why are doll collectors so "creepy"

I think naming and thinking of dolls as characters or people has more to do with each owner's personality and tendencies rather than the whole group thing though. Even in this hobby I'm sure there are people who don't name a thing outside of their dolls, but I, for example, give names and personalities to everything, human shaped or not. Musical instruments, cars and even body parts. It's completely normal to me, but I've heard it seems weird or creepy to some others, and what do you know? It's completely okay. We're not hurting each other, we're just doing and feeling the things we want to and advancing in life with our own feelings and opinions. Nobody has to get hurt over differing opinions, ya know? If everything could be peachy, everything should be peachy.

Some people just really, really enjoy creating characters out of everything. And it's a wonderful feeling, let me assure you.

Thank you for this question though, it was an interesting question and the thread was (and will hopefully continue to be) an interesting read.

 

i think its perhaps a little strange to refer to dolls as a boyfriend or girlfriend, i know its fairly common to refer to dollfie dream dolls as daughters and even that i find a little icky, i guess it depends on the age of the person, a young collector i can forgive but older ones i'd see it as a bit strange.

personally though it not something i would tell someone, people can do as they please, you can call them husband or wife if you really want.

i often refer to mine as people, ie 'her' 'she' 'girl'...etc, and not as ..'my doll' or 'it' i see it as more respectful to refer to them that way and i know from experience other non doll people see even that as a little strange, but some think its sweet, but if i started saying 'my girls or something more personal my friends would start looking at me.....lol

 

People do what they want, and I don't judge them as strange unless they are directly bothering others. To some it's endearing or cute to refer to dolls by their characters, and I see nothing wrong with it. I myself don't do it, but I would definitely see the benefits to that rather than looking at it as a lump of resin or a valuable piece of art you're dragging about.

"Creepy" also doesn't have a positive connotation at all. To call anyone creepy has heaps of negative, unwarranted judgment, whether or not it was intended.

I'm not offended or trying to to offend; just putting it out there.

 

Hmm... I guess it might in part have to do with actual nature of what we are all interested in (i.e. BJDs)? Unlike other collections (e.g. rocks, stamps, expensive pottery), dolls themselves just attract more emotional attention because of their 'human-like' qualities right? Even though they may be called doll 'collectors', the people that buy lots of BJDs generally find more joy in customizing their doll and talking to others about it than actually loving the thrill of getting a rare object or expanding their 'collection'.

It's interesting though. If a small child named a doll and talked to him/her in the same way the so-called creepy doll enthusiasts do, most people would just shrug or even find that endearing. Maybe people just want to draw a line somewhere between 'childhood' and 'adulthood' and feel creeped-out when the defining line begins to become blurry?

I personally refer to my dolls like people (use he/she/his/her/etc...), but not as 'my daughter' and the like. For me my dolls have this unique position in my emotional hierarchy that is clearly is clearly above other inanimate objects but still below human beings. I treat things differently because they are in different levels of this hierarchy. :P

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I personally find it weird if people call their own pets 'it' like an object, so I can see why people can find it weird if I call my dolls 'he/she'. We just have different hierarchies, and differences in where everything is categorized. I will respect these differences long as I like calling my dolls he/she, I will continue to do so~!

 

I call my dolls children not because I believe them to be my daughters or sons, but because I created their personality. My child more as in my creation. i write stories, dress them, change their hair and eyes so they fit the character I have created for them.

Dolls, to me, have a gender. The male dolls have penises, and while they are a poor excuse, girl dolls have vaginas. *shrugs* I think that's where the he/she pronouns come in.

I'm also with soapbubbles. I couldn't imagine calling my parents dog "it." She's a girl and her name is Rosie. And I don't even like her that much XD

 

I think there can be very odd people in every hobby, but I don't think referring to these dolls as people or pets isn't really that odd. I can understand how it could be seen that way to many people, but to me it's not. A lot of people in this hobby not only have a big connection to their dolls, but also have a name, story, background, and personality to go with them. That's where the photo stories come from. And many authors say that when you write a good story, you need to bring the characters to life. They should have a favorite color, food, likes and dislikes. BJD owners have done that. They've brought their characters to life.

 

I just refer to my doll the way I would refer to a pet.
I call her by her name, and say "she", ect.
But I do feel awkward when I talk about her personality. I never really gave her one. I just saw them as art, not really people.
But I guess to be honest, I want to fit in, so I tend to treat her like a person on forums xD

 

This is funny, I once started talking to a reborn(the new born baby dolls) collector. She asked me if Usagi (my tiny) was my cute little baby xD ehm no.. I see my dolls as my oc's , they each have their own characters but aren't my children. I refer to them with their own names (example: "need to make usagi a new dress." C: I know a lot of bjd owners that get angry when you call a doll an it.. It's a touchy subject xD

 

I think my dolls are kind of like an accomplishment since they're so pricey so, it's natural for me to be overjoyed and call them things such as "my fairy goddess" or "my little one". I guess we can be a little weird but, this brings me joy and well.. I don't think I'm THAT weird hahaha.

 

You know, I was thinking about it, and I realized that all my life I've been collecting porcelain dolls and I've always refereed to them as 'she' or 'he' (I have 1 boy porcelain doll). I never gave them named and I can't play with them like I can my BJDs, but they've always had a gender. Maybe it's because they look like what they're supposed to, I'm not really quite sure why. I just thought that I'd put that out there.

