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Why are so many boy dolls so girly?

Aug 10, 2007

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    1. I think using the word effeminate is unfair (not just pointing this at you - it's been thrown around a lot in this thread). In Asia they are simply seen as attractive men, not lady-boys. The style of dress is seen a fashionable and fashion on men matters more there. More men care about fashion because their female counterparts want them to, also their female counterparts are more feminine in their style than western women so by comparison the men seem more masculine.

      If we really started seeing very western styled masculine faces on BJDs they would probably be off topic for this forum which is for Asian Ball Jointed Dolls.
       
      #261 idrisfynn, Aug 22, 2011
    2. Very well said idrisfynn!

      That is how I have always seen Asian males, as fashionable and elegant.
      What I would however like to see more of are the middled aged gentlemen. Keep the ABJD look but add a tad more sophistication of an older guy and that would make me a very happy buyer. :)
       
      #262 Nihmo, Aug 22, 2011
    3. Ah, true. I think a better way to say it could be "effeminate to Western eyes" or something. Not sure how to word it better, but you're entirely right!
       
      #263 quiet0ne, Aug 23, 2011
    4. I'm pleased as punch to finally find a wide selection of attractive male dolls, so I don't really notice whether they're androgynous (spell?) or not.
       
      #264 RagingMoon1987, Aug 23, 2011
    5. Androgynous people - and some dolls are attractive to me. But most of BJDs look too feminine or too masculine (I'm talking about faces only) with too much makeup, which make them look like drag queens. IMHO.

      To me most of the boy BJDs I've seen so far would make nice girls. E.g. the jawdropping Roxanne who was made of IH Mars sculpt (I found her on Flickr, but I think her owner is a DoA member too)

      Call me crazy, but I am somehow obsessed with IH SID Theo as a girl, even with the default makup A., mostly because a Theo-girl would have so much individuality not being the ideal feminine dolly. If I only knew a female body to plant this head onto... ;)
       
      #265 Harey, Sep 6, 2011
    6. I am also in the minority here, Its one of the reasons I refuse to collect male dolls. My preference is they are either male or they aren't. I've never liked androgyny in males or female hehe, and it also comes with my men. If I wanted a partner that looked like a girl I'd date a girl instead:)

      In retrospect though, I also find the overly sculpted masculine dolls too masculine and that creeps me out. Not so much with my men but with the male dolls for sure! I think I'm too picky and will just never own a male doll.
       
      #266 PunkyPhresh, Sep 8, 2011
    7. I always have to look twice at a boy doll to see if it is really a boy. I have noticed the facial features are very feminine. I think that is why i shied away from boy dolls is because they did not have a masculine look to them.
       
      #267 piercednpainted, Sep 9, 2011
    8. I only have one boy that should be mistaken for female, and that's Sixx, who is "biologically" (by sculpt, that is) male, but he's completely androgynous and depending on the day can be masculine or feminine or neither. The rest should be clearly male.

      But they do get mistaken for girls. I've been telling my dad for almost 4 years now that Amir, my AoD Chen is male. He doesn't have makeup, has a very masculine body and not girly face, wears suits or body revealing clothing....but he has long blond hair. So frequently gets called a girl by non-doll people. I'm assuming because the boys dolls they're familiar with usually have plastic sculpted hair or extreme muscles. To a lot of them long blond hair = girl, since growing up, long blond hair on a doll usually meant Barbie...
       
      #268 CloakedSchemer, Nov 21, 2011
    9. I think this may be the cause.
      And also do not forget that demand gives rise to the offer.
       
      #269 Volchona, Nov 21, 2011
    10. Four years on from asking the question that started this thread, my boys (all of them short haired, as it happens) are still mistaken for girls by people from outside of the BJD community.

      Noe of them are "manly" (because the "eldest" among them is only 13), and I dress them old fashioned (Victorian mostly) although they occasionally wear modern shorts or jeans and T-shirts. but it doesn't seem to matter what they're wearing, most of them are assumed to be girls and even my partner's SD16 and Mano boys are assumed to be girls.

      I think it's something in the cultural mindset that people will always default to assuming "girl" when they see a doll unless they have reason (like our continued exposure to the BJD community) to be jolted out of it.

      Teddy
       
      #270 Teddy, Nov 21, 2011
    11. I think it could be because you can find more girl clothes than boy clothes. Even for human clothes, there are always more choices in girl clothes so I think people might buy their dollies girl clothes. And it doesn't help that most boy dollies you see around have rounder faces which make them look cutesie.
       
