Dolls' Sexuality and Owner's Sexuality: Are they related?

I'm straight, and most likely any doll I get will be that way, too - with the exception of my OT dollfies.

I just don't see myself writing gay characters. Maybe it's because I'm not a yaoi/shonen-ai fan at all, or that I don't know a lot of gay people (that I'd know of). It would come out all wrong if I had to write it.

 

Points I agree with:
1. Dolls do not have sexuality, they are things not real people. It is only a projection of sexuality.

2.

This.

3. Hobbies do not necessarily reflect sexuality. (Lelite's post).

That says it all for me.

 

I'm not really sure if dolls have anything to do with your sexuality. I'm straight, and well, I don't see how it could relate at all. XD

 

I think it relatively depends on the people you meet. I hate that assumption that homosexuality and bisexuality are tied together with doll collectors, much less doll owners also PLAY with their dolls.

And I say this as a heteromantic asexual.

 

Well, yes, but when people say "doll" that often includes the character that goes with them. That is what people mean.

Anyway, I would say not necessarily. Some of my dolls are more like me some not at all (I have a mix of characters at present), and I'm very loath to try and draw parallels between doll characters and their owners -- especially if I don't know the people involved. I like yaoi, which for me has nothing to do with being gay and everything to do with being a female who finds guys aesthetically pleasing. It's best not to jump to conclusions.

 

Ehhhhh, as I have seen, most doll collectors are anime/manga fans, and therefore has a large yaoi/boylove section. I'd say at least 80% of the dolls owned are a physical form of the owners character. Do the characters reflect the owner? Possibly.
As what's been said before, a doll can't possibly have a sexuality because it can't think for itself, its just given a projected sexuality by the owner, the same with a name, personality, etc.
It's kinda like with stories, just because the writer is gay/bi doesn't mean all the characters they write about are going to be that too. I'm straight and a future doll purchase of mine's character will be bi, it doesn't mean part of my 'hidden' personality is bi, it just means I think it fits into a character i've created in the image of that doll.

Even people who collect dolls purely aesthetically (Just to collect them for displaying) usually give them a name and a slight personality, but I don't think deeply enough for sexuality.
So, no, I don't think they are related every single time, maybe for some people, but I don't think thats usually the case.

 

I don't think this is true at all. It certainly isn't true of myself and most of the people I know in RL who collect these dolls. There is also a huge amount of collectors who came to this hobby by way of collecting fashion dolls first and care nothing at all for Japanese pop culture.

 

I don't know if it's necessarily any different from most creative hobbies in the various proportions.

I do think the common overlap with yaoi fandom (and a lot of general slashfic fans -- not quite the same thing) makes the subject matter come up more often, but I don't think there's necessarily much more to it than that.

I also do not think that fantasies about preferences other than one's own -- whether they involve experimentation oneself, or just the various activities going on amongst others -- aren't uncommon. Since dolls can a vector for fantasy 'play' in terms of imagination, it doesn't surprise me at all when subject matter related to sexuality (of any orientation or activity) surfaces.

As for me, not that I particularly think it's anyone's business, but it's not some terribly guarded secret or even vaguely interesting: I'm bi. *shrug* So take that for what it's worth.

 

I think some people use their dolls to express themselves in a "safer" way. It's easier to have a doll that's bisexual or homosexual then admitting it yourself sometimes. However, I don't think that's usually the case. My two main girls are bisexual because they're based on characters who have that sexuality. I am also bisexual so I decided to have my first dolls reflect a little bit of myself.

 

This indeed, but it's not only fantasy play, sometimes it's just part of character creation. I'm straight and happily married. I write fanfiction, including but not exclusively slash-one of my OCs just happens to be a homosexual in a culture that doesn't care for that and it's not always happy for him. I enjoy reading slash, also gen and het. Of my dolls, the ones who are old enough to concern themselves about such things are straight for the most part-except for Florian, who is flagrantly bi (good survival characteristic if you're a vampire-doubles your chances of scoring dinner) and Nicolette, who is bi but much more quietly. I don't have a homosexual doll yet, but I don't rule it out as a possibility. It's really nothing to do with my sexuality and choices-I just like a varied cast of characters.