 

Well, there are weird people in any hobby, really, though some are more subtle than others.

In the case of talking to dolls, it's not really the dolls themselves I'm talking to/about as much as the character that the doll represents. And really, a lot of people talk to inanimate objects whether they consciously realize it or not. I'm sure we all know at least somebody who yells at their car whenever it breaks down, or if they really love the car they usually refer to it as "she" or "old girl" when talking about it's attractiveness or encouraging it to keep going.

Back on topic, if it's not something you see all too often I can understand why it would be considered weird. Once you're in the hobby long enough though you kind of get used to it. Might even start doing it yourself.

 

To me, it feels strange to refer to something which such a strong resemblance to humans as an "it". Just as I'd say something along the line of "she is beautiful but from her expression I think she is lonely" or simply "he needs to eat less!" when viewing a painting, I do the same for my dolls. To my knowledge, many of the younger people in this hobby are also into manga/anime/novels which gives the issue a lot more sense as we don't refer to the characters as non living beings either. While many find it awkward when I say that I'm in love with a fictional character, I'm not particularly bothered by their opinions and same goes for BJDs. Furthermore, many of us have background stories and personalities we ascribe to our dolls or have faced situations where our dolls become our companion, our emotional support in harsh times. People outside the hobby may find it downright creepy to think of dolls in such a way but it is something you only understand once you experience. To them, these dolls are mere objects but to us, they possess qualities that are nothing short of being humane.
That aside, I talk and order my computer when it acts up as well. It is nothing I do consciously and I have friends who do something similar ("Phone!!! Open that app NOWWW!!!") Well, I definitely still won't name my laptop or refer to it as nothing but "it" yet my brother feels disturbed when I do so do I guess talking to something which appears human like would still irk someone.

 

I think it's just the potential to be obsessed with something or someone that scares people.

 

Ihave to admit I thought Talking about dolls as if they were alive seemed odd to me too.... Until I spent more time around dolls. Now it just seems natural.... They have human faces.... When we were little girls playing with our baby dolls nom one thought it was creepy when we called the our babies!

 

I think all that needed to be said has been said. I'll probably end up being one of those people that refers to 'him' and what not. Heck, I talk about my rp characters like I know them in person! lol. But it just happens when you've created this character, this persona and pretend it is still just an 'object' when they have likes, interests, personality, and a certain style. It's not just a doll you dress up and display on your shelf anymore. I can't say from experience, but I think I can venture a guess?

 

I refer to my dolls as my "boys" since they have sculpted male genitalia, and it's just easier to use the pronoun "he". We do it in other languages (la chaise, der Stuhl, etc), so attributing genders to objects doesn't bother me at all.

I do become very uncomfortable when people treat their dolls as thinking entities with brainwashing telepathic abilities, though. When people say "Oh, Farion fell in love with this doll in this shop so I have to buy him now to be his/her boy/girlfriend" or "Eskimo hates his new wig, and is fussing at me to buy him three more," it makes me wonder about how well these owners are able to grasp reality. Like, I'm not gonna judge. I've been there, done that, though it was half a decade ago and just to fit in... and I followed a religion for years that taught how every thing on Earth from the wind to the rocks to the chair you're sitting on had or has a soul. I don't think I'll ever think any thing is completely soulless thanks to that early conditioning, but lately I must view everything from the boring glasses of a boring reality, because when I see this phenomenon in action my first instincts are to be polite, but quietly assess the person for signs of instability and an inability to handle the responsibility of one's own actions. More often than not, though, it's just a sign of enthusiasm and playfulness, which is in all ways more than fine. There are people that take it too far in my opinion, but I just walk away because they're (hopefully) not hurting anyone and it's frankly not my business.

It can be creepy, if by creepy you mean "not right, not wrong, just different" (a very good motto I learned when learning to cope with culture shock). Some people, though, are definitely a little too different from me for me to ever feel comfortable around... but you get those in every walk of life no matter which path you choose.

 

hahahah. My friend who isn't a bjd fan told me that some bjd looks too realistic and thus creeps her out. She does not understand why I would want to keep a doll that has such soulful eyes. I guess to each his own.

 

They get too sucked into the BJD world i guess ?

 

Well I guess for me some of it started out as a joke... I don't have children yet and I jokingly refer to my dolls as my "kids" but then again I do the same thing to my dogs too... o.0 haha! I know alot of things with people especially in being collectors there can be people who become seriously obsessed and almost overstep the bounds of what is normal to what is abnormal. However it can happen in any hobby... I mean there are people who started out as car collectors that start having taboo sexual relations with the cars that I collected... so... I mean it's not that uncommon... Humans tend to bond and attach themselves to things that they think they love. As for myself, my dolls are for myself to help me visualize my characters in my book that I'm writing so... really it's not like I want them because I don't have kids... I just joke about it and have grown to love my bjds and the hobby. It lets me express myself via art and photography so my bjds help me to be a better artist, both visually and conceptually.

 

I think sometimes we all do things that can be seen as creepy! Doesn't mean we are! Sometimes I'll talk to my dolls and I know that my creep someone out. Doesnt creep me out..