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

Even as a BJD person, I didn't register that your doll was a boy at all. The jewelry, hair ornament, and long wispy hair along with those big eyes and pinky lips... Girl.

One of the first things I heard about my own boy doll, Zain, and RS Bao, was that he looked like a little girl. Rather than let it bother me, I just corrected them, "Oh, no, it's a little boy." "Oh... okay." and that was that. I've got him in little blue tennies, camo pants, and a yellow hoodie covered in devil smiley faces, but thanks to his fluffy hair, large eyes, and pronounced lips, certain people will always see him as female.

It's just knee-jerk. Like many have said above, dolls are usually female, and BJDs almost consistantly, male or female, have pretty faces, so seeing a doll with boyish style and features just screams tom-boyish girl instead of actual boy.

 

Mine, too. >.<

ixupi, your doll looks like a boy to me(girly, yes from the hair ornament and such, but still a boy), but I can see how it would be easy for non doll people to make the mistake of thinking he was a girl. That happens all the time, really, and I have to agree with what others are saying. To a lot of people, doll=girl no matter what it looks like, especially since the vast majority of male BJDs have fairly feminine/pretty faces. And if a boy has long hair, pssh...often the pants have to come down before people will believe he's a boy. A lot of it is clothing and faceups-boys in long hair and girly clothes with lots of makeup are going to be mistaken for girls-that's just the way it is. I can't understand people getting upset at having their extremely effeminate boys being mistaken for girls, because long hair+feminine face (which at least 90 percent of all male BJDs have)+feminine clothes does not usually equal anything but girl and it's stupid to go "OMG HE'S A BOYYY I'M SO INSULTED!" when people reach a logical conclusion based on visual clues given by the doll.

I don't get upset when people mistake my guys for girls-I dress some of them in corsets and short shorts or frilly shirts and waistcoats with long hair, so it's to be expected. I don't even always ccorrect them when they say, "Oh, she's so pretty!" because I know people can't always tell that my doll with hair down to his bum, frilly white shirt and eyeliner/lipstick/eyeshadow is a boy at first glance. Hell, at least one of my guys' styles is *supposed* to be androgynous-I like it when people can't tell, it means he's successfully pulling off that style.

 

Many, many of the "male" molds look quite feminine & yes, your boy does look rather girly. He could easily go either way. Lately though, there does seem to be a movement to more masculine molds.

Truthfully though, none of it bothers me. Since my boys are always dressed as males, though some sport quite long hair, I suppose most folks would recognise them as male or at least as a cross-dressing girl.

 

I think Bo, my Hound looks very masculine but my BF and some of the guys I play soccer with think he looks like a girl...or in my friend Rick's case, a glam rock star. Rick's a muscian for a living so I can see why he went there, I'm ok with that. Most BJD guys have a feminine look to them so I don't expect non-BJD collectors to see that Bo's a guy right away. Like others have said most people's experience with male figures are Kens, GI Joes and smaller action figures like the McFarlane and Star Wars figures that are more 'typically' male. And yes, your boy is rather feminine but I don't think it should bother you as long as you are happy with how he looks.

 

I think it takes a certain type of person to have that subconscious recognition of gender differences. Personally I like it when the lines are rather thin. There's rather firmly set gender stereotypes set in society, so usually even if it's as plain as day to someone who knows better, the majority of people, BJD enthusiasts or not, won't think twice about slapping a label on them.

But it's not just dolls. When visiting my son in the hospital, my boyfriend was mistaken as the mother. Another time he was mistaken as my sister, just because he has long blond hair.

 

Everyone in the hobby knows Elias is a boy, and for the most part, even though he has long hair, quite a few non-BJD people can pick out that Elias is a guy too.



He has more of a sly look rather than a big-eyed, soft feminine look. But there are always a few that say what a pretty girl he is, but I don't think he looks too feminine myself. I don't mind though!

 

True that. My boyfriend has long hair and sometimes waitresses say, "What can I get you ladies?"

I'm pretty sure all of my male dolls have been called female at one point or another; sometimes I correct them, and sometimes I don't. I love androgynous forms, on people, drawings, and dolls alike, but I get that most of the time my aesthetic for androgyny would fall on "men that look like girls" and "girls that look like men". It's no big deal if someone mistakes one for the other - usually, that's the part of the fun in being androgynous.

 

If you ask me they all look like girls, I have yet to see a truly masculine face on a bjd. But then, consider the source -- I come from a generation where dolls were girls, period. The concept of an "anatomically correct" boy doll didn't come along until much later, and then these were all babies. I'm really not into boy dolls, but if I were to consider one I'd want a truly masculine face, a square-jawed hunk! Interestingly, I've never seen a face-up on a mature male doll showing a few days' beard growth. That would put an end to any arguments right away!!

