Rude Reactions to Your Dolls?

Weirdly enough, I made a friend by someone commenting on how creepy my dolls were. They weren't attempting to be rude by commenting, they just wanted to know why I liked creepy dolls. I answered honestly and he was like "You seem cool" and now we are besties and play Warhammer Vermintide 2 together and chat almost every day lol he even likes one of my more recent acquisitions and asks how it is sometimes XD

Definitely aware I'm in the minority of experiences here, but he was genuinely just curious and didn't care to phrase it with kindness. He's a very blunt fellow, but I digress. I don't normally get much hate but that could be because no one cares about my Insta or Tumblr lol

I just wanted to spread a little positivity in an otherwise bleak discussion

 

I had a building repairman step into my room and just come to an dead halt, eyes wide, and jaw slack once. Before he could say anything rude though, I told him "Don't worry, they've been fed their allotment of souls for the week; you SHOULD be safe to enter".

He made an excuse of needing a tool from the truck, and that was the last time we saw him.

I regret nothing!

 

You win!

That is priceless!!!

Teddy

 

I shared a character doll from an anime on reddit (the anime's reddit not the bjd one) and got a lot of love except for this one rude comment. But people downvoted them into hell so I got the last laugh

 

My non-doll collector friends are totally weirded out by my dolls, which I finally got around to sending them pictures of in our group chat. I find it hilarious. Otherwise, they've been unfailingly polite.
I am totally stealing the "allotment of souls" line. That is excellent.

The rudest people have been my parents - complaining that I am "wasting" money on my dolls. Well, you buy three of everything, don't use any of it, and you're leaving me a hoard to clean up when you die, so... Uh-huh. Pot? Kettle on the phone for ya.

The only thing that really sets me off is when people snipe about "cheap" dolls or "cheap" clothing. As someone who regrets starting with expensive dolls first and then "working backwards," (buying cheap dolls later), I will set phasers to KILL any time I hear someone refer to a "cheap" BJD derogatorily, whether it's mine or someone else's. Did I want to restring my $950 doll when I first got it? Hell, no. Did I want to dye it, hot-glue suede it, or mod it? A $950 doll? Are you out of your MIND?!?

I had to get a more affordable, secondhand body to feel comfortable enough to really enjoy the dolls. Hell, I STILL won't do much to mod the more expensive dolls. But that AoD body I snapped up for $75? It's been my practice doll for everything, and I love it. I think the torso engineering is pretty gosh-darn brilliant. I love it so much, I bought two more (thank you, @SKYWHYS) and took them with me to show another dolly friend how to do basic restringing/dyeing/hot-glue sueding.

Also - Resinsoul centaurs are just as gorgeous at one-fourth the price. Fight me.

 

Toddlers are scary on their own. Unpredictable. Once in Ikea shop a free range toddler with chocolate all over hid in my lilac coloured triple ruffles skirt, wrapped it around a few times, I couldn't shake him/her out. Scary.

Sebastian is very handsome but also a demon preying on a young child, probably they got that vibe.

I also like "Heard you the first time, I'm ignoring you just fine".

OMG, you are a genius!!! Something along the lines about gingers having no soul: "Oh, it's ok, we start without one but as we grow older we acquire quite many!"

If anybody asks for free stuff my husband's to go answer is "Nice try, Batman!"

 

I was still living with my mom and her husband when I got my first girl. Her husband's initial reaction was to pick my doll up, flip up her skirt and comment on her rump.

 

Oh no @saraquill that makes me angry! And it reminded me of one of the times I could have shared here.

So, one night I was out with my doll Chelsea (many years ago) and some guys in their early 20s decided to make weird comments about how sexy she was. Basically they were joking with each other and catcalling an inanimate object as some bizarre spectacle in front of me. Just... honestly I felt so heartbroken for Chelsea that she would be treated this way minding her own business in public. So yeah, that was deeply unpleasant. I don't think she's been I in public since.

 

The way they worded it, it sounded as if they were fans of the character, so I don't feel that was quite it -- I have come across other people's comments on all Pullip and friends being "creepy" looking dolls, due to their proportions and movable eyes). I don't find the word or meaning offensive, however, as I am a fan of the darker side of things myself. I was just commenting how that was the "one" time someone tried to offend one of my (OT) dolls to my face, and they missed the marks, since I am an old-creepy-weirdo myself, I find creepy quite delightful. (:

 

Oh, I also do like Sebastian and most of BB characters! To the point I have a cosplay suit from BB, Circus book. Or rather "had", grew out of it sideways. Still can't deny Seb is what he is.

