Why are so many boy dolls so girly?

I assume it's because of the whole anime culture and their origins being in Asia. Watching anime and reading manga you find lots of girly boys, and I just see it reflected in the dolls. I don't mind the androgyny, it makes it easier to not feel awkward carrying them around.

 

As everyone has been saying, it probably has a lot to do with culture.

But I also think it has a lot to do with the market. I mean, just in this thread alone, though many people have mentioned finding muscles attractive, many more seem to have mentioned either preferring androgynous boys, or owning a super-feminine or cross dressing boy themselves. Something that, while not impossible, I imagine would not be exactly easy to achieve with, say, a Unidoll Ark.

Of course, I didn't count the number of people who stated a preference, so I could be wrong, but I still think that there is a larger market for the more feminine boys if only because they're dolls. And therefore meant to look "pretty" usually. (Not to say that masculine men can't be attractive, but they are typically less traditionally "pretty")

I, personally, would like to see more masculine headsculpts over body sculpts. Not that more heavily muscled bodies would be objectionable, but I to me most of the standard boys' bodies already read as male, it is the heads that frequently throw me off. Since I come from a western society where masculinity is often defined through stronger/heavier facial features and suchlike, this probably weighs heavily in why I'd prefer male dolls that are a little more "manly".

 

I agree with what others have said about it being because they are Asian. Have you seen the boys on Japanese teen magazines? I think they are beautiful but some probably think they look odd; very different from the hunky guys on American magazines. I also agree that some of it has to do with them being dolls; some people make only cutesy dolls. But I think most has to do with the face-ups, hair, and clothes they are given.
Alot of people(here anyway)seem to be manga/anime fans. Mostly Shojo or Yaoi. Look at the boys there; even the manly ones look about as manly as a Hound(I'm generalizing a bit). I think the market would not be as good because of that and people buy what they find attractive. In the the countries BJDs are from I don't think they ar so into big muscle men.
I like slender delicate boys with pretty faces myself, in manga, as dolls, and real ones, but it would be nice to see some more masculine BJDs for more variety.
Someone probably already said this but Bishonen House dolls(the new ones mostly)look quite mature and would not be mistaken for girls. I think they are quite tall too.

 

I actually like them androgynous, manly doesn't appeal to me bjd or rl guy.
I suppose it's a matter of taste.

And as most people mentioned culture does have to do with it,
just look at some of these boys,



Although American boys have started changing a bit, usually they get called gay (ie metrosexuals, emos etc) . Apparently people still cling to the all American jock thing.

Manly bjds wouldn't be my thing but if people want them then why not as long as the androgynous ones don't die out of course xD!

 

hmm.. i was thinking maybe because it's easier to mix and match faceplates and bodies..but then pretty boys are really popular anyway i used to mistake boy bjds for girls too until my mind got tuned to the differences.. haha~ and now they DO look boyish so maybe mistaking the gender only happens when people
are not used to the style of bjd sculpts..

 

I would be much more likely to get a male doll if they were more masculine, definitely. I don't see how "more masculine" translates to an action figure or GI Joe option--I just want a doll with a facial structure more along the lines of... Takeshi Kaneshiro. XD Why should dolls only exist in these two extremes? I understand the anime aesthetic influence, but really, I'd just like a male doll without a pointed chin! The minimees do a great job of this, but I'd like to see a less realistic male doll. Volks' Heath is a great example of a "more masculine" mold too, actually.

 

I truly love pretty boys/bishonen. In anime and in dolls. ^_^ Boys with smooth young-ish faces and long hair are so cute! (I really dislike blatant crossdressing though, just my opinion X_x)

However I also love muscular, more mature men. I wish there were a few companies who made muscled dolls (not slim muscles like the dolls I've seen, but more bulky) so I think I am in the minority here. If I could get a BJD of Solid Snake from MGS I could die happy!

It would be great if there was just more variety in male bodies. I mean female dolls go from flat/childlike bodies with very unpronounced curves, to giant Dolfie Dream option busts with a lot of types in between. If I knew how to cast in resin, and could sculpt really well I would make my own muscular male doll.

 

I have to admit I like the pretty boy sculpt! It was one of the things that attracted me to the BJD. Though I don't usually go for the crossdressing. I like manly...but a pretty kind of manly!

 

Hanazaki is a 06 Nanuri He modded head & he's on a modded Girl-Boy body (w/e boobs sanded off) he does looks girlish but it dosn't bother me now as he has a gentle side. Glay is an Minawa Aya artist head may be used as a girl or boy but he's girlish only when he dresses in some ways. I really like those boys that has a gentle side. Not berry mature looking boys.

 

Add to that a nice chiseled face with a square jaw and good cheekbones. The kind of guy you can see coming home and his kids run to him to be picked up.

*sighs*

 

And they're all, "Daddy, daddy, daddy!"

Awwww... yeah. I'd like to see some actual MAN dolls, too, to be honest. :3
But, I guess that just isn't what companies are interested in doing, huh..?

 

I honestly think a lot of it has to do with the fact that they don't look good any other way. >__>
But there are some dolls I wish would keep their masculinity.

 

I love pretty boys, but I don't think they are girly.
In my opinion, most of the dolls have a nutral beauty, not concerning to their sex.
Instead, I have seen some girl dolls who are handsome~

 

Definitely a lot to do with culture. A lot of those guys are manly by any standard, honestly. They just have nice hair, which is pretty typical for Asian dudes. Take away the nice hair and give them a nice short crop-- then their sexy, strong jaws and fierce, aggressive browlines appear more prominent. Yum.

