Is your doll habit a dirty little secret?

At first it was a 'Dirty little secret'. Then one day i bought an Iplehouse Luna. I thought it would be my secret forever, but like all secrets they have a tendency to come out rather quickly. But everyone knows what an eccentric I am, so no one really made a big deal about it. I just wish I knew more people closer to my proximity that I could share my hobby with. It gets kind of lonely when no one shares your enthusiasm especially when its with something you love.

 

Like with most people, my dolls aren't a secret but I don't go around in public showing them off. I mean, I'm an adult, with adult relationships, responsibilities, and a career. I wouldn't want strangers or my boss (or potential bosses) to judge me. And come on, no one can kid themselves, dolls aren't a socially acceptable thing to be interested in. And while I understand the usual "don't judge people" or "don't worry about what other people think" but in the real world, you have to because other people will whether or not you do.

 

I wouldn't go so far to say "dirty little secret" but I am guarded about who I talk dolls to. If someone happens to come over they can see my dolls as a work of art without me having to explain myself, but most people won't get it in general conversation.

 

Answer to the question: Yes.

At least as far as the general public and my colleagues are concerned. I have considered telling two of my co-workers, who I really like, about my hobby, but I think I won't, telling people personal stuff about me has often come to bite me in the a** in the past, even when I considered them "friends".
If they ever came over to my place I'd definitely hide my dolls ^^"

My mother, my mother's neighbour and three girls I know from school/university/internet know about it. The neighbour knowing now isn't making me feel comfortable at the moment, because she is ignoring us now... Judging by what I have heard about her, she will tell the "dirty secrets" to anyone to undermine her bad opinion about my mother (and me?). I'm glad I now live 500 km away from them.
The three girls who know about it... well, I never actually "talk" about it with them, I hardly see them in RL anymore anyway, living all over Europe as is...

At the moment I live in a small town, I'm really afraid to go out with my dolls, because there is always the chance I could meet colleagues or students who I teach... My profession is considered "distinguished", I'm not sure how anybody would react about me collecting dolls... Yes, I'm a coward ^^"
I'd like to go back to the city I lived in when I went to University, the surrounding landscape was really beautiful and there were enough remote locations to take pictures outside...

I want to take my dolls outside here one day, but I'm not ready yet.

 

My dolls rarely leave the house, mostly for fear of damage, but I do show off pictures of them to my co-workers as revenge for them shoving pics of their kids in my face. I found it very upsetting when a coworker referred to my dolls as my "kids," though, since I don't consider them such and I hate kids (except on Halloween). I know others think of their dolls as their children, but to me they're unemployed roommates.

 

Sadly, yes, it is. I only take my doll out if no one else is home or if I have my bedroom door locked. My parents would freak out if they knew I had purchased a BJD simply because, being naive, I showed my mother the exact doll I was saving up for and she put me down and told me I couldn't have him, despite me using the money i had earned. 2 of my sisters know only because of the big box I had to lug back to my room. My only BJD and a non BJD friend know because they were over at my house for the box opening. No one else knows about my hobby, though.

 

Well maybe a little. No one in my family knows about them. They are all too traditional and totaly would not understand why a man is collecting dolls. They wouldnt try to either. They would assume there is something wrong with me and possibly make me seek help. So I'll be keeping it from them as long as I can.

I have told some friends which include some people I work with. They have all been pretty accepting of it and if they think I'm nuts then they atleast keep it to themselves.
I had an interview the other day and was asked what my hobbies are. I definitely left out my bjd hobby. Telling a female noncollector would have surely set off her creepy-meter lol.

I would never bring my girls out to a meet in a public place. 1 I wouldnt want the risk of breaking them 2 I'm a grown man who will not be carrying "toys" around in public. I do collect toys and dolls but collecting and toting them around are 2 different things 3 dont feel like geting all the weird stares and comments. I did take one of my girls to a meetup at an anime con but to me that is different. She was in a bag til I got to the meetup and went back in the bag when it was over.

 

When I was in high school I took my doll there sometimes.. I'm not ashamed or scared about people knowing about my hobby, but neither do I advertise it either... I guess my close(er) friends know about it. I don't take them out very often just because I'm afraid of damage or possible yellowing. ^^

 

My doll collecting is not a secret BUT..... I do have 4 different places I ship my dolls to cuz i dont like explaining "omg another doll"!!! and sneak them in.....