 

I had one of my dolls with me (Ain) at a con and I walked up to a staff member to ask a question and the first thing they said was "Oh god get that thing away from me" which was definitely a weird experience. I wasn't too shaken up though because a lot of other people at that con thought he was cute.
Luckily my family hasn't poked their noses into my hobbies too much but one time my dad sincerely asked if people play with male dolls' genitals? I had to do a double take, then he followed up with "I don't know what girls like to do for fun". Still scratching my head over that.

 

My doll-phobic friends whould proibab ly react in a very nsimilar way. I don't think it's rude, it's just the way they express their fear in the moment of being unexpectedly confronted by the object that causes it.

Teddy

 

I went to take photos of my custom Dollfie dream on a walking path one time, I was already very nervous and I am socially awkward so I always try to scope out locations with little to no people. (At the time I was also 7 months pregnant so I was already pretty uncomfortable in my own skin as well), as I’m taking photos this lady just stares at me and my doll so grossly I was so embarrassed. She just stared at the doll as I moved out of the way and even turned her head to keep staring as she was already past me. It was the first time I had ever been looked at like that, I’ve been very cautious in public since.

 

Never got a rude comment on my dolls since I've only really brought them around other doll owners and my family, but I did receive a really creepy comment that made me stop talking about my girl dolls with my father. I was lamenting how big my doll's chest was because it was bigger than I imagined and I worried it'd be hard to find shirts for her. I mentioned I could sand down her breasts if push came to shove and my dad made a comment saying that was a good idea and inferred I wouldn't want her looking like a slut.

Luckily she has a ton of shirts that fit her, and I didn't need to give her a breast reduction, so. A million points for my doll and zero points for my dad.

 

I don't really... tell many people about my dolls. Partly because of responses like these. I don't want to deal with them so I keep my doll stuff separate.

Ironically the one person I know that's been really supportive of the hobby has a genuine phobia of dolls. Like, all dolls. My sib is freaked out by dolls across the board but as long as I'm not showing them photos they totally get excited with me and tell me they're interested in my plans

 

My mom was *really* surprised I have a Dollfie Dream anime doll.

She's more accepting of my new hobby now. I don't know what she'll do if she goes in my hallway and sees I now have 13 of them.

 

There's a "Blake's 7" (old sci-fi television series I'm very fond of) quote that sums up the question nicely:

Vila: I'm entitled to my opinion.
Avon: It is your assumption that WE are entitled to it as well that is irritating.

I really do believe in the "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything" rule. There are exceptions - for example, I would reply with a negative comment if the original post was advocating, say, activities that are dangerous to people or animals. But when it comes to hobbies and art, opinions are exceedingly subjective.

That said, I'm sensitive enough to be easily hurt by mean comments, so I avoid putting myself into situations in which they could occur. And if anyone does comment rudely, I try to take the high ground and not be rude in return. The cycle has to stop somewhere, after all.

 

I live with my two adult children (18, 22) and both of them are "afraid" of my dolls. So much that they will close off my room so they won't have to see the dolls. I find it amusing but do still get comments about my hobby. I hold no grudges because my dolls make me happy and sane.

 

I've thought about this comment for a bit and I just want to offer my two cents. As someone who has a phobia (I don't want to go into details, but I have been to therapy for it in the past and have struggled to leave my house due to it) I think it's still rude to react that way to somebody. I've had extreme reactions in front of people in the past and I feel regret over it. I personally know that no matter how panicked I might feel, I'm not justified in having an extreme reaction towards a person doing something harmless in my line of sight. Because I hold myself to this, I don't think others should be given free passes to be rude towards those who are just trying to express themselves through a hobby, even if they also have a phobia themselves.

I have a tough skin and I brushed the incident off my shoulder. Honestly, I don't even know if the person in question had a phobia or not, but I still saw it as a rude reaction. I was really only taken aback because this instance was the second time I ever had a doll out in a public area. I know you feel strongly about this and I don't want to argue, I just want to share my perspective on the topic as somebody who struggles with a pathological fear of something harmless. In my opinion, struggling with mental health doesn't give you a pass to be cruel right in somebody's face. It's an explanation for the behavior, but it doesn't mean others can't consider it rude.

 

I think that's very admirable of you, and a lovely way of handling rudeness.