 

I'm straight, my dolls are straight. I don't like yaoi at all, but then I am female and can not relate to it.

But girl pairings/couples (shoujou ai?) I find sweet and cute to be honest.

Girl/girl couples I find so unique and hardly seen in this hobby, its refreshing

(edit I mean its refreshing when I DO see them, since they are so rare and different)

 

Hehe, which is funny because yaoi was created by women for women. (Not that you necessarily have to relate to it even if you are a woman.)

I do think that people have a tendency to work with what they know. If you are familiar with something you tend to be more comfortable with it. Of course that isn't to say people don't and won't branch out and do and explore other things. Or that everyone who's gay is going to have at least one gay doll or vice versa. And as it's been mentioned earlier this board encourages openmindedness, and I know I've personally volunteered more information then I might have on some other boards I participate in. So someone who is homosexual or bisexual may feel more open to express that side of themselves here as opposed to out in "regular" society. So it may just seem like there's a much larger group when in fact it may not be.

But if nothing else I think it correlates less to someone's sexual orientation and perhaps more to someone's tolerance or at least...hmmm eagerness? (can't think of a good word right now) to explorer those kinds of things.

 

Yeah I'm aware of that, I just don't find it appealing, but to each their own!! It's interesting to hear everyones thoughts.

 

As Cloudedmind said, I stick with what I know. Though, I am an anime-fan, and have read read a couple Shounen-Ai, and generally like seeing most alternate sexualities, I'm most likely not going to have dolls with them. Unless it's an important character point, of course.

My dolls reflect my own sexuality, so I guess they're and outlet or safe place. My boy "isn't old enough", though he's well around that age, and my girl is of a race that has no sexuality. When I plan, my future characters are a-romantic asexuals, despite myself being hetero-romantic just because it's a bother and none of them are ever going to date each other. That would be strange.

 

I....don't quite understand. I thought associating your doll/character with your own traits was a no-no? "Your doll smokes, so therefore you must love smoking." What's the difference between sexuality and any other character trait?

 

Well, it's not bad to create a character that overlaps with your own traits, but it can be problematic when viewers assume that that is the case with people's dolls all the time (especially when the trait would be considered something negative) -- the cigarette scenario you gave being a prime example of jumping to conclusions. However, I can see why the OP might be curious about this topic as so many dolls have pretty detailed stories that often include them having some kind of sexual orientation -- depending on where he/she come to the hobby from, this could seem quite unusual considering the number of doll characters who aren't heterosexual.

 

I probably should have posted post-morning coffee. I actually meant to clarify that -- I include character creation under that umbrella, basically in that the dolls become some of the many tools of the imagination, with the characters being the expression of the imagination. I generally consider any exercise of the imagination or creativity as 'fantasy play' -- even when it's a job. (I even call my work 'play' a lot when I'm in the developmental stages of it, when there's a lot of experimentation.) Basically, the time when someone is letting their imagination go roaming and experimenting with different thoughts and ideas to see what works, what doesn't, and so on.

I don't really consider it the same thing as fantasizing about specific subject matter, though I don't really see anything wrong with that either.

(I don't read fanfic or yaoi, and am not particularly interested in anime, either, but I seem to be in the minority regarding those things on the board. I'm just a big RP geek.)

 

I'm asexual (does not experience sexual attraction). None of my dolls are ace, according to their characters though. One of my girl's is gay, the other is straight...and well, the jury is still out on my boy. He could be gay, but he could just also be an experimental little child. We have no idea yet. At any rate... I really don't think gender or sexuality plays a part in deciding what hobbies a person is into. Or rather...I don't think it should. For that matter I feel the same way about clothing. *mind wanders*

 

My dolls' characters are based purely on my imagination; they can be whatever they want to be. They usually "tell" me who or what they're attracted to. Actually, they're sort of everything I'm not and its great fun. I just love the dolls as a creative outlet , and I couldn't care less about manga or anime or role playing, although my hubby and son are big into those things. I would've never even thought that someone's sexuality would be tied to their doll's character; and even if it is for some persons, why would it matter to anyone other than themselves?
(Not meaning to sound "snippy").