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

I sometimes call them resinoids, not for any shame or fear reasons, but more because "doll" makes me think of mass-produced plastic tripe. Plus it sounds like "graboid" and is therefore awesome.

 

Really?

No. Really??

We're trying to PC-speak dolls now???

Because that's what they are. They're not "customizable art figurines". They're not "resin mannequins". They're not "articulated hominid simulacrums". They. Are. DOLLS. They're bits of synthetic resin strung and/or hinged together to approximate a human figure. If other people don't "get" your interest, then prettifying it up with a more technical-sounding term isn't going to make them more receptive.

That having been said, I refer to Chae-ri as a "customized Asian artist doll" when people ask about her, which helps to differentiate her from the norm. (Hey, she comes from China, she's a doll, and I'm the artist who customized her. It counts.) People are genuinely interested in hearing about how I painted her face, installed her eyes, styled her wigs, made her clothes, etc. I'm not ashamed of my dolls, and if people have a problem with me owning, collecting, customizing and generally loving the hell out of my dolls, fsck 'em. One of my favorite comics, Jeff Dunham, refers to his ventriloquist puppets as "dolls". If he's cool with it, I can be, too.

I tend to steer away from the term "BJD" because, well, BJ in my crowd doesn't mean "ball-jointed". Just sayin.

 

The word 'doll' sis sometimes taboo, though- like with boys saying "they're not dolls, they're action figures!", even adults playing with dolls is kind of 'off' to most people because they're always associated the word 'doll' with 'child, childlike' and sometimes even 'immature'.

That I agree with- the first time my mom heard me say "I want a BJD so bad" she nearly fell over.

 

When someone asks or talks about them to me, I just tell them that it is a BJD. I leave it at that really: my boy is a BJD, which is expensive. That's what I say first so like....people don't try to touch him or anything because they wouldn't want to pay if they were to damage him *laughs*. I see that already as a sort of a name, honestly. If there was a different term, I'd just say the same thing except with the different term. It wouldn't really change much. The term doll would probably be continued to be used to describe them anyway. I mean....BJD.....ball jointed doll...mhm...

I really don't see anything wrong with just saying BJD though.

 

...I totally want to do that as an action photostory now - Sumner and Lief rolling about in the mud like the filthy slobs they are... getting all muddy and gross and then not being let back into the house by an irate and disgusted Cain....

THAT WOULD BE SO MUCH FUN!! -plans-

Also, though, I have some scale play arts which are sold as action figures. THESE are my cabinet babies that I don't want to get dirty or ruined. BJDs are much easier to clean than PVC figures, take it from me.

People play with their dolls in different ways, you might have gotten angry at your nephew, I probably would have been in there playing with him. (Also keeping an eye on the level of 'action' that was going on, because as much as I joke about rough-handling, I'm quite a lot more gentle with the dolls than I seem.)

Anyway, I seem to have detracted severely from my point.

Action figure, doll, BJD, figure, statue. These are all LABELS that humans assign so that other humans can contextually understand what you're talking about. As they are contextual, they all do suffer the pitfalls of association. What should be important is not what label the thing has, but what the thing means to you.

Suffer the fools who do not understand - they will always exist. Embrace the people who do understand, because they are valuable and are worth your time. But always, always remember that labels don't matter. What matters is only the thing at the heart of it all.

(...Wow. That was really, strangely, poetic.)

 

I beleive that to the outside world, if we find a more suiting name besides 'doll' it would be treated in the same manner as those who collect actionfigures. People who are not interested will always call them dolls and not see the point in collecting them.

One should never feel bad for collecting BJDs. Just like one shouldn't feel bad for liking pickles. Everyone has different tastes and there will always be someone out there who will disagree with you.

 

The Japanese word for doll is 'ningyou' which translates to 'human shape', as does 'hominid simulacrum'. So, uh, yeah, they are.

 

If they weren't called dolls? Totally.

I'm tempted to srart calling them customzable figurines, like anime figurines. xD

 

I know what you mean. The ones who ask are wanting a quick 'name' of the doll or company I figure. So, I usually say, "he's a BJD ~ an Asian Art Doll." Or I say "SuperDolfie" if it's my Volks dolls. (much easier to say and if they want more info, I elaborate).