I, for one, have no interest in girly men. In fact, I have a pet peeve against long hair on men. Whenever I see a guy with long hair, I always think, "Gosh, he would look so much better without it" and feel a little bit annoyed. Meanwhile, I know people who swoon at guys with long hair. I don't like skinny guys with no meat. People who do like them describe these guys as "delicate, frail" and so on. All very nice words. But skinny guys rarely look soft and supple-- like how many yaoi fans draw them (including me-- I really like drawing people with full bodies). They're usually all pointy elbows and ribs, yanno? And gosh, those hips and full thighs that people depict them with! If only I had curves like those. I think the "petite, quivering, fragile flower of a boy" look is rather unhealthy looking, as I like my men with a healthy layer of muscle. I know that a lot of people are going to misread that as "rippling abs and biceps." That's not what I mean. Think of a runner's lean physique and tone it down a bit. That's what I like.

The "girliest" I'll go is "boyish," but that's really closer to "youthful" than "girly," even if a lot of guys who fit that type have flippy, long-ish hair and peachy cheeks. But I don't think I'm clinging to the American jock thing. "Clinging" implies that it's past/unacceptable and that people should move on to what's the new thing. (I'm not surprised that the doll I ended up buying is a mini who has washboard abs, broad shoulders and a nice jawline-- a LatiBlue boy.) I think it's important to note that I am Asian (Chinese, to be precise). I've noticed that a lot of people who like effeminate boys tend to be people who like anime and are not Asian. Meanwhile, almost all of my friends who are Asian prefer men. Maybe it's a "You want what you can't have" thing. Another interesting fact: I meet more Asians who are into western comics (which have delicious, delicious men like John Constantine) than non-Asians. Huh? Weeeeird.

Overall, Asian beauty standards are pretty similar. We Chinesey people have that thing too. If I had to describe what an attractive Asian man is like that appeals to a general audience (as in no special interests-- think of the pop stars we had in the nineties that basically appealed to every kidling), I would say "knight in shining armor" mixed with "youthful," since a lot of these guys are sweet gentlemen with a childish edge. Some variations would be Korean = "goofy," ("Ahahaha lookit what I can do! ::crashes into things::") Japanese = "dorky," ("Waaaah I love this cartoon, I grew up on it! Kaaamen rider!") and Chinese = "cheeky." ("Heh heh, smiiiiile you pretty thing, you!") I don't think "girly" fits the bill, though.

A lot of people here like anime/manga, and "girly" is appealing to those who have that special interest, so they assume that that's the norm for what's attractive. Anime/manga is not as mainstream as one might expect-- why else would there be animes like Genshiken that mock anime/manga fans as outsiders? So I disagree with people who are saying "Asian cultures overall like girly men," because I don't see it within the culture. Unless people are interpreting guys that are on the thin-side as girly, then... well... yeah. A lot of them are kind of scrawny.

Oh yes please. I love that little twinkle-in-the-eye, rugged look too. Like he forgot to shave for one day. Guh.

 

My soul doll Arhanian just arrived Friday night - the first 1/3 I've ever owned, and I confess while I was expecting pretty, I was a little shocked at just how effeminate he looks in person! I mean ... he looks like a pederast's dream victim, all melting eyes & soft mouth. I have got to get that damned faceup off! A little modification of that might make a difference, I hope - not that I'm planning on doing a beard on him, but I don't want him looking quite this bad. Or good, as the case may be.

I like the more masculine bodies & faces coming out right now: the Limhwa Mano, etc. - my only caveat there is the faces are so thin, as Victoria says, and also the expressions are so ... sullen, hostile, or something. I don't want a doll that's scowling at me, nor do I equate sullenness w/male sexiness or attractiveness, so I'm wondering what gives with that?

I need to modify this doll, but I hate to experiment w/adding sculpt etc. to a $600+ doll! He doesn't look much like his photos online, at all, in person.

 

I think all the cultural influences are legitimate, however the underlying reason may be because the actual sculpts do not have Adam's apples, and the jaw lines are usually too soft. Also it is very hard to create a realistic "beard shadow" which every man has after maturity. It creates a very blue-greenish color in the beard area even when a man is clean shaven. Any drag queen can tell you this! I have had to cover them as a makeup artist (I did {Paul Reuben's character of Pee Wee Herman) and it is tricky.
The dolls that I have seen that actually look like men are Donn's Bishonen House boys. They have Adam's apples, and manish jaws.

 

I agree with what most people have already said: it's a cultural thing.

 

I can't believe nobody's mentioned yet: it may not be just a cultural thing, it's also a DOLL thing. These aren't action-man figures! They're dolls! Dolls are pretty!

I myself never thought Barbie's boyfriend looked very girly, either. And yet, how many decades has poor Ken had to put up with all those gay jokes? When you make a man into a doll, any doll, other men find that somehow emasculating. Maybe they can't help identifying with the doll, & any man who lets a 7-year-old-girl stuff him into a baby carriage & chew on his head is NOT a Real Man. I dunno.

With that said: It sure would be very nice if more American men turned metro, I'm with most of you there. You don't need to put on a Valentino ballgown, lads-- just wash your goddam face every day, look in the mirror when you dress, and put some goo in your hair. It's not rocket science.

(Also, thank you MVIII for making my whole week with that picture of Mass Dogpile Extreme Bishonen Meltdown! ^^)

 

Interesting thread, I have often wondered why the boys are girly too. I think that's why I like the minimee sculpts as they look like real men (at least to me).

 

I watch lots of anime and manga and a yaoi fan also so have no prob with girly male or manly.

I am in China right now and see lots of girly male. Some of the male are more fashionable than me and very up to date with hair style and fashion. They also worry about skin and do facial have pedicure and stuff. I feel old.