 

faelyn is always being called a girl. but he wears jeans and long sleeve shirts. he doesnt dress girly. its just his face. :3

 

My boy is mistaken for a girl all the time but not on the internet yet because I only just got him and not many people have seen him ... but yeah my family and friends allways comment on how pretty "she" is LOL

 

Never happened, but i had my perfectly girly doll mistaken for a boy. I think that, at one point, the character of the "girly boy" is so deep inside people's minds, it's safer to assume the doll is male instead, even if it looks totally like a girl. I've even fell in love for certain molds that looked just like cute girls and be horribly dissappointed later finding out they were male. But i totally understeand why people find this kind of character attractive.

 

Personally, I think a lot of the male BJD's look very feminine. It's what makes them so pretty.

I have actually had Marcus called a girl...even when his name is Marcus...which is obviously male. I think most of these comments come from people who aren't really involved in BJD's, and mistake the boys for girls because of their feminine features.

 

Yone has boobs so occasionally even I forget that he's a boy when I tell people about my dolls: "I only got one boy, he must be so lonely...wait, I got two boys."

 

Pretty much the only way around it is to carry them around shirtless. ^^; Shaial has never been mistaken for a girl, despite his long hair, jewelry fetish, and purple faceup, simply because he almost never wears a shirt. Just pants.

I thought mesh shirts would have the same effect, but when I took Kiyam out in black mesh and leather, he still got called a girl. *headshake* Ah well.

 

long hair just gives most people that "girl" impression. true, Alex does not have the manliest face (or a manly face at all. sorry 'lex) but i NEVER dress him even remotely girly. not too long ago he was sitting on my desk in jeans a tshirt and big stompy boots...one of my coworkers came in said "oh she's so pretty!"

he gets this all the time (actually in his character description) so i just said thanks but *lol* he's a boy. the first thing out of her mouth - "oh ha ha i saw the long hair and thought 'girl!'"

so yeah, to a lot of people who are not used to seeing it, long hair = girl.

people also mistake Wyn for a girl all the time. i cant really blame them for that

 

LOL, I bought the Planet Doll Damdy because I wanted a boy who looked like a boy to me and to my non doll owning husband. He looked at the head and said boy. I bought him as soon as he was available and absolutely adore him.
http://www.planetdoll.com/
http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=333079&highlight=Mstya

 

My mom still tells me Siegfried (my Luts SDF Cian) looks like a girl even though he's got short hair, wears boy's clothes and she's seen him naked many times in the past and knows he's a boy. She also called Arumat (my Soom Glati) and girl too when she first saw him. I don't think she does it to annoy me or anything, she's just stating the obvious... both dolls DO look kind of girly, even I agree with that.

But it was odd when I got El (my Soom Skoll) and although I thought his face was more girly than Arumat's, my mom referred to him as a boy when I showed him to her

I think having people mistaken your doll's gender is bound to happen. It happens with non-dolly loving people, and it's an easy mistake to make even if you are into the bjd hobby. I know I've mistakenly thought some of the gorgeous dolls on DoA were girls because of their pretty faces.. only to learn they're actually boys

 

I've got two boys and both of them have been called girls by quite a few people...I'm trying my best to make my new boy, a Delf Chiwoo, look more boyish but with such a feminine face it's quite difficult. I've got him dressed fairly masculine right now.

Actually to my surprise today, he was recognized a male! I'd had him in the lounge of my apartment building and Miri stopped through and checked him out, immediately saying "he's cute" Yayyy

 

Don't worry about it! People see "doll" they think "girl". I remember a hundred years ago when Achsfan started a similar thread about his El doll who even had facial hair!! XD

I know I've come full circle when people mistake my girl for a boy! She's tomboyish for a bjd, not a ruffle in sight!

Raven

 

All my dolls are boys and yet they're most often referred to as girls by others. I usually just correct people and if they really don't believe me, I pants my boys. Hard to deny what they are when presented with the evidence *laughs*. Oddly enough, one of my co-workers can look at dolls on sites and get it right every time as to gender and he doesn't own any dolls and his only exposure to them has been through me when I bring them into work.

Moswen, I can sort of see as being thought to be a girl as he's got hair down to his butt and he is pretty. Kijika I can almost see as a girl as well because the traditional dress of his people involves short skirts (although his hair is just barely shoulder length) and his current face-up is on the pink side.

As for Jaiseki and Kys... Jaiseki is just too pretty for his own good and Kys has a striking face-up that is what you might expect to see on a girl. Even Haniel, my tiny demon boy has been mistaken for a girl although he has short hair and a non-girlie face up.