If there was another word for BJDs, would they be easier to talk about?

...Yes! And, as we know, marketing departments of major toy companies ALWAYS know more about your own psyche than you do. Again, if someone has a fundamental insecurity about masculinity, there is no amount of vocabulary-change that's going to cure that.

Well, great-- now all I can hear in my head is Comic Book Guy's lispy voice snittily correcting an uncaring observer, "They are not DOLLS, they are ACTION FIGURES." Anytime I hear that line from anyone IRL, all I hear is Comic Book Guy.

(Or, better: Lisa Simpson's "They're not dolls, they're aspirational figures.")

 

You're....you're kinda my hero right now. You know that?

I'm not ashamed to call my dolls "dolls". That's exactly what they are! Granted, I'm not going to shout it from the rooftops. But if somebody asks I tell them I collect hand made Asian ball-jointed dolls.

Be proud of who you are. Own it.

 

Unfortunately action figures are just that...made for action. I think other bjders would have an issue dressing up a bjd as a soldier and having him thrown around in mud, whipped around pretending he got shot and stabbing the chest with a toothpick. If i could get away with it i would definitely prefer action figure. My nephew got a hold of him one day and tried pretending again aaaand i was NOT happy with the outcome. I went through 2 magic erase bars, 20 minutes of a sandpaper session just to get him back to normal....not to mention having to give him a bath because i dont want to chance oil being on him. So i think doll will have to suffice until something more fitting my sex comes along. =C

 

As a noob, I was wondering about that, too! I don't care what people think if I say I collect dolls, as I'm old enough to get away with some eccentricities now. But I did care when I was young. My bf is quite a bit younger than I am, he is 32. I was curious to see his reaction. I broke the news to him that I was spending about $200 on a doll, wig and accessories this week and he asked to see it on the internet. I pulled up the BBB pictures of the Sprite I planned to get and showed him various other BJD dolls, too. He was actually quite understanding and said "Oh, there is some Asian influenced art there, some anime-type faces, and some really beautiful sculpture work on those. I can see why they are so much. Yeah, you will probably really love making clothes for that doll and trading with others for things to go on her. I can see that." That's why I love him. He gets me.

 

As with the Barbie thing though this isn't really true - there are all kinds of action figures that are delicate and marketed to adult collectors rather than children. BJDs, barbies, army men - They're all just toys! Rejoice in it!

 

Ahh... I do kind of wish I could just forget the fact that they're dolls. But they are, and I remember that everytime I tell of them to someone who doesn't know about the hobby. Even though I'm a girl, I never was such a sissy as to play with dolls when I was a kid (note the sarcasm), and now I feel people will think I'm girly and soft after all when I tell them my hobby is dolls. :/
Still, I've decided to face unpleasant things, so I'll always admit that BJDs are "just" dolls too.

 

It's sad to me that you think being "girly" is a negative thing! To me, being "girly" a positive thing! Even those of us who are older girls can make it something to celebrate! Don't hate the femininity in yourself, because it's something to be embraced. And being a girl certainly doesn't make you a weaker person than being a boy does. IT is totally individual. Let's rejoice in whatever gender we are born into (or choose to express, if that is the case) and not hate our own or any others' gender!

 

When people ask me what the pictures on my bedroom wall are, I always say "they're BJDs" there's just no other way around it. I don't think that using another name for them will change anything, because really, to the eyes of people not in the hobby, they're still dolls. No matter how you explain them. Sometimes though, if I'm feeling playful and mischievous, I let them guess what it means based on the pictures it usually ends up with an epic conversation about how pretty they are... or how they're all "girls" *sigh*

 

OK... Made to order, collectable, customizable third scale action figures

That is enough words to make anyone sorry they asked. (and then say, "oh, looks like a doll.")

 

^This.

"No, I'm not LARP-ing, I'm 'recreating storylines from a first person perspective'. So I'm really an ACTOR, not somebody dressing up and looking like a fool. Totally different."

