Doll Owner Stereotypes?

I kinda noticed the yaoi thing too. Like...I noticed that a lot of male dolls on DOA have boyfriends. I have nothing against homosexuals but I was just kinda thinking to myself like...."why are like....70% of the dolls on here gay?" lol

 

I love anime and manga too- I'm one of that small number of women in the first US anime/manga fan generation (and also love traditional Japanese history and culture- I've made a late Heian period summer court costume for myself (Thanks to Dalby's Kimono book for showing the various color combos that were traditional in that period) and want to make a 593-770 Japanese court costume (the Asuka and Nara periods)- the nearly two centuries of several powerful ruling Japanese empresses, and even the non ruling consort empresses had a lot of political power- making policy decisions, etc...). I'm also a cosplayer, but am plus sized so some characters costumes that I like would look terrible on me- thus another reason for doing character dolls. I also love to sew costumes, both cosplay and historical

 

Oh, so you are interested in fashion history too! I'll have to get my hands on that book. So far I've only really been reading books that focus on western costume. It's funny how most of these books are titled something similar to "a COMPLETE fashion history" and neglect several continents.
Oh dear. I'm OT now...

 

1) Do you think BJD owners are put into a stereotype? If so, describe it.

Well,I think in this hobbie world are very types of persons. Some people are more normal than other more "freaks", but all of us are freaks on deep, jajajaja. In my opinion, the stereotypes are there, It's your elecction to input on one.

2) Be honest - do you think you fit the stereotype at all? Not at all? Why?

Not at all, I'm really me... I'm teenager, yes, and I need mature, of course... But I don't like to classify the people, much less to myself.

3) How do you think there came to be stereotypes in the BJD hobby?

Not only in this hobie, all of hobbies have stereotypes. It was created by people unsuited to these, I think. The ignorant people make fast classifies and they don't even know the hobbie on deep, and they create the sterotypes. I repeat I said before, It's our elecction classifies ourself on this stereotypes.

PSD: I'm sorry about my spelling T_T ♥ My english is terrible.

 

1) Do you think BJD owners are put into a stereotype? If so, describe it.

Most people don't know enough about BJDs to stereotype the owners, but about half the community is assumed to be made up of teenage girl anime and yaoi fans, with teenage dolls dressed Punk/goth/emo who are described with such terms of endearment as "manwhore" by their owners. These girls apparently tend to have common problems of peer acceptance and parental acceptance.
Doll owners in general are apparently believed by the public to be frumpy uncouth middle aged women with some kind of child-replacement complex, or supposedly who didn't ever mature and grow up properly.

2) Be honest - do you think you fit the stereotype at all? Not at all? Why?

Nope. I don't fit the general demographic very well. Not a teenager, not a yaoi fan, none of my dolls are homosexual or if they were they're not telling, and I'm not that big into anime. I don't have to hide my dolls from disapproving parents, I don't really have to deal with disapproving friends, and most of my dolls are mature adult characters.

Also not a middle aged woman with child-surrogate issues.

3) How do you think there came to be stereotypes in the BJD hobby?

Human beings are wired to see patterns. Stereotypes result from grains of truth, and then massive jumps to conclusions based out of those. There are many people in the hobby who do fit the stereotypes. About 1/4, I'd estimate. That leaves 3/4 who do not.
*shrug*

 

1) Do you think BJD owners are put into a stereotype? If so, describe it.

Within the community yes, outside it most people have no idea what they are.
We see groups of people doing/liking the same thing following the same trends and we add them together and call them the same regardless of any other influences in their lives because we catalogue what we see on the surface and do not delve beneath.

2) Be honest - do you think you fit the stereotype at all? Not at all? Why?

No I am a middle aged woman and an artist. My dolls are another form of canvas for me and I can use my many skills (sewing, metalwork, painting, textile art) to create a unique look for what are very common sculpts that I buy. I loved dolls as a child and had these been around it would been died and gone to heaven time...I dressed and imagined my dolls then(to my childs ability) as I do now and told my self stories etc...as I do now.

I love Japan, I have visited , have japanese friends and tried to learn the language. Because the culture is so alien it is intriguing and I studied kimono making during part of my college course years ago.
I also love France and french food, studied french.....love Venice and italian food, culture and so on, I have friends from several countries and my youngest daughters god-parents are chinese but here on DoA I am a fat 53 year old who likes elves and fantasy .......but thats not all there is to me.

3) How do you think there came to be stereotypes in the BJD hobby?

We see patterns in all sorts of things its what humans do. Stereotypes come from jumping to conclusions based on those. There are people in the hobby who fit stereotypes. They are only judged by what is seen on the forum!

 

Heh, I know what you mean! I "devoured" those kind of books as a teenager- checked them out of the library, made sketches, etc... There was one that had tiny drawings of various Asian costumes that I just loved to death- the only semi-decent source of Asian traditional costumes I could find back then.

I bought Dalby's book on Amazon several years ago, but I imagine you can probably still find it there.

 

That's stupid, sickening, and frankly silly, the action of course. Why ruin everyone else fun.
Common Good =/= Personal Freedom.
It's greater, the common good that is.

If you hate anime that much, don't associate yourself with it. It's just like the people who "Hate" Twilight, then proceed to list every reason in the book why it's bad, and why you should hate it too. When the simple truth is, if you let people say what the want and thick what they want, then you learn not to listen at all to them.
In American, people are aloud freedom of speech. So that means, if they say something nasty about your doll, get over it.
Should they have said it at all? No. But it's their given right to criticizes[/QUOTE]

 

Heh, this is getting heated, no?
Well, I actually do think that it changes from person to person. I showed my doll to one girl, and one of the first things she said was "Oh, she looks like an anime character" and that's because that girl in particular was into anime.
I showed the same doll to another girl, who knew nothing of anime and manga and was, to be honest; horribly out of tune with pop culture and all that (she was from a mennonite family) and at first she didn't really know what to think. She didn't have any generalizations about me or the hobby to make. Instead, she asked some really pleasant and interesting questions about things like the stringing, what different kinds of dolls there were, what they could be used for, and what kind of people had them. I told her that all kinds of people used them for all kinds of things and gave her some examples.

