Dolls as a Discourse Community?

Did you meant to write, "Discourse Community?"

If so, I think there is definitely a specific "lingo" that goes along with this hobby, just like with any other niche hobby or fandom. I'm not sure if the BJD hobby is really important to the USA in any broad sense, however.

Here's a thread which deals with some of the terminology of the BJD world? http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?24508-Ball-Jointed-Doll-Abbreviations-Terms-and-Meanings-Guide There may be some discussion therein which is related to your study.

 

I say that yes we are a discourse community, definitely, but it's just a hobby and really has no significance to the country.

 

No offense, but if you're writing a college level paper, I think the first step would be to improve your spelling.

 

I;d say we definately are. You don't just get into this hobby. I mean, you don't just stumble upon a doll and get one. Even if you see one, most people have no clue what they are. Then, once you find out more about them, there's so much more to do research about.
It's not like things like knitting, or other things that are generally open to the public. And yes, we have hundrerds of abbreviations, for different sizes, companies, molds and so on.
My boyfriend plays warhammer, and I think Dolls and warhammer as hobbies are much alike. You don't just pick up a hobby like that, and you need a ton of information to get started.
I think ALL the lingo if confusing to others. There;s only a small percentage of human beings in this hobby, and not that much more that know about these dolls. Even the abbreviation BJD makes people stare in wonder.

 

I'm going to disagree with you Snow. Most people I know stumbled upon them in one form or another and simply bought one without much research. And yes you can just pick up a game without researching. -shrug- I've even found people who have/had no knowledge of DoA or online forums but bought a doll because they happened across one of the company websites.

Just wanted to put it out there that not everyone gets into a hobby the same way.

 

I realise that. But you don't stumble across a BJD website every day.
And things like Warhammer and board games are more than just a game. It does require some major time investment. If you want to be good at it of course.
Most people I know get into dolls through other people that are into dolls. About 90%of people I know have never even heard of them, and would never randomly stumble upon them, even tho they have similar interests to the general doll public.

 

Characteristics of the hobby?

Well I certainly get frustrated when people abbreviate company names. Some sound alike and others are obscure so it can be hard to find out where their doll came from.

When I first started getting into BJDs (From Haute Doll magazine to Rozen Maiden Pullips, from Rozen Maiden to Super Dollfie, etc.) I could not tell the difference between vinyl and resin, in the sales pictures at least. Also I was shy of the price so I wanted to try to hybrid a Musedoll head onto an Obitsu body, or maybe a Fairyland Shushu head onto one.

From my independent research I learned about sizes, but without jointing online forums I would not have discovered the importance of resin matching and the materials vinyl vs. resin. The bodies looked the same to me and I could not figure out why an obitsu body was $200 cheaper.

Long story short, you can just buy a doll off the company website; but there are plenty who do without the knowledge of a 'face-up' and end up with a expensive, naked, eyeless, wigless, blank doll. You do need to know a certain amount to buy a basic doll (unless you just click yes to buying all the options on a fullset, or buy a packaged fullset).

As I go through the hobby, I find that to truly create the dolls I have in my mind's eye I need even more knowledge then I have even now. To create a successful hybrid, to get the perfect face-up, to have just the right image. I mean the whole point is that the dolls are customizable, so why would I want to have an unfinished doll? Or even a doll that was not the best I could make it, the closest to the ideal I was reaching for when I bought it.

I think you could say that the BJD hobby is important in America because it is a new art form. Just like decorating a house, we "decorate" (in a sense) our dolls. I think art is important and giving people a new avenue is a wonderful thing. Especially for those of us who cannot create our ideas from raw materials. I also think that DOA in particular has a lot of importance by bringing people together from all around the world who enrich and support each other in creative pursuits.

(On a side note, I wrote an essay on BJDs last year for English 101, my teacher loved it! Good luck )

 

For those who would like to help Vince_Twilight out with her homework, please feel free to pm her with your response.