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

It's possible that many folks assume female people will gravitate to female dolls, like little girls and their Barbies. Perhaps they've never met the girls who played with GI Joes and other boy's action dolls. I mean, really, Ken is pretty useless as Barbie's SO.

 

I think just the sculpts of the dolls give a kind of girly look. I've showed my mother and a few of my friends some of the LUTS dolls and they all think they're girls regardless of hair and clothing. I think it's the face ^^;
Anyway, I think the 70 cm dolls are the easiest to tell whether they're male or not simply because usually they're face sculpt is more...I dunno...angular?(don't think that's the right word for it though...) and,to me, have a more "hmph" look to them than most 60cm and smaller.
So even though some of you guys are suggesting the clothing and hair...sometimes it's just the face.
Though,I think a shirt that says "I'm a boy D:<" or something along those lines are in order xD

 

Honestly, no one has mistaken my boys for girls. But, most of em are Dollshe, and I don't dress them girly at all.

 

*looks at Luken* Weeeeeeell, the first thing I'd do with a person who saw Luken and went "Oh, she's so pretty!" would be to send them to get their eyes checked cos if they mistake HIM for a girl, something's wrong with their eyes ... *lol*

 

Moon is probably the most masculine of the regular Delfs. That is NOT brought out in his default photo, where Luts has him in a super-long wig and a Chinese top, and more than one person I've showed that picture to has assumed he's a girl. However, no one has mistaken Kiyoshi for a girl IRL. I'm assuming I will also not have this problem with Sard (especially considering how much he's going to be wearing...or not wearing...)

 

Since the old Soulkids could either be girls or boys, I've landed myself with a pretty obviously girly Snyder and a masculine Harang. Zee hasn't been out of the house yet, but my parents and brother immediately knew him as a boy because he has a short furry wig and a neutral face-up (set to change a little once I get me some MSC and get my hands on my brother's acrylics!)

Poor Zee has almost no clothes apart from the ones he arrived with, so he may have to borrow some of Gwenllian's things, even though they're pink. I still think people will know he's a boy though.

 

With my Dollshe's I've gotten a lot of "Oh, what kind of doll is she?" My small Narin is sometimes thought to be a girl, as well. I think it's the hair. They all have, if not long hair, then more poufy hair than a lot of men with current "styles". Only my Ryu, Cooper, who has shortish hair (the BJ wig) is understood to be male. They must think my Dollshes are very skinny, somewhat homely, girls. I mean, the bodies really don't look feminine, so it bewilders me. I know a lot of guys with long hair, ponytails and braids. But the bangs seem to throw the gender thing off. Most of the men I know comb their hair straight back, even if long. Our dolls tend to be shaggy and poufy. I'm in an endless hunt for masculine-cut wigs that don't look like a little lord fauntleroy style. The short cut wigs tend to have the look of an 8-yr-old style. Very frustrating. Even the BJ wig is too long in the back - kind of a 1970's boy-band look. I need a layered wig that isn't long in the back. And my boys need sideburns!!!!!! ;>)

 

My Soom Lazule has a very manly face, no one has yet or would mistake him as female, unless I dressed him up as one. He wears suits and very conventional englishmans clothing, and has short hair. Long hair just doesnt seem to suit him anyway.

 

I think a lot of people will assume that any doll is female because "Who's ever heard of a boy doll? The scandal!" I had Vance sitting on the entertainment center one time wearing loose jeans, tennis shoes, masculine faceup and NO SHIRT. My grandma sees him sitting there and yells at me to "put a shirt on her!" lol

 

I changed my boy's face up and that helped a little. At best I say add facial hair...that usually works. Funny enough I never looked at a boy doll *before I owned one* and said "shes so cute" I DID look at a girl doll before and say "what's HIS name" XDXD;;;

 

All my boys(except Niky my YO who isn't even on a male body) get called a girl. I can kind of see Wes my KD Cherry getting called a girl he does have kind of a dramatic faceup but Andy my MD Ryu on an Iplehouse Model body...NO WAY! I brought him with me to dinner once kaki cargo pants convers sneakers and button up shirt...not buttoned...and open for the world to see. This woman keeps staring at him walks up to me and asks me "What is SHE?" I looked at the body and looked at this woman...she was maybe in her mid 50s could see pretty well I gathered. So there I was "Uhm...it's a boy" and I had to pull his pants down to prove to her he was in fact a guy. If anyone has seen the Iplehouse bodies they're pretty buff so I'm not sure how that one worked.

