Making Boy Dolls....Boys! [~Small Edit~]

Wing is often getting called a girl. I have even had people argue with me about it until I get tired of it and show off the completely unmistakable part of him. then I get looked at like some kind of freak while Wing sits back with a kind of told you so smirk on his lil face. Personally I don't get insulted about much of anything, been called too many names in my lifetime to really care about what others think. I love Wing the way he is and his being called a girl is just something we have to deal with. I guess that's just part of enjoying something that isn't mainstream and common. We are different and we revel in our differences.

to answer your question. the sculpt would work either way. He looks like he is very young though.

 

Pretty much all boy dolls, unless they're a beefcake or a bearded man, is going to be considered a girl to outsiders and even some other doll collectors. It isn't new, and it isn't a big deal. It's just the way that the aesthetics of the dolls are; big eyes, immaculate skin, and long hair are traditionally found on girl dolls.

 

Hehe, I'll tell you what my ladycousin did when she met Fable: She took his pants off. Yes. Nice to meet you too. >_>
Fable is 12 years old :3

 

LOL! I occiasionally meet people who mistake Shinta for a girl. I suppose it's the combination of his sweet face and long hair.
A couple of weeks ago, an actor from Star Trek was at a convention in Nieuwegein (NL) and when we did the photoshoot he commented on "her" and I said:"Actually, it is a he and he can prove it." That was kind of hilarious

 

With the possible exception of Ark, or one of the other more sharp faces dressed very masculinely, pretty much ALL boy dolls are going to look like girls to anyone who is not very familiar with BJD's. That's just how it is. Being familiar with sculpts and dolls, I tend to assume that if it's a generic or usually "boy" sculpt over Yo size and does not have obvious boobs it's probably a boy, and if it's a normally "girl" sculpt that has no boobs and is not wearing a dress it's probably also a boy; but even that's not foolproof.

Most people think doll=girl. Delicate features and hands=girl. Long hair=girl. My sister thinks all mine are girls. As a BJD collector I don't think any of my boys look girly (possible exception of Devon with his lipstick), they don't dress girly, but yeah they have pretty faces so most people will think they are girls.

 

I can tell your doll is indeed male. But I do think he is a very cute boy, however because he is meant to be young I think it's fine.

But as AmyAngel mentioned doll anything tends to equal girl. My boy is a DOC Kirill, he has never worn a skirt or girly clothing, his hair isn't long but the first thing people tend to say about him, if they don't think he's creepy is 'She's pretty!' So I do think it's just the first thought people have when thinking of dolls.

Also, it doesn't bother me when my boy is called a girl. I just laugh and correct them.

 

Oh I know what you mean, my Juri looks like a girl too.. Even despite the wrinkles on the forehead I tried to face-up for him.. XD It must be the hair. If a doll has a long hair -> people'll think it's a girl.
Same goes for your boy too unfortunately. He's a darling one thou!

 

with the smaller than SD sizes it can get tricky, since you want clearly check for breasts or rather delicate hands. From my experience though, even in larger sizes...when it comes to non BJD people it doesn't seem to matter, most of the time people say girl. I guess poor Ken and Allan have been forgotten in everyone's mind, and all dolls are girls, apparently.
I've had my dollshes called girls, I even had one person at a recent doll show in my city call my EID Evan a girl, I've had my boys decked out like punk boys in baggy pants, hoodies and do rags and people called them girls.

Non BJD people seem to never really -look-, they just glance and take note of "common" gender traits.
Within the community I've noticed people are pretty open minded, in fact I've often seen people lean towards calling most dolls boys, regardless of what they're wearing. In my city especially there's many more boys than girls. Generally confusion might come from not being familiar with what molds are out there, like as in they aren't aware that the company they are from sells them as a boy or as a girl standard.

Definitely it gets annoying if you hear it several times a day, and it gets hard not to get ruder and ruder with my replies with each person as the day goes by, gotta remember to keep that in check. The simple points that your boy has a long hair style, soft look, and wears adornments, often everyday janes and joes will think girl. I think your boy looks like how boys in fantasy themed things look. He is kinda a pretty boy by today's standards, but his face up doesn't scream girl to me.
If he's supposed to be handsome or pretty and everyday people say so, use your judgement to decide if it's worth your time to argue with that particular person. A gender specific compliment towards a doll can quickly change to a "ew, that's weird, weirdo, what's wrong with you?" if you correct some people, and then everything just gets awkward, when it could have just been a happy compliment a few moments earlier.

 

I think most male sculpts have a pretty feminine look to them. Its the facial shape, and eye shape, and the dainty noses. And most male sculpts do make good girls. I have a doll, an afra, that looks like a male, mostly because he has some characteristics in the sculpt that are masculine. He has a more pronounced nose, he has an arch at the bridge of his nose, and his lips are more male, rather then female. But he still has the smooth face shape. But people can tell he is a boy.