That doesn't make you sound cool and strong, it sounds like you should be ashamed of what you're doing. And if you feel you should, other people will think the same way.
Most of the people I talk to don't even raise an eyebrow when I say I'm collecting dolls or making them. And those who do... well, that's their problem. If they need to feel uncomfortable about MY hobby, one that isn't even that uncommon, I think they have issues.

 

Seconding this. (Or thirding, or fourthing... )

The more people hide from their insecurities behind obvious obfuscations, the more people will consider them things that need to be hidden, or make someone strange or 'weird'. This is especially silly when they're just not. Have a bunch of chopped up bodies in your basement? Go on with that mad, mad obfuscation, and hope you're awfully good at it (and hiding the smell). If those bodies are made of resin? Not so much reason for it. Once someone stops acting like it's the former case, people will stop treating them like it is for the most part.

The fear of being associated with something 'feminine' is a little troubling to me. I get that not everyone saying this is female or identifies as such, and that is considerably more reasonable to me -- but this notion that 'feminine' is an inherently negative trait is exceptionally worrying. My inner feminist cringes hard at talk like this, with much grinding of teeth.

 

I collect dolls, plain and simple. People can think what they want to think about it but it's not going to change the fact that I collect dolls and not something else. Having another name for them would only make me feel like I was trying to hide something I love doing and trying to insinuate to myself and others that I'm ashamed about it. Whether they're BJDs or my assorted off-topic dolls they are still all dolls and I love collecting them, dressing them up, etc., etc. And there's no shame in that and people can accept it or not. To be honest, while people tried to bring me down when I first got into this hobby, I honestly don't see what the big deal is. They are dolls. Unless I'm collecting weapons of mass destruction, I think people just need to let it go.

I also can't help but agree with surreality about the whole fear of being seen as feminine in any way, like that is this horrible thing. It bothers me, just like when the reverse happens. Just be yourself. I hate to use another cliched phrase but life is too short. I don't think it's fair to yourself and the people around you if you feel like hiding what you love and do behind safe words. :-/

 

You stated this much more politely than I ever could have. I had hoped in this day and age and from a forum of adults the idea that anything feminine is something terrible, shameful or weak would have been discarded long ago.

 

Oh, yeah. It doesn't matter what you call them, if you're insecure, you're insecure. A name change is not going to change the underlying attitude of "I'm really embarrassed about liking these things and think it makes me less of a man." Until we stop caring about what other people have decided is and isn't 'okay' for a particular gender to like, this kind of attitude is going to stay a problem.

It's your doll. Why would we give two flying monkey craps about what you do with it? If you wanna make it a super-sized GI Joe or Action Man, go ahead. Just warn me before you go sticking my dolls in mud and getting all toothpick-stabbity. Some of them are vampires. XD

Or until people stop being so hung up on what is and isn't appropriately 'masculine' or 'feminine'. Calling a doll anything else doesn't stop it being a doll. Trying to call it something else just makes it sound like you have something to hide. Which, unless you're bludgeoning people with them, you don't. Collecting dolls is no weirder than collecting anything else. If we stop acting like it's some weird, secret, shameful thing, people will stop looking at us like it is. the key to having people not treat you like your hobby is weird is for you to not treat it like it's weird. Unless your hobby happens to be taxiderming live humans or something-then, yeah...weird. And illegal.

I agree with how the sentiment that it's troubling that there is such a fear of being associated with something 'feminine'. So what if it is feminine? Why is that a bad thing, and what, exactly does it say about us as a society that something that an entire group of people (half the world's population, no less) are stereotypically associated with liking is a thing that apparently makes another group less if they like it? I'm going to be potentially very rude to some of the male collectors here, but: Guys, your genitals are not going to drop off and run away because you call a doll a doll. No-one is going to be coming round to revoke your man card for liking 'girly' things. If you or, especially, the people you know, judge your masculinity by what you own, it might be time to get to know some new people. If we stop with this daft 'boys like X, girls like Y and it's NOT NORMAL/emasculating for boys to like Y and weird and wrong and OMGBUTCH for girls to like X!', maybe we''ll finally get over this sort of nonsense. It's a doll, big deal. So are GI Joes and Action Man 'figures',when you get down to it. Model of a human/humanoid figure, often meant as a toy for children=doll. It's not inherently a feminine/female thing.