 

The only thing that I keep secret about it, is how much I spend...haha. Other than that, everyone knows about my dolls.

 

People in my city are interested in bjd. I like to show my dolls, it always brings a positive emotions.

 

Honestly, yes. I would love to be that person who takes them everywhere with no shame, but I'm not. My fiancee didn't even know I was getting into them til he started seeing the packages of doll clothing I bought ahead of time, and even then I didn't give him a straight answer, until Jack came home. Then I started explaining how they're representations of my characters (those he knows about) and how I wanted to enlist his photographer prowess for more professional looking shoots and he agreed to it, but he did mention it being a little creepy at one point. Him, as well as another friend (who isn't judgmental, bless) are the only people who know I'm back into the hobby.

There's a bjd expo relatively near me that I want to attend, but even then, I still don't want to take my dolls there. ;( It's just a hobby I want to enjoy from home I suppose! Though I wouldn't be opposed to a close knit doll meet or something like that.

 

HAHAHA AGREE! Me too. I love my dolls. Always taking photos uploading onto facebook, instagram etc. Definitely not a secret fot me. Also since I do carry out my dolls sometimes for meet or just to bring it to a place (without a carrier actually...). People do stare (for being weird but mostly out or curiosity from the way I see) but I don't really care. When I was travelling in London, I brought my doll to London Bridge for a photo without a carrier. And well, as expected people do give looks but I had some positive reactions from those stangers when taking the photos. LOL Well, actually I brought him via hand carry to London so when I was at the airport, the custom joked and asked for his passport... it was kind of nice though.

 

My family and close friends know about my dolls, but the friends that I'm not as close to, my coworkers, etc don't know about my dolls. I'm not ashamed, they just aren't something that I show off or bring up to people that I don't know well. If it came up in conversation, I'd be glad to tell people about them. If not, I'm fine keeping my girls all to myself.

 

Very few people in my life know about my doll. At first I felt a little silly/ embarrassed for even wanting to purchase my doll. But as my family started to find out, they teased me a little bit - but then quickly got over it. A friend of mine supported me, because his Aunty actually collects Bjd dolls too! And so that helped me to get over the 'I am too old for dolls' mentality. I take pride in my doll, and how much effort/money I have invested into this hobby. (:

 

My family and friends know that I have dolls but the only time they are taken out in public is when meeting up with other doll friends. However, for the past couple of years I've had to keep secret from my closest local doll friend any new purchases, let alone show them or mention sales of dolls/their things to her. She is no longer buying any dolls, etc. due to financial difficulties. It's been an ongoing thing and I do feel bad for her, helped where I can but there is only so much I can do as I have other obligations as well. It's not like me to keep secrets other than say birthday/holiday gifts so this has become quite wearing.

 

Almost no one knows about my dolls (I also don't know many people who would be into them or dolls in general). I am shy and have to admit I am afraid of how people will react if they knew. I fear I'll be branded as weird and and be less respected. It sucks, I know... Collecting dolls is pretty harmless in my opinion, nobody would find weird if I was collecting stamps or paintings. But mention that you like dolls and everybody thinks you are some weird adult who forgot to grow up.

 

my doll is not a secret at all, i don't care what others think aboutmy doll hobby. if they think its weird or that im too old for dolls, it doesnt matter, because i don't care! im happy still playing with dolls and as long as i love them, i will continue to buy more and more for them!

 

Sadly yes. Even though you shouldn't care what other people think about you, I haven't made it to that point yet and keep my doll hobby a secret.

 

Not really. Like all of my hobbies, I enjoy discussing them with other enthusiasts or my husband (because who cares if he's interested or not? that ring means he's OBLIGATED to listen!). They're much less likely to come up in other situations because neither the other person nor I would enjoy discussing something we're not both interested in. Same reason I wouldn't randomly start shoving photos of my son in the face of someone who doesn't give a damn about kids. (By the way, can we start a petition to get more parents to pay attention to their audience's interest? Christ.)

I'm far more embarrassed of my sci-fi writing than my doll, come to think of it. If people scoff at my doll, they're idiots, because my doll is a lovely work of art. If people scoff at my writing, maybe it's really really bad, and therein lies the embarrassment.