Dolly androgyny -why do we like it?

In my opinion, dolls, as toys, are meant to be somewhat fragile and gentle, like we can sort of 'command' them to do what we want. do you see what i am saying? they are mostly gentle and sweet because they carry the idea that we can sort of control them, and shape their character. I'm not saying that dolls are weak, and of course they carry quite a bit of telltale characteristics themselves right off.

 

I AM an androgene. *L* I have a hormonal disorder that essentially causes me to be both male and female at all times. So what can I say? I want androgynous dolls so I can identify with them. I don't find that I identify very easily with gender-binary humans, and there are um. well. a LOT of them. It's relaxing for me to create this world for myself where androgyny is the norm...its not vanity, it's just opening up a door inside my head that leads to someplace in the outside world.


Oh yeah, and prettyhatemachine, you and me... we need to start a support group. *L* Everything you say is exactly my thoughts, even my experiences. Awesome to know somebody else is sharing this weird pathway through life.

 

Studies show that women think guys with androgynous/feminine features are generally better fathers; those who look more masculine are more likely to make you pregnant. In the real world, girls apparently choose thier men according to hormonal changes - in our pre-ovulation phases, we choose more "macho" men and when we're "back to normal", we tend to choose more feminine men. It's an evolutionary thing.

So I guess the reason for more androgynous dolls is because girls (the companies' target customers) are more often not in ovulation (ovulation takes about three days of every month), and therefore logically should like fops and dandys more than boot camp instructors most of the time. o.O

Studies also suggest that women think androgynous men have better hygiene, dress better, are more nuturing, and are more able to relate to women issues. So maybe it's just normal that girls would choose nuturing-looking boy dolls to be thier "other selves".

Of course, Asian pop culture and manga and the rise of the "fujoshi" (ie. yaoi fangirls) have some influence as well, but I best stop ranting. ^ ^

 

So there's a reason why one day I'm sleeping in a tent outside Robin Black's house and writing love poetry and three days later I'm playing Super Smash Bros. with the lads and ogling Solid Snake? I knew there was something to it! Aha.

However, nothing says the tough guys can't be well groomed. Mm, cologne.

 

I think, in many cases, the dolls resembles a part of you that may not be exposed in daily life. Like, when you buy a boy-doll, you can play with boy-clothes and still be totally feminine. Or if you like really big dresses, but know it's difficult to wear them in the subway, you can just dress a beautiful little girl up in stead and still have fun.
But there is also many people - including myself - who sees the dolls as a kind of art. I like to design and the dolls are a great way to get a over all perspective of your design, before making it for yourself. ^^
There really are many good reasons for having a doll...it gives you freedom.

 

I think the lack of gender gives us more freedom to do what we want with our dolls;

For example, I like Bishonen (pretty-boys) so I ordered a boy doll. I plan to do his face up quite feminine, and I also plan on making him crossdress xD

I can make him look male, or female.

 

because there are so few really pretty males in this world, and if they addictionally shave regularly... that's just impossible.
add dressing those males the way you like it and acting like you like it, and you have your Mr. Right! oh no, wait... you actually have a doll.
xD

 

Bravo! That's exactly how I see it.

 

I totally agree with that too.

 

I suppose I'd be agreeing with the vast majority here in saying I like my men pretty, slender, and androgynous if they dress so. Personally, I don't see that so much as a result of my being into anime/dollfies as a preference that drew me into these areas of interest. However both my dolls seem to have a pretty solid sense of being male; perhaps that's just part of their personalities though? Despite Kasumi being a Yo tenshi and therefore anatomically androgynous, there's something about him (specifically) that just says little boy...

As for body/face maturity, I guess it really depends from doll to doll. Some molds work, and others don't. I heard a few comments about the new SSDF Cloud and then the Fullset SDelf Geoffrey looking a little silly because their faces were so fluff and then they have these ripped chests and rugged abs...I suppose I'll have to agree with that. But hey, keep 'em clothed and it's harder to tell that they're incredibly toned, right?
Again a personal preference, I don't like seeing MSD or YoSD sized dolls looking sexed up - especially if they're girls. For me it's just like, if she were real she would be 10, I don't think she would wear fishnets and fetish boots with a miniskirt. I guess that's mostly because I was so sexually innocent for such a long time though, I don't want little girls out there like that //>.>// Keep it classy, right?

 

I like the androgeny- but I'm picky about it if that makes any sense. Just because a doll looks feminine or masuculine doesn't necessarily mean that he or she respectively is going to be androgenous- it has to fit the character- not just partway, but entirely, so that one couldn't imagine him or her being any different. I'm personally probably sexist- I prefer androgenous male dolls to female dolls, but that doesn't mean I won't try to experiment with the latter eventually *evil laugh*

I guess my point here is: If it fits the character and not the trend, then androgeny is bloody fun!

 

My dolls aren't really all that androgenous, the girls look like girls & the boys, boys. Even though I have some rather "pretty boy" faces, I don't crossdress them or do feminine face-ups. When I was younger I was drawn to the androgenous look but that attraction seems to have passed. Now I prefer big "teddy bear" guys, not muscle builders, just big, cozy guys. Unfortunately, there aren't any dolls that embody that look.

I'm really enjoying the trend to more muscular, defined bodies though as I do like my guys to have some masculinity, even the gay ones.

As far as the baby faces & mature bodies, that completely freaks me out. It's the reason I avoid pics of Unoas. They have such childlike faces on overtly sexy bodies that they seem like a type of child porn. It makes me very uncomfortable. (And I'm anything but a prude.)