Although I do like anime and general Japanese culture, because I grew up in Japan, that's not the reason I got into them. The main reason I got into BJDs was because long before even knowing about them, I created a series of drawings, comics, poems, and prose called "Marionette Avant de Degout" which is shitfrench for "Disgusting Puppet"... The marionettes are highly customisable, and are made for whatever purpose they need. Standard puppets have removable parts and are jointed all over their bodies (not ball joints, but close enough to be associated with them) and are full of organs, tubes, tentacles, and fluid (blood, water, whatever) and then there are slight variations depending on how they're meant to die. They're made of an interesting material that looks and feels like porcelain or bisque, but slices cleanly like skin and warms to the touch. Mostly, they just kill each other. People pay to watch them destroy each other. They are expendable, soulless, and without meaning.

Now then, context aside; when I first found BJDs my entire world was ripped open and in flowed the most amazing amount of inspiration I've ever had. It was truly a revolutionary event in my career as an artist. As I studied more about them, I realized they also fit in beautifully with not just my love of horror and macabre, but my other hobbies as well. Before BJDs, I sewed, I drew, and I took pictures. BJDs were useful for all of those things. Then, they also just happened to appeal to my inner anime/manga fangirl. It all worked out for me.
So while I do fit into the anime stereotype, I suppose I ultimately fit into the "creepy psycho who loves blood and gore" stereotype, and I fit into it proudly

 

Are you responding to LillyKitten with this post? I ask, because you have a failed quote tag, and I want to make sure I'm understanding the situation right, but it seems like you are deliberately attacking her without actually understanding anything she said.

 

I've noticed another stereotype.....that all of us are cat owners. I think in every box opening thread I've looked at there has been at least one cat in the pics. ^_^ I fit that stereotype, seeing as I have two cats myself. (One of whom is my profile pic...)

 

Heh, I don't fit that stereotype since I'm not allowed to have cats. In fact for my box opening I put my baby brother in the box :O

 

No cats here, although I like both cats and dogs equally. I had a dog when I was growing up, also gerbils (probably why I like most furry animals- except for rats, but I think mice are cute) I don't have any interest in anthropomorphic ABJ's though. Never much cared for that sort of thing, even as a child. I do like realistic looking stuffed animal toys though. The more realistic looking the more I like them.

 

I understand everything she said, as it seems, she herself was stereotyping.
Ans as it seems, you didn't understand what I said. People are going to hate on and vent about whatever you like. It no use getting all mad about it. People do it about anime, dolls, music, etc.

 

Which is ironic, since you appear to be attacking LillyKitten over her own opinion. She said she doesn't like the "you have dolls, you must be an otaku" tag. The otaku thing annoys her, and she'd rather have her dolls associated with creativity and customization. Nowhere did she say that everybody else should conform to her opinion. And even if she was, you yourself said "In American, people are aloud freedom of speech. So that means, if they say something nasty about your doll, get over it." So get over it. No need to make nasty comments at others.


Anywho, the cat thing is interesting! Especially since I believe most people own dogs. The stereotype itself is the "obligatory cat-in-a-box shot".

 

1) Do you think BJD owners are put into a stereotype? If so, describe it.

I do think so since people outside the hobby normally see them in anime conventions or see them being carried around by people who are doing cosplay. My father says that i'm returning to being a baby because only little girls carry their dolls around. >.> I only bring mine when there's a place safe enough and nice to take pictures...

2) Be honest - do you think you fit the stereotype at all? Not at all? Why?

Maybe, i'm more in the randomness type. XP My "type" changes according to my mood and yes I have mood swings. But if I really have to be in a stereotype, I would be a female otaku {I think it was fujo...} but I don't really "Hey i'm not that, i'm just" I just let it be. If even after I explain they see me as what they claim I am, I would just let them be. It's their problem.

3) How do you think there came to be stereotypes in the BJD hobby?

Hmm... I think it's because of the people around a collector who doesn't fully understand its meaning or those who doesn't care at all. {like my Dad}

 

Because alot of females find it attractive, and we usually tend to make our dolls something we find attractive or desirable.

(I am guilty of this stereotype myself.)

 

I've seen all kinds of people with BJD's, even tough looking guys with long hair, and/or tattoo's and that kind of stuff.

 

That, and everyone seems to have a gay Delf El (bonus points if they are seme-type nymphomaniac demons with tragic pasts). Male dolls are so darned "pretty" it's like they are meant to fall in love with each other, especially as they outclass many female sculpts.

I don't fit the stereotype physically, being petite and non-white/Asian, but I do happen to enjoy manga/anime and I have two cats. I don't see anything wrong with having traits that fit into the doll owner stereotype: if anything it means we have more in common.

 

I also think it's because they often look so great together. Might've worked for my Apollo as well, but it turned out he's straight, as far as I know

But it just occured to me that quite a lot of dolls are emo of some kind. Some subcultures of this age are reflected in BJD's and I think it's fine. But emo just isn't my thing. But I do cosplay which is popular here. Last time I went to an anime convention I've seen a couple of owner-doll cosplay combo's and I'm into that too.

Ciarda1966 I think costuming is absolutely awesome. I wish I had more time for that.