I collect dolls. We all collect dolls. Calling them something else would probably still mean you'd end up having to call them dolls because some people wouldn't know what you were talking about if you used whatever other word they might be called. and calling them something else would again, not make them something besides dolls. So no, I personally do not think that calling BJDs by another name would make them easier to talk about. I think that it would just confuse people more and make it seem like we had something to hide/be ashamed of in seemingly trying to obfuscate (good word, that) what we were actually talking about.

 

I think it could be easier, only if everyone knew and understood the term to be something a little bit more extravagent than what most people would consider a 'doll' to be. Otherwise you'd end up having to explain it any way and the word doll would most-likely pop up in the explanation process.

I like art doll or asian art doll or even asian ball jointed doll but either way I will only explain them to someone who is interested. Everyone can turn their noses up if they want but my dolls will stay and I'll still love them.

My boyfriend annoyingly calls them Dollfies when we're out and about and refers to them as 'my dollfies' which embarasses me a little as I always think it's a word that people would remember and may even look up if it struck their attention. Not that that's a bad thing I suppose as maybe then they'd realise how special they are.

Like it or not though my family and occassionally my boyfriend will all agree that they are a waste of money. But ofcourse we all know they are not at all!

 

About the "feminine" thing, for my part, I'm sorry if I sounded stupid. I am a feminist. Just I identify as an androgyne rather than a woman, and I don't love pink princess dresses, which are usually associated with the word "doll". Personally I think of them as something cool and artistic, and don't like the ideas people get from the word if they haven't seen my dolls. =u=;

 

Whoa...ok who said i dont freaking LOVE my boys? Yes its a little awkward sayng doll, but really, i wouldn't give them up just because of other people. I dont care....i really do not give a flying squirrel what people think. I stopped that loooooong ago and now im almost loud with my personality (view profile for a vague hint). I mean, who hasn't walked around with a bjd halfway sticking out of their backpack and creep someone out who was in the general direction your dolly was staring? I mean these things are awesome! Yes its kinda girlie calling them dolls, but screw it! Their my dolls! I juss say boys most the time just to even it out though. =P

 

racoondevil; there's nowhere in this thread where someone said you must not love your dolls, or anything similar, just that it's a damn shame that you are afraid of calling a spade a spade a doll a doll for fear of emasculating yourself.

OT, but as far as I know, women find men much more attractive if the men are comfortable with their masculinity. I know which one I'd pick if one guy was afraid of being called 'feminine/weak' and the other who says "So what if you think that?".

As I said, many people call a spade a spade, so whatever we call them, they'll just call them dolls. So if you can't beat them, join them! Call them spades dolls and be done with it. Besides, calling dolls by another name to fit in with non-doll people? Why should we? Why can't they call them dolls to fit in with us?

 

I like the word " doll " or if I'm talking about Volks I say Dollfie but for the most part I just say doll. I almost never say BJD or ABJD

 

Personally, yes, I do think it'd be easier.
When I was saving up for my first (and currently only X3) BJD, and people asked what it was that I was saving for, I'd tell them, of course. Shyly, because I knew what they'd think. And of course, without fail, every time, the person I was speaking too would say "A doll??" And then start laughing. Partly because it's a doll, and partly because it doesn't seem to fit into my personality, haha. I love to talk about my doll but I don't really except for with a few close friends. I can't even really talk about her in front of my own parents without getting poked fun at. Maybe it's just because I'm a teenager and dolls shouldn't be considered cool, but if they did have an alternative name, it would be easier XD However, once I get a chance to show them pictures and really /explain/ what they are, they seem to be alright with it, for the moment.