      #271 Madds, Nov 23, 2011
    12. I think the reason more are looking so feminine is because in Korea lady likes the flower boy. Or the flower boy is more popular and it's just stunning to have a miniature kind. That's my opinion and quite frankly all the men, the idols, in Korea are so feminine like that it's just nice to stare at them in such a god-like way. ^^; Anyways, I would buy a boy dolly and even if it is mistaken I think I would chuckle at such a mistake. Because how are they suppose to know? :)
       
      #272 Wanari, Nov 23, 2011

    13. My Chen is the only one I have that has never been mistaken for being female. I don't hear the 'is that a girl?' thrown out much for any of the Dollshe boys. There's a thought.... does the 'girl' look happen more in the 60cm and under size? I think it does.
       
      #273 2otaku, Dec 26, 2011
    14. Probably - there seem to be more companies doing sculpts that look more male these days.

      I'ts still a "problem" for me, however, as all my resin gang are kids (12 and under) and I think the boys will be perpetually mistaken for girls by people outside the doll community. Luckily, I don't really mind it. I was just curious when I started the thread.

      Teddy
       
      #274 Teddy, Dec 27, 2011
    15. I think that with dolls smaller than the SD17 boys, softer cheeks are especially common. That is a distinctive feature present in both male and female children, and for that reason I feel that I'm probably about on the verge of deciding to upgrade my doll characters that are supposed to be older than . . . say 14, to SD17 sized dolls, because masculine faces are more easily found there. And in turn, my SD boys will basically be treated (by me) the way most people tend to style their MSD boys.

      I don't think the problem is that the male BJDs actually look like females, I think that part of the problem is relative to how the female BJDs themselves look, and the rest of the confusions stems from how unobservant many people are of the ways secondary sex traits manifest in facial structure. Almost all male BJDs (who aren't meant to be children mind you) do obey these general principles: more jaw definition of some sort, be it wider, or longer, or less rounded, smaller eyes, slightly more brow ridge -- etc. I feel that there is more cause for confusion in part because many female BJDs looks so girlish instead of womanly. . . so when there are so many male BJDs who don't look overtly masculine, gender confusion ensues. I can definitely understand people imaging using male BJD heads to create more womanly dolls in this respect, however I, personally am a huge fan of the general BJD aesthetic (especially with the boys) and I feel that their faces are all boyish, at least in their own ways. There are many ways these dolls can be treated (with choices in hair, face-up, and clothes) to either build upon the masculine or the androgynous foundation.
       
      #275 AlisonVonderland, Dec 27, 2011
    16. I'd like it if the boys looked like they had less make up on.
       
      #276 sampunzel, May 19, 2012
    17. I actually have this problem a lot. Whenever anyone sees Zarek (Resinsoul Ming) for the first time, they always think he's a girl and get confused when I refer to him as a 'he' rather then a 'she'. Even my mom thought he was a girl for a while until I explained to her that he is, in fact, a boy. I guess he just has a very feminine sculpt to him.
       
      #277 kiraabsol, May 19, 2012
    18. That's own to how you get them painted. I get mine done so they aren't made-up..... But then again, most of my girls are too young to wear makeup too, so they all get "natural" face-ups as well.

      Teddy
       
      #278 Teddy, May 19, 2012
    19. For me, a girly doll would be if the doll wears dresses or girly clothes.

      I don't really understand(or probably I do...I just can't stand it) why people call 'effeminate' to a boy doll with delicate features considering that most of these dolls are kids(especially 10- because kids are usually androgynous at that age) or teenage boys and boys in real life don't look like the 'macho men' type. In fact, I have a brother who is very delicate looking(no strong jaw, with long nose, full lips and long eyelashes) and no, he's not gay or girly...

      Girls are the only ones who wear make up or so says the western society. And these dolls all need make up(or face ups), probably that's what make boy dolls look girly in some people's minds...because boys in RL aren't supposed to have eye shadow or strong lip color (or even long eyelashes)... I really dislike all these stereotypes.

      For me, well dressed dolls (in male clothing like suits) with a nice face up are attractive and not girly (for example, the boys from Sadol are always very elegant ).
       
      #279 yumi~, May 20, 2012
    20. Maybe because in most asian animes, the males are often REALLY girly or REALLY manly?
       
      #280 Mogori, May 21, 2012
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