"Its a doll, its not a real person."

Exactly. I wasn't talking about the people making a few "Vyncente is so mad in this picture lol" type comments or doing some doll based RP somewhere. Reading through all the "is your doll alive" and "does your doll have a soul" threads, you realize that a lot of people do actually believe that their doll is alive in some way. Some had envisioned it as simply an energy that comes to be part of the doll due to the owner's care for it, but many others believed their doll had a consciousness, thoughts, personality, etc...and as I said before, this unnerves me.

 

This. I absolutely never talk about bjds around my friends unless it's something like "hey, there was this person that had a Kenshin BJD." My friends just don't like them, and I'm already enough of a nutjob without them adding "crazy doll girl" to it. When I go home I indulge myself a little by talking about them to my mum that way- she understands that I know they're just dolls, and she's even found herself talking to them on occasion, so it's okay. But that's it. If someone isn't really into dolls, they're not going to get it- period, end of statement. We all have real lives to live outside of this hobby.

 

I would find that very interesting, personally. (and I liked your whole post- just cut it down a bit for ease of reposting! )

Personally I am fully open to the idea that objects can contain energy and even be sentient.... but I just can't beleive in it unless I see it for myself.

Same with ghosts, and most supernatural phenomena- I really want to beleive in it, but unless I can experience it for myself I just can't commit to the idea. To this end, I spend a lot of my free time making EVP recordings in the hope of picking something up..... but so far? Nothing.

 

This happened to me just the other night. I said something like "She's cute, I like her." And my friend said "It's just a creepy doll." I was surprised by how it upset me. I responded by saying

"Hey, hey! She didn't insult you, don't insult her." xD He got more creeped out. I take what people say with a grain of salt, I knew people were going to react this way. So I try not to let it bother me.

 

I find it a bit irksome that people would have this attitude towards doll hobbyists. Most BJD fans do understand the viewpoint where non-hobbyists are coming from. Non-hobbyists should try to be as equally understanding of the fans' appreciation. This doesn't mean one has to like dolls if he or she doesn't like it, but he or she should at least exercise some common human consideration and be polite about it. Shooting down the views of others coldly is just rude.

Talking to a doll as though it was human shouldn't be considered odd or weird at all. It's not as though most BJD hobbyists actually believe the doll is a real person. who will talk back or be guaranteed to react in a human manner. People "talk" to their cell phones and computers almost all the time! Granted, it is usually 4-letter words or pleas to function correctly, but I think the average person talks to inanimate objects a lot more often than they think. Computers aren't that difficult to talk to in my opinion because they "act" like people (they have good days and bad days, some days they won't stop sleeping, they get viruses, some days they function smoothly....). On the same level, dolls aren't that difficult to talk to because they have a humanoid shape, which is a saying a lot more than a giant chunk of technology (though I do love my hulking computer to death).

 

"It's a doll, it's not a real person." --is true. Although owners can view their dolls as having a personality and being as real as any human, I'm sure...

SO... If the friend is saying something just to be mean and demeaning... that's not being a good friend. If they are saying something they think is true, and are worried about you getting all carried away over a doll... that's not being a bad friend, even if it hurts your feelings. Sometimes you have to understand that even friends won't agree on EVERYTHING (although that would be nice in a perfect world, right?). You wish to be understood as someone who has dolls with their own personalities. Your friend may wish to be understood as someone who isn't that into treating inanimate objects as living things. If you are good friends, then you'll both try to accommodate each other.

Personally, I don't treat mine as real people. They are dolls. I love them, but they are dolls. But to each his own, right? People should be allowed to interact with their dolls as they wish. But they should also understand that not everyone thinks exactly the way they do!

 

Personally, I don't care if people think I'm crazy. All my life people think I'm insane just because my B-day is on Halloween, go figure *eye roll*. But I do see my dolls as living with their own personalities. I treat them as people, make sure they get equal attention, that their needs are taken care of, whether it be eyes, wigs, clothing, or whatever else.

They each have stories and personalities and I feel I have given a piece of my spirit, my soul, to these dolls and therefore, have given them life and so I would never just treat them as a hunk of resin. Occasionally I'll say something to them if I'm having a bad day, or just randomly like, "Leiden.. What am I going to do?" Not that I expect a responce.

My best friend who doesn't collect dolls, she feels mostly the same way. She thinks that each of my dolls has a personality but she doesn't think they are "alive" in sorts, like I do. But that's okay, she excepts me how I am, and she excepts my dolls. They've been caught being expressive even by not just me. Like looking pouty because a photostory got cut short. Or Ko never sitting normally since I took HER Leiden apart to give him a nice scrub down. My bestie noted this without me even telling her anything about them being bratty lately.

But, hey, perhaps the bestie and I are both simultaneously imagining things.

I also have another close friend who has one doll and doesn't think anything of her doll but just that. She's just a pretty dolly.

Either way, I believe my dolls have their own life essences and I don't think anything could change my mind. People calling me crazy will NEVER have an effect on me because that's just how I am.

But I do respect others opinions that they think they are just dolls nothing more, nothing less, don't get me wrong.

 

I dont think the dolls mind to have their head opened and eyes removed.
BUT i do think they dont like when ppl takes their pants off to see their privates xD

 

I treat my Lucien like a real person, i don't care if other people think i'm crazy. O:

 

I love my dolls. I've had dolls all my life. But they are just that, Dolls. It doesn't make me upset of mad or angry if someone says that they're ugly, or creepy or that my hobbies are silly. I'm used to people ridiculing me for my likes and dislikes, so whatever they say these days never tends to bother me. If you get upset, sad, annoyed or whatever for people saying that "its just a doll", Take a second to reflect on yourself. Its not the end of the world

 

I seem to always refer to things as if they were real people, and my dolls just look so much like the real thing, I sometimes pretend they are. But the key word there is pretend - I am very well aware that they are just dolls and do not and WILL not ever talk back to me. I always refer to them as "him" and "her" when I talk about them because they're not just "it" to me. I agree that non-doll collecting people don't quite understand, which is fine; I don't bring it up in conversation. Just like I don't wanna hear my dad talk about cars or my brother talk about video games. They get it and I don't.