TC

 

I'm going for really boyish clothes (unless boy's school uniforms and military gear suddenly become moé moé) but thankfully the head I chose isn't super feminine. I'd still suggest subdued faceups, though. People still mentally associate the 'look' of your average faceup (lined eyes, long eyelashes, pink/glossy mouth) with that of a woman wearing makeup.

 

It was definately the fibre wig making Cappy look like a girl, so I've been busy with the scissors trying to achieve a more boy-like cut.



It's still not right. I'd like his ears to show, but if I go much further the webbing will show.

EDIT: I wonder why the companies don't make regular boy styles?

 

You could use a little hair wax to twist the bits by his ears into sideburns? If they are flatter and closer to his head, then his ears should show.

 

Thats pretty much it right there. Aside from people in the west's normal assumption that any doll is a female, it doesn't help that these dolls are made so effiminate. I'm not complaining, as I personally find effiminate men attractive, but it is a bit strange that people buy these male dolls & dress them in girl clothes. O.o

But as to the European language thing, that would really only apply in Europe, people in America just don't see things that way and have little to now exposure to latin based languages w/ male/female words.

That said, I'm getting girls. I have yet to see a male doll that moves me.

 

I honestly haven't found a way yet, I had mephisto sitting in nothing but his tiny thong once and people still though he was a girl >o I really don't see how long hair = girl. I know plenty of guys with long hair. And I'd love to see them dare call a biker a girl because he has long hair >o

 

Oh, this old issue again....? *sigh* OK, everyone, read your cue cards: "Blame the girly Shiwoos!" "It's all yaoi's fault!" "All boydolls are too effeminate!" "Why aren't there more mesomorph boy dolls with beer-guts and stubble?" "Why can't I find Real Man clothes anywhere?" Yadda yadda whine whine etc. etc.

Perception of your doll's gender depends on who your viewer is. It's all about THEM. Some people see "male" right away. Other people assume "female" because it's a doll. Some people actually think to ask first. You can dress that boy in a tuxedo & sideburns, or big stompy boots & a fur wig, and some Muggles will still call him 'she' on first sight.

I've got 20 boys, and I still get a variety of reactions to each one of 'em, depending on the audience.
How do I solve the issue of people assuming "female"? = I don't bloody CARE.

 

You could carry him with constantly unbuttoned shirts. My senior delf boy has never been mistaken for a girl when he has his manly pectorals and abdomen sculpt exposed!

But, joking aside, I don't think that we ought to modify our own vision of what our dolls should look like, just so that they become more acceptably (and recognizably) "male" or "female" in the eyes of others. They are our own individual dolls, who cares if they are perceived as male or female by human societies at large? These dolls live in a decidedly non-real world, so why ought they be subject to the rules and constrictions that are pressed upon us, their caretakers, in this "real world"? I've had many people mistake my senior delf ethan for a girl, but I do think that is partially why I chose his sculpt. He has a soft look to his facial structure that can be decidedly feminine in its masculinity (if that makes sense to anyone). Even though he dresses decidedly like a "manly man" of sorts, I wholeheartedly agree that he would (as I've been told) make a "hot girl" by people who are shocked that he is anatomically male.

In any case, I say dress your boy as a you see fit, be it in the aforementioned fur wigs and big boots, or a la femme in that brand spankin' new fer dress set that he can't help but work it in. If it is really important to you that others recognize your doll as a boy, then by all means, cater to that idea of what makes a man "male" and dress him accordingly (open shirts haven't failed me yet! ). We just have to remember that if we are going to dress a softer (non-Soom or Dollshe, which I find to be the glaring exceptions) sculpt in female clothes, even people in the hobby will unfortunately be mistaken. Just do what makes you happiest with your own dolls and try not to get caught up in how others perceive those dolls, so long as they please you^^.

 

everything about my boy is girly.
Im hoping a new faceup will help though. @.@;
cuz i dont like his default faceup >> i think it is girly lol!

Everyone whose first seen my boy think hes a girl. >>;
Even after i tell people,
they still call him a girl cuz they wont accept the face hes a boy.
tho he does have a unisex body.. lol

But it doesnt bother me, i just shrug and correct them.

 

The only thing that has worked for my boys esp. around my MIL is short short hair wigs. Doesn't matter no breasts, no pink, or even fact they are all in jeans and T-shirts. If they have long hair, I hear isn't she pretty!