 

Or, if you are a woman aged 30 or over, it's often associated with the opposite-- "pathetic old barren spinster".

And, so effing what? Are you just going to stand there and let others dictate what the word "doll" means? Are you going to cringe and cower and apologize, and make up ridiculous new buzzwords that only make you sound more like you have something to hide? "Doll" is the correct word for the object. Take it back!!

 

For some reason, I just imagined Bridget Jones as a doll collector. >_> (Although, awesome mental image.)

I think a lot of this 'taboo' is coming from people who haven't yet managed to accept themselves that they collect dolls. There are quite a few younglings on the forums, and in the teenage years especially, one does their best to try and fit in. And dolls are something that you're supposed to give up in your childhood.

I think it's only once people reach a certain age, and even then only if they're mature enough, that they can look at themselves and think "Screw what everyone else thinks, I'm me. I collect dolls. I like them." Once someone reaches that point, however, it's quite liberating.

 

BJDs do not make me think of BJs, just as DVDs don't make me think of VDs . . .

I spend as little time as possible talking to non-doll folks about dolls. I like to keep my weird non-mainstream hobbies to myself. I didn't like the word "doll" at first partly because I was technically collecting super dolfies (doll-figures) and am pedantic, obviously , but mainly because I'm not always comfortable dealing with things that are too stereotypically feminine. "Doll" also conjures the wrong image in the mind of those outside the hobby. But any other term used is also going to conjure up the wrong images anyways, so might as well just stick to doll.

And to heck with it. I like other things pathetic old barren spinsters do, like animals and hot younger guys, so hey, dolls, come on in~

 

It probably will help because whenever I mention BJDs as ball-jointed dolls, my friends go,"Dolls...? Why do you want them for?!" So it is like most of them have a set defination of "dolls" and think BJDs are meant for children. It makes it real hard to explain because if you say articulated, they think of Barbies for some queer reason. I mean like Timid stated, BJD isn't a mainstream hobby so most people can't understand your passion for it and it really is hard to explain. When you mention it they either think you are childish or a weirdo. But doll is really an easier term to use for BJD collectors.
My friend assumed I want to buy a BJD is because I am a control freak and since I can't manipulate people, I manipulate dolls, though she said so light-heartedly.

 

I totally own "really expensive dollies", just like I own "pathetic old barren spinster"... cuz if they are bothered by my weirdness, then hopefully they will stay. away. from. me.

I wear it proudly like a scarlet "A" embroidered by that Kamikaze lolita girl.

But far be it from me to rank on someone else's need for relabeling, not everyone lives in the 'to each her own', free styling world in which I have the privilege of being.

 

Spinsta powa!

 

Exactly what I was gonna say hahah..large scale anime figures...yeahhh >_>

 

I call them my characters, because 'doll' is used as very rude slang around here... So I just call them by name to people that know them, and my characters to anyone else. If people ask after more, I tell them that they are ball-jointed-dolls, and what I've done to them/who made.

 

I call them dolls, dollies, dorries, resin babies whatever mood I'm in I don't care what other people think about the the fact I spend a fortune on dolls they can accept it or not that's there problem not mine I find most people accept it and either don't mention them or some ask questions and I answer honestly I personly am past caring what others think of me but at the same time can understand why some people may not want them to be refered to as merely dolls as they are so much more to the people who understand them x

 

When people don't understand what I'm talking about I simply describe it as an overprice action figure thats better made and on a bigger scale. While I don't think dolls cost alot my friends do, so I joke about it. I've always been known as a strange girl with strange hobbies so I don't mind talking about it to people who aren't in the doll world. Believe me, some of the people I know do stranger things that I.

 

Actually, there was a brilliant quote in the Ginger Meggs comic this morning in the paper. It was "Just because you call it a hobby, doesn't mean it's not strange." I think this pretty much sums up my feeling of dolls in general - it's a hobby, but other people will still find it strange, no matter what you call it. It doesn't matter what they think, though, because you enjoy it.

Embrace the strangeness. Call your dolls 'dolls.'