 

I don't get how a person can actually be offended by being told this, esepically if its by someone who doesn't know much or anything about BJDs. I mean, really? You're suprised and offened that someone sees your doll as just a pretty piece of plastic and nothing more? It's just common sense.

 

I enjoy my dolls. I like to play with them, dress them up, change eyes & wigs, etc. But still, to me, they're just dolls. It's fun to play and see what kind of personalities come across when the details are changed, but I would never be offended or hurt by a comment from a friend (or even someone I didn't know) that the dolls are just that . . . .dolls.

 

Oh geez... Now I am starting to get nervous about this for myself.

I am waiting for my first BJD (just found out about them a couple months ago) and I wanted her to be "perfect", so I have been hunting and searching for the best head and body, etc.

When I first read about BJDs, I was a little overwhelmed with the "nerdiness" of it all, even though I have always really loved fashion dolls and secretly wished I "had the balls" to spend a lot of money on collecting them.

Anyway, spending so much time and money on this doll already has me feeling so connected to her!

What worries me is that when I was little, I used to feel so guilty about not spending enough time with my dolls and being "a bad mommy" so much that my mom had to actually try to get me to play with other toys. I was overly sensitive I guess!

I can totally see myself getting the same way about BJDs, although I would be way to embarrassed to admit it to any of my "normal" friends.

Of course I can always use the excuse that my ovaries are pinging, since I am almost 32...

Anyway, I like the idea of of having a doll to care about. I am leaving for the Navy soon, and won't be able to have my doggie with me, so at least I will get to have my dollie!

 

(MY english is quite bad, but I'll give a try to write what I want to say..)
I know that dolls doesn't have insides and veins pumping blood around in their bodies, and if that is the only opportunity for something to be alive - then I just can't agree on that. Because I know my doll has a soul and big heart - maybe not a fysical one but still, she has one. I've had so many so called "friends", and almost everyone of them ended up backstabbing me one way or another, or using me because I'm too kind. I have never felt such a true friendship as when I got my doll, because she just.. She understands me in all ways. And she's always there for me and doesn't get mad at me if I would have a bad day. If I would be sad and low with my former "human-friends" then the only thing they would say would be "ffs stop being so cranky, bitch!"
I have one true human friend (except my family) but she lives so far away.

Those people that are dear to me, such as my boyfriend, mother and siblings etc.. They all see my doll as more than just a doll, and they know she means so much to me. And they all use to talk with my doll as well and I'm so happy because of that. I think they realize how much she means to me, and how much it means to me that they accept her as a familymember.

 

All that matters is how you feel and think about them and nertz to anybody else I have entire conversation wil my dolls and I just know when my two SDs get here (if they ever do ) that they'll fit in very nicely and be part of my slightly weird little family

 

My dolls are based on the characters that live in my head and I talk about them as if they are real people XD Of course it all depends on the person I am with but my friends get it. If not... I think I am lucky enough to not have anyone who would tell me that it was just a doll if I thought otherwise.

 

Pretty much this.

I refer to Damien using personal pronouns (her, she, etc), but I don't really see her as a real person. She is just a doll. She's based on an original character of mine who is near and dear to my heart, but even so I still don't look at her as a living being. I take her apart, restring her, leave her sitting around naked or in pieces for days, without giving thought to whether she "likes it" or not.

She's been given a corporeal form by a well-formed chunk of resin. That is all.

If your friend is NOT a BJD person, I think it's both unfair and actually really rude to be offended by him saying this to you. It's his opinion which, by the way, he's actually rightfully entitled to, especially if he knows little or nothing about this hobby, which the reader is to assume he doesn't.

My best friend (thank the powers) is also a BJD fan like myself, and we both fawn over our dolls, but we certainly don't behave towards them as if they were real people; we save those affections for just that: real people.

This is a topic that can easily get inflammatory, and I'm well aware that my language may come across as hostile, so please understand this is merely my person opinion on the matter and that everyone is entitled to their own personal opinions and beliefs.

 

Meh.

It's a real person if I say so.

Actually, it's a real person in terms of the shorthand / common language conventions used in parts of this hobby. I know there are some people who believe the dolls to be "alive" but really, that's a pretty small contingent. The rest of us are just avoiding the mind-numbing disclaimer process every time we enter into something that is, after all, meant to be fun.

Do you ("you" here being a big generic term, not referring to anyone in particular) have specialized language in your work or school, or among your friends? Slang or jargon that gets used as a shortcut for what otherwise might take a huge long spew of words to express? That's what "he likes this wig," "she would never be caught dead in that," does here for many of us.

If I was reading Stella Maris' comment back a few correctly (and I don't, always), that's what she was getting at in part of it -- just RELAX about the issue. Don't call the doll alive if you don't think it's alive. Nobody will mind. But don't, by the same token, feel compelled to point out that the doll isn't alive to people who are just trying to have fun. They've probably heard that tale before, several times even, and really are not going to be pleasantly surprised to hear it yet again.

Oh and also don't be surprised if people outside the hobby look at you funny if you say she is alive. They don't have the same specialized shorthand we do. It would be unreasonable to expect them to "get it."