Doll's race

Wow, everyone made some very good points. I honestly didn’t really think about this issue until now. I’d say that I don’t think it’s an issue for people to have dolls of other races (that aren’t their own) as long as it’s done tastefully? Even with traditional wear...I don’t really see the issue with dressing a doll in traditional clothing of other countries. Especially with East Asian clothing (ex. hanbok), there are many Asian companies that make traditional clothes beautifully and tastefully.

Race and ethnicity are different. Both shape personalities, but I don’t think they’re the only aspects one should focus on for character creation.

 

So...much...thought...control! Must...resist!
My bjds don't have races. Coincidentally, neither do my dinner plates.
If you develop character profiles for your dolls, have at it and be free. PLEASE be free!

Any concerns about cultural appropriation should be left in the human world - please. Criticizing someone's creative process is bad form. Dress your bjds how you want. Create outfits without shackles on your thoughts. Use any inspiration that comes to you. Use all the colors and all the multi-verses available to you.
Creative freedom is a must. Without it, we'd have no innovations and no new inventions.

(yeah...I know...too much for a Monday morning, huh?)

 

I don't worry about cultural appropriation much in the doll world cause almost all of my dolls are fantasy/alien based, the only human based dolls I have are still from a type of alternate reality so their culture is different from the real world we live in, though I still research real Earth cultures when making one of my dolls from my 'fantasy Earth' to get a better understanding of the doll's character.

Although I have done my best to be as respectful as possible to the real Earth cultures some of my dolls are based-off, people have still thought I was being disrespectful/racist because my doll wasn't an accurate representation of that race, even though their NOT AT ALL A REAL RACE and do NOT have the same culture. Those fantasy dolls I have come from a world where Vampires, Elves, Werewolves and Spider-Sheep live alongside Humans and are considered normal, although their cultures are similar, it is not the exact same and therefore wouldn't be like our cultures here in the real world (cause a half Dark Elf half Werewolf, born in Madagascar who's father was from Brazil and mother was from India totally has to be an accurate representation of real Earth African people...).

I do agree with everyone else here in saying that as long as you are respectful towards the culture you are portraying in your doll, you should be perfectly fine, the only time I've seen a REAL problem is when people stereotype their dolls or just don't do enough research on the culture their trying to have their doll be from (like with the 'sombrero' example stated before).

 

They're just (really) expensive toys to me so race doesn't come into play

 

The thing is, dolls are a part of the human world, and inspiration doesn't come in a vacuum. If one person's idea of creativity includes racism or degrading an already pissed upon ethnicity, it shouldn't be protected.

Or to put it another way, Den of Angel's terms of service has rules for appropriate content. This excludes racial slurs, glorification of ethnic cleansing and related atrocities, etc. Even if it's not stated in the rules, I say microaggressions are also dang inappropriate.

 

I'm referring to what people do in their own homes, not what's posted on Den of Angels. I feel Den of Angel rules are quite reasonable, though.

 

I have dolls in many skin colors. Not because they are supposed to be any races, but they just look great in those skin colors.

 

This. The whole fad of so many dolls being Japanese characters - with names the owner can't pronounce, Japanese garments the owner doesn't know how to put on, and cliché stories like geishas and ninjas or ukes and semes - reeks of fetishizing. It's what makes me cringe and embarassed at Japanese pop culture events as wapanese would just harass any attending Japanese for selfies and ask if they can touch them, like "Yay I talked to a Japanese person, I touched a god, omg desu!". I know we can cue "All my dolls are Japanese characters but I don't do that" - but even so, the root mentality is the same. What wapanese don't understand is that fetishizing a culture, race, or people, is neither flattering nor positive, it's reducing this culture, race, or people, to one's consumption preferences. Any big girls in here who met a "chubby chaser"? Did you feel flattered? No? Exactly.