He, She or It?

I've always thought of dolls in terms of he or she. It just seems unnatural for me to think of them as 'it'. They look like people, and they ARE made with specific genders after all.

 

I refer to my dolls by their genders when not using their names. I personally don't think it is weird. They are my babus~ I am sometimes aprehensive when a person is learning of my collection though because I seem to work wih a TON pediophobes which makes me sad. I can't eventalk about my dolls most of the time because oneof them is there. However tonight by chance none were and I got to gush about my luts order coming in and the one co-workers asked me about if it was normal to refer to them as he or she. She asked about how I named them. She was really sweet and intrigued by the whole doll colldcting concept so that was refreshing.

 

I think you have a good analogy going with the fictional characters thing. I consider my dolls to be like "shells" for their characters, so I call them "he."

 

I like to dress up my boy as a girl at times, just out of boredom. But I don't think he really enjoys it based off the evil looks I get all the damn time.

 

I definitely refer to them by he or she. They have genders, so it doesn't feel right to refer to them as 'it'. Even the non doll collectors that visit my home, seem to refer to them based on gender.

 

To be honest, I say 'she' or 'he' depending on the gender of the doll... And I do it with my dogs too, because my dogs' sex is so. It's just preference, I guess.

 

I'm still deciding on whether or not to get a gender ambiguous doll or a boy or a girl!!! But I don't think I would use "it!" I feel like it's almost disrespectful, hehe! No offense to anyone who uses "it." Just my personal preference.

 

I would call my doll he or she. Anyone who wants to call their doll it can do so and I would respect them by calling them whatever they wanted. However, I do find it a little annoying when my own boyfriend says that they're inanimate objects and if they're kicky, it's just the owner trying to convince themselves that they're not talking to/playing with a sentient being and not a thing. I get that that's what it is, sort of. But I do believe in other worldly things and the possibilities of souls being within objects. I wish he would respect that. He would probably call my dolls "it" even though he knew it bothered me. Or else he'd be more condescending about it when saying "her"
Isn't it like people calling their car or boat "she?"

 

I would never refer to any of my dolls as an it. That doesn't even make sense to me.

 

I always refer to my dolls as 'she', never as a 'it'. Both of mine are clearly girls and I think calling them something ambiguous like 'it' would be weird. Even if my doll did not have a gender I would call them by a name before something like 'it'.

 

I agree. "It" just seems very impersonal in my opinion. I use he and she when referring to my dolls. If I had a gender less doll, then I would probably use the gender the character of the doll most identifies with, or just refer to them by name.

 

I like to call my female doll with 'her' and sometimes 'it', whatever feels right about it.
The only thing that I'm afraid with this issue is with other people dolls. I know that some people may be offended if we called their doll 'it' so I try to use him or her.
But the problem is when their doll gender is ambiguous, between a feminine man or masculine girl (although girl is more recognizable unless they use man body)

 

I call my dolls everything he she it to lumps of urethane, and I think pronoun choices should be completely up to the owner of the doll, as long as the owner doesn't force their choice on others. I find it funny how this is even a debatable issue to some people. I mean does it really matter what a person chooses to call their property? I call my electronics my babies all the time. If this made me crazy I would've been hospitalized a long long time ago :P

 

My dolls are 3-D depictions of my book characters, the Lalloure, who are neuters. So, yeah, my dolls are "it's."

 

Have you actually considered the language/cultural background?
It may not apply to english native speakers, but in german and spanisch even unanimated objects have a gender pronoun.
Aside from that, and any personal belivings, ethics and what not, the simple usage of a pronoun is no indication of mental issues. Why would it be?
And dolls, for many of us at least, may be unanimated objects, but have a lot of background story and character.
And for the personal touch here: something with a defind character, at least for me, is definitively a she or a he, never an it.

 

For me it completely depends on who I'm talking to.
With other doll people I use "he/she" and when I'm talking about the hobby in general with people who aren't involved, I use "it".

 

I almost always say 'she'. Sometimes I say 'it', but that's normally when I'm having a conversation about BJD's in general (which I tend to get into often). I honestly wouldn't care if someone called my doll an 'it', because that's what it is. For me, my doll is a female. It might not be living, but it still has the female features and conveys a character. It's just more natural for 'she' to come out.

 

Calling a doll 'it' is as if you're calling a human baby 'it' in my opinion.
I refer to my boy as 'him', but when I dress him up as a girl people seem to always say 'she'/'her'.

 

I refer my girls as she, but Voch (the imp) gets called an it. Even if it's male, it's also demon, so I feel that "he" would be too human for it.

But referring dolls it - as items, I don't do that either.