Do you hide your hobby from certain people?

Some of my friends did criticized my behavior or the appearance of my dolls, but I don't care. It's my hobby and I won't give up.

 

My mom and step dad know but only because I live with them, they don't mind though. Basically all of my friends know but I don't express it at school seeing as that would draw some unwanted attention to me. I haven't told my dad or step mom, I'm afraid they'll think it's stupid, but deep down I know they probably wouldn't care.

 

I might dumb it down for certain people. but for the most part I go at it full force like I was talking to another member of the community (minus using lingo). My fiance has one doll and while he's not as passionate as I am, he doesn't hide it either.

They are my muse, my imagination fabricated, my heart and soul poured into resin and my own life and time breathed into my characters and stories. To hide them is to hide myself. So no, I don't hide it from others

I will, however, hide the prices lol

 

My family and a couple of friends know of my hobby but my work colleagues and the majority of my casual friends don't. My dolls are my relaxation and my art fix if you like. Whilst i am not embarrassed of my hobby, i know that most of my friends would not understand the difference between a BJD and a toy doll and i do not have the need or inclination, to feel i have to justify myself or their price. My dolls are kept in my bedroom so they are not seen by most friends who pop in and out. Over time i imagine more people will see them, and at which time i will be more than happy to discuss my hobby.

 

@Littlebirdzoom No kidding on the prices. XD And I also hear you about characters. I am huge into tabletop RPGs, so I put a lot into character designs. Makes complete sense! When you put lots of work into a character, be it for a story, Dungeons and Dragons or a doll, that's a lot of energy and thought that you don't want to waste.

 

Sounds like my computer corner. XD I have many anime posters and figures around/on my PC desk. Happens to be in my living room. Never ceases to amuse me when someone does a double take at my giant Yoko Littner poster. :P But yeah, some people react so poorly... it's really too bad that we have to keep certain hobbies and favorites from certain people.

 

I don't hide it, but I don't go around telling the world either. If someone happens to go into my room, they'll see my dolls. I'm not ashamed of the fact that I collect them. I see them as works of art, and a display of what I like. I've had friends before who thought they were creepy, so I know some people can be that way. I'm not going to try to convince them otherwise because my dolls aren't for their pleasure.

 

Of course... From my coworkers.
I'll be disaster when they find out LoL.

 

Yes, certain people. Ive come to relise that some people talk about me cause i spend so much money on this hobby but i guess its ok for them to spend so much money on there hobby but not me so I normally keep it to myself and my best friend and close family and boyfriend they dont judge me lol.

 

@jin49 Right? I have some guy friends that would think i'm crazy for dumping money into this hobby when I could be dumping it into subwoofers for my car's audio system. At the same time though, I've found that if you don't tell people the cost, they don't really care. I'm glad your friend, family and boyfriend are cool. My girlfriend was really worried about me thinking it was a waste of money, but instead, she got me into it and I have two and a third on the way. XD

 

I don't really hide it from anyone but at work, for instance, dolls never come up so I don't really talk about it! My boyfriend doesn't care what I do and he is supportive and listens to me go on and on about clothes, wigs, new dolls, and all that fun stuff. A couple friends know and we just laugh about it together!

 

Yeah. From my parents. They will never approve of this hobby and will probably think its a waste of money and time but they can't really stop me. After all, its my money and my time. Though sometimes, I do feel bad for spending so much money but when I look at my dolls, all apprehension and guilt just automatically disappears.

 

I hide all of my hobbies from people I don't trust enough or care enough to share it with, is not like I'm embarrassed or care about their opinion, is just the fact that I'm not an open person. I don't like sharing stuff with people, it feels weird, I only do it with people that are close to me.

 

I havent told many people about this hobby to be honest. My immediate family and close friends know but my work colleagues don't. I haven't hidden it from anyone but with people I am not close to, the subject of hobbies has never come up.

 

My dad, little sister and bf know about this hobby. But also two of my job center workers and old course buddy.
If people ask about my hobbies I usually tell them because BJDs at the moment are my only hobby.
...Aaand I have this "fear" that if I don't tell people about my hobby they might think I'm just sitting at home looking bored and being lazy all day because I don't enjoy any hobbies. Ahah~

 

I definitely hide it from most people, partly because I'm a private person to start with, and partly out of insecurity I suppose! When I was 16 and had just gotten into dolls in general, I actually went out of my way to hide 80+ of them from my then-new boyfriend, and he didn't find out about my hobby until he expressed his own budding interest in BJDs six months later. I still stash them all away when people I don't know as well come over.

 

I don't particularly hide it but I don't just randomly bring it up in a conversation since it's rare when a conversation would just so happen to be about dolls. If it does (such as someone linking to a bjd doll randomly) i might bring it up saying like I think it looks cute or whatever. Usually my friends ask more in depth about it when they see my dolls in my room. But even though they just react more like 'ohhh ok cool you collect dolls and that makes you happy'. I haven't had someone who outright said it's like a bad hobby. One or two might say it freaks them out because they aren't fond of dolls to begin with and I will just shrug it off because I agree there are some creepy dolls (not bjd specifically) out there. My boyfriend is neutral about it and will nod or look at links I randomly give him about newly released dolls. He doesn't love them but he indulges me since he knows looking at pictures of them make me happy because they're so pretty.

Maybe it's because I already keep some figurines and plushies and stuff but my friend's aren't all that surprised when I'm into the bjd hobby. If anything, I would be more knowledgeable on who is really my friend if they outright lash out at me and make fun of me for my hobby and I will probably not count them as a close friend or would just not mention it to them anymore. Everyone has some hobby one or another and I think everyone is a bit quirky and weird as well. I don't go out of my way to make fun of others so I expect them to act the same for me

 

I apparently need to be better about hiding it, since today I was telling a work friendly about the new lovely I ordered, and another coworker was like "Oh, do you have pictures?" Which I did. I luckily work around anime fans so even if they don't get as excited about the dolls themselves, they appreciate the art of them.

This year a few friends will be coming to a convention with me where I'll be carrying my new girl, so we'll see how they handle it (including the husband of one of them.) However an ex of mine was skeptical about BJDs before she joined me for the panels, but she was socializing at every meet-up and snapping pictures along with the rest of us by the end of it. I honestly have very little negative experience while I open carry my lovelies around, so I guess I'm lucky in that regard.

 

I hope you and your doll will have fun at the convention! Also good luck with how your friends and their husband. I've had very few if any negative experience myself which I hope will continue

 

My boyfriend did say once that my dolls freaked him out a little bit because of how realistic they were (he's the one who likes the horror genre, so go figure).
And my family (besides my sisters, who are also in the hobby) pick and tease us about our dolls and discourage us from spending our money on them. I'm really debating if I want to get this one doll now, even though I'm close to paying and he's my grail doll.