 

I don't care for androgyny either. All my gals are gals, all my guys are men.

 

personally, i do not agree with this statement. I do not think all of these dolls are both adrogynous or childlike. In fact, there are plenty of dolls out there that are not either. Prime example being the Unidoll Jace, the Senior Delf Abadon, Iplehouse Akando, etc. There are plenty of us out here who do not prefer dolls that are adrogynous or childlike in the least. I do have some that are, because originally that is all that was available.

 

I think this is all kinda cool, cuz have you ever been in line at the grocery store, and actually looked at the covers of those romance novels? They target women, but if you really look at the men, they mix masculinity, and feminine features together. The men generally all look like soft, GQ models, but with hulking powerful god-bodies, and 90 percent of the time, they have long flowing hair. The woman is usually busting out of her top, and the man is almost always embracing her, clasping her near him. In the BJD world, I do find that more women have the boys with long flowing hair, more adrogynous looks. (That also could be that there are so few men in the hobby period) Most of the guys that i have met prefer the more masculine boy dolls. Although, there haven't been many men i've seen LOL Only a few.

It's always interesting to me what makes people choose what they choose, regardless of wether it be dolls, art, clothing, etc.

 

All my men are men, even the ones with nailpolish. I do not find beauty to be a necessarily feminine/androgynous trait. Too many people think that just because something is beautiful, it is necessarily feminine; that nothing masculine can be beautiful.

I can look at a beautiful man (one without makeup or long hair or jewelry) and still think, "Man". Others may look at the same man and think, "Girly", because they're not comfortable with the whole concept of masculine beauty. Therefore, in order to make their limited little minds feel more comfortable with it, they attach other traits to it ("it must mean he's gay"), until that bit of masculine beauty fits into their limited little worlds. Like when movie reviewers [usually male] persistently call Johnny Depp "androgynous", even when he is wearing a beard and pants: I don't understand that at all. He looks like a man to me.

Which "studies"? I should like to read them. That sounds like it's from one of those "science" magazines that claims feeding your baby soymilk will make it grow up gay. -_- But if it is real science, I will be quite fascinated.

Really, it sounds the exact opposite of most straight girls I knew growing up. When we were in gradeschool & junior high, we loved Duran Duran & other non-threatening beauties; in & after high school, we veered towards the Chippendale Dancers and Playgirl...

Oh man, does masculinity ever come in varying packages sometimes--!! The 80s were a prime example. Do you remember when Poison first came out? Whitesnake? Motley Crue? The lipstick, the spandywear, the big hair? THOSE were the tough-guys of the time! Tanktops cut low to show a full carpet of chest hair. Shiny skin-tight satin jeans. Metallic-leather cowboy boots. THOSE were the guys who would pick fights with New Wavers, or scoff at Duran Duran on grounds of "are they boys or girls?" XDD Oh, the irony.

Long hair is not a strictly androgynous or feminine trait, though. It depends on who & where you are, and who you know. In some cultures today, it's the men who carefully tend their long hair as a sign of virility/power.

The romance-novel cover paintings you're thinking of tend to illustrate historical-romance stories, taking place in eras/places when most/all men regularly wore long hair. Their faces are chiseled and gorgeous because women who read romances generally don't want to fantasize about having their bodices ripped by an ugly hero. (The hulking god-body remains the same across the centuries, however. Natch. ^^) Most specifically, our old friend Fabio-- no matter how long his hair gets, I cannot consider him androgynous. I just don't see it. Does not compute!

Whoa, wait. Are we talking about the same SDF Abadon? Soft girly face on a scrawny ripped body = Androgyny Central.

Iplehouse Akando also has a pretty face on a god-body. Does that make him androgynous too? Or his new EID companion, Evan, who doesn't have those manly cheekbones, & who looks even younger; is he an androgyne too?

 

JennyNemesis: I agree with you absolutely positively 100%. So I won't elaborate any more than you have on that particular issue.

As for why I like androgynous dolls (Because I do like androgyny, no matter how it is defined. Basically, a girl with a wee willy winkle and no chest-- I like it. The soft bodies with no six-pack or muscle tone, the more feminine faces without broad noses, brow ridges and pointy cheekbones, the smooth fingers not packed with manly bulging veins, the wide, thick-lashed doe-eyes.... )
Is because.....basically, I'm a girl (Completely straight, even) and I like these traits in men in real life. It's not because I associate them with women that I like them; I'm just attracted to these traits. They're beautiful to me.
Men with short-cropped hair, bulging Adam's apples, rippling muscles coating his entire body, and a huge chest filled to the bursting with curly man-hairs is not what I find beautiful.
Thusly, I do not want dolls with traits such as these That's pretty much it.

 

I think that it does not need to be androgynous to be beautiful, i think that no matter if its manly or womanly it can be just as beautiful as an androgynous doll, I actually prefure mine to not look androgynous, even though my only male doll Amarant looks pretty girly its okay though it suits his character, im patiently awaiting to order a more masculine doll :3

 

Im not sure, I have manly guy's and feminine guy's but I do like the stereotypical "cute" guys, I dont know.. they're just adorable xD

But the average guy is good enough for me too doll wise

 

Come to think of it... I don't know of any androgynous bjd! They seem to be either boys or girls, isn't that something? XD

I think people newer to the hobby occasionally mistake the boys for girls, but once you get used to the idiom you can usually tell. ^_~

Raven