I think most non-BJD people when they think of dolls, they think barbie, baby dolls, or procilien dolls, most of which are all girls. So people associate dolls being female, because they are played with by little girls. There are only a few boy dolls out there. So to them its just natural to jump to the conclusion that dolls are female.

Everyone in the hobby gets the "oh she is so pretty!" remark when the doll is a boy. So it isnt just you, and I think this topic has been brought up quite a bit, since it is so common.

 

So true about the doll=girl. Maybe a bit surpricing, but my Ark got mistaken for a girl twice XD

 

Exactly. If a doll has a pretty face and rosy cheeks even if they have short hair, most people will think is a girl just because, like I said before, they're "pretty". Boys are not supposed to be beautiful according to society and those boys with delicate traits are called "girly/feminine" boys, a term I highly dislike

All my boys are beautiful but they're not girly in any aspect nor they are gay. A friend of mine once asked me why i like to collect gay dolls, that took me really by surprise so I answered her question with another question "why do you think that?" and guess what she said...because they're too pretty to be straight LOL ignorance is bliss!

And this not only happens with dolls, also in real life! like this guy who is often mistaken as a girl for his beautiful face until they see his chest we also have to remember that most boys of 14 and under are pretty androgynous because they haven't hit puberty yet.

 

I sometimes pretend that Nagi is a girl just to get people to leave me alone. He also has many dresses in his wardrobe so I can't blame people for thinking he is one. My family is under the impression that he is a girl. Every once in a while I'll run into someone who is extremely perceptive and will notice that his body isn't girly at all.


I made my boy a Trap on purpose. XP

 

I feel like most male dolls look very feminine to begin with. Your average person isn't the most perceptive so it's easy for them to mistake the doll as a girl. I find that people who're exposed to animes and similar things tend to be more perceptive since they're use to the whole gender bending thing.

 

This...
No matter *what* your doll looks like, people are likely to call it a girl, simply because it isn't a Ken or a GI Joe (The only male dolls that most people are familiar with-).

I've had people absolutely INSIST that Hideo (my Volks Amakusa-) was a girl... In spite of him not being a particularly fem sculpt, typically dressed in a suit and a tie and having a face-up with very heavy, very male eyebrows and minimal color. I even keep his hair tied back most of the time. It looks like he has short hair from the front.

He still gets called a "pretty girl" every time I have him out.

You just sort-of have to get used to it. Take the compliment in the spirit it was given, and let it go.

 

I showed my roommates the doll I'm getting (CH Junior Ai Marco) and first came the, "It's emo" (which was followed by me googling "emo bjd" to show her that, in fact, Marco was not, which she stilled said he was). Then, came the argument on whether he was a girl or not.

My friend is getting a femme looking doll so that she cross dress him since people will think it's a girl anyway.

And it's not the worst thing a boy can get called. I think I would rather him be mistaken as a cute/pretty girl than a very ugly/masculine girl.

 

I did did not want Meredith to look too girly at the beginning... But Everything I do to him seemsa to make him even more girly!! His name his, his face, and while he does not have any breast, he he still called by most a girl =P

At the beginning I told them he his a guy... but now I dont care anymore because he became like that.... Its his character and I cant really do anything about it =P

But hey... I saw a lot of girls/boys that looked like pretty boys/girls, so I dont really care if it changes anything if its a doll....

 

I've never taken my boy doll, a Soom Lazule, out in public. He's never been farther than my back yard. This thread makes me wonder how people would percieve him. The non-BJD people I keep in touch with online seem to be pretty aware Xavier's definitely a guy, but I wonder how complete strangers would react.

 

ixupi>> I would say your boy looks girly to me. It's the long hair and that little hair ornament thing.

I, on the other hand, have one boy who's supposed to be a trap. Most people still end up calling him a 'he' in spite of the dresses and the long hair. :\ What am I doing wrong here? XD But of course, I'm talking about doll people. I'm pretty sure most non-hobby people would think it's a girl...

 

If you dress your dolly in long wigs and jewelry and ambiguously feminine clothing, do not be surprised when people think your doll is a girl.

Many boy dolls have typically more "feminine" features, and a lot of sculpts are unisex. I don't know how many times I've seen a girl doll released and all the people squeal, "Oooh, I want her as a boy!!" Right. Then do not be surprised when ...

Very few BJD boys actually look like 100% male type people. Lots are androgynous and most are just plain feminine. Them's the facts. Getting upset about it makes about as much sense as the moms who are HUFF HUFF OFFENNNNNDED!! when you call their fresh, lumpy spawn by the wrong pronoun. We live in a gender binary sorta society and people will choose whichever one registers in their brain. Sorry.

Yes, your boy could definitely be a girl.

 

You also have to understand that dolls are generally perceived as female by non-doll folk. I wouldn't be surprised if people say that my Akando looked like a girl because to alot of people dolls will always be girls to them.