be careful about what’s in your pictures and where you take them since people who have been to your place might recognize your surroundings. Also be sure to store them before people come over. I’ve had a few close calls with that one. Either way I hope this is only temporary and you’re able to come to terms with the hobby and accept it fully one day

 

In day to day life, I tend to keep the hobby to myself for the most part. A lot of people I know in real life can be a bit judgmental, and I'd much rather stay away from the fuss of being bombarded with a million and one "judgy" questions. I'm completely open about my hobby online, though! I find that the people I surround myself with on social media aren't so judgmental, and even though my online friends aren't in the hobby, they still support my interests without giving me any negativity!

 

I don't. Well.... To be exact, I can't my hobbies. Because my hobbies are deeply related to my job.

 

I don't tell regular people about my hobby, I sometimes won't tell geeky people. If I get to know the person really well and think they can handle it, I will tell them. My boyfriend is very supportive and even got me a doll that I've always wanted to get but never had the money to buy her.

 

My family is unsupportive so I would never tell them how much a BJD costs, if they ever see mine. They think I wasted money on my other dolls! In order to get them off my back I have to tell them most were gifts or bought with gift money. It’s frustrating. They don’t mind if I spend on “real” hobbies, but heaven help me if I spend it on anything “childish.”

My boyfriend is supportive of my doll hobby, he offered to buy me a doll for Christmas but I had already made up my mind to switch to BJDs so I refused. He is someone who doesn’t like to spend unnecessary monies, so while he knows I have a BJD ordered I have never specified how much I spent. He just knows I spent a good deal of money I had saved up from my various side jobs lol! He would never give me a hard time about it but I don’t think he needs to know exact prices unless we are sharing money or he wants to buy me one. And then I would cringe and feel guilty because I hate when people buy me expensive things. I have to talk myself into buying nice things for myself because I feel guilty for being so selfish, it’s so much worse when other people buy me nice things.

 

Yes, I tend to hide it from all people unless they're people who I feel might understand it, which is most people, haha. I think that people who lack knowledge think the hobby is childish, or that I'm insane for spending so much money on a doll.

 

Most people tend to support me as well, but I have a couple friends who are TERRIFIED of dolls. It kinda bums me out when I want to show a group of friends and someone inevitably says "EW GROSS" because dolls creep them out, but honestly the hobby isn't for them, it's for me, so at the end of the day I don't mind all that much. A lot of people don't exactly understand why I like dolls, and even when I try to explain it they just think I'm a weird fanatic with an even weirder hobby, but they're not usually rude about it. If your friend is rude to you about your hobbies, you should really take a hard look at them and consider if they're worth being friends with. Even if a friend thinks your hobbies are weird, they shouldn't be rude to you because you enjoy something.