Do you hide your hobby from certain people?

I hide it, only my partner knows. It's quite exhausting to explain bjds to people who have no interest or pre-knowledge and I don't feel like it's my task to bring them up to speed - especially if it's someone I've caught judging people or saying something derogatory about certain hobbyists in the past (I do give them a shakedown in that case, though: you don't get to diss things that bring people joy or shape your opinions on stereotypes alone - and you also don't deserve a chance to judge me based on my interests). It's such a gamble with the reaction as well, and I'd rather not invite the possibility of ill feelings into something I choose to engage in purely for my own enjoyment.

 

I'm pretty much the same.
I don't care what people think about me but I don't want to be giving explanations about something most people won't understand (from my experience, as I've been in the hobby since 2007). I'm old enough to know how to keep my things safe and private. I can share my own enjoyment with myself. I don't like to talk much about my life with people. Not even some people in my family know about my dolls. I don't hide them, but I don't talk about them nor give explanations. I'm not up for the gamble reaction either. It's still their problem.

 

Oh man, you should read some quotes about adult doll collectors in the past. When the trend of "boudoir dolls" as decoration in women's bedrooms arose, during the 1920s, there was one psychologist who said it was a sign of mental abnormalities. Because, as he put it, normal women have babies and no time for anything else (my friends who have kids AND hobbies would like a word with him, but I digress). I haven't found many sources about adult collectors further back than that, but they definitely existed.

Obviously there have been other sources of stigma around doll collecting for men. But yeah, it's definitely been around a long time- and people have been weird about it for just as long, alas.

 

@~Suisei_Seki~ thank you for pointing me towards these dolls and their owners. These are definitely our kin from 100 years ago

 

I don't hide my dolls from anybody, and I never have.
For that matter I don't hide anything relevant about myself as a person.
I am what I am.

I freely post what I like in social media and that often includes my dolls. The opinion of my friends and family regarding my hobbies doesn't matter. They either understand, or they don't care. No one has ever given me problems about my dolls, and if they did?
The door is that way --->

I don't run around broadcasting things about myself and my doll hobby, that would be weird. If a subject comes up that is relevant to me, then I would mention it. I have never seen the point to announce certain things in my life, because as someone gets to know me they will find these things out naturally. Dolls are just a common part of my life.

 

I don't necessarily hide my hobby but I don't really advertise it either. I actually just told my coworker about it and she was so supportive!

 

I used to be a little embarrassed by my doll collecting hobby as an adult, (even though my parents were tolerant and pretty supportive) but as I got older I stopped caring. I definitely don't bring it up unwarranted, (since there are some people who are creeped out by dolls) but there have been a few times I've met other adults with doll-adjacent hobbies and I felt so relieved to be able to talk more about BJDs. It's also really awesome because some newer friends of mine who are into cosplay also really like BJDs, and so long ago I never thought I'd ever have friends who like BJDs too. I'm not sure if there's a cultural shift now or perhaps I just got more open about my hobby and it feels different than before.

 

I am very open about my love of dolls of all sorts and always have been. When I bought Kaine I proudly showed him off to anyone who would let me, family, friends, coworkers. Even while he was still bald and naked, I just could not contain my excitement! It felt the same as showing off pictures of a new pet or baby to me.
Luckily I have yet to run into anyone who is mean about it, most people in my life have been really receptive even at work. One of my coworkers has actually been interested and asks me about BJDs and other dolls. I actually want to get a smaller BJD to keep at work as a little desk buddy with all my off topic work doll buddies.

 

No, I am not the type to hide any aspects of myself, and always having had somewhat niche interests I am pretty used to not really caring about the opinion of other people.
I won't just unpromted gush about it either, but if the opportunity arises I do not shy away to talk about my boys or show off some pictures. I also do take them with me to outings and for pictures, sometimes I even have one of the smaller scale ones accompany me to work a a little desk buddy.

 

I wouldn’t say I hide my dolls but I don’t lead with it. I don’t like things most people at work like (movies, music, literature, tv shows). I have a better chance of getting someone to watch DDLJ or Detour than explain bjds.

 

I generally don't except family - it's a hassle to try to explain things to them, and the family I come from is not the best so I know that they would be very judgmental with my purchasing choices.

 

Exactly this. I view all my interests, dolls included, as something of a litmus test for crappy people. You fail the test instantly if you get judgemental over any of those things, especially if you insisted on getting me to talk about my interests and then got weird about it when I answered!

Same tactic for me, pretty much. I would never bring it up unless it was somehow relevant, and in the case of BJDs, that seems wildly unlikely to come up in casual conversation But I don't hide the dolls, or any of my other interests, if asked directly or if it comes up organically somehow. I'm not ashamed of any of it in the slightest, I'm just aware that it may be considered "weird" by "normal" people, so I try to keep my Weird to a Societally Palatable Level unless I sense that I might be in good company.

 

I guess about the same as Rekka, I'm perfectly open about being a doll collector to others, but I won't start blabbing about them to non doll people since I assume non interest until someone says they're interested. Even then I think I'm getting better at seeing signs of fake interest as a ND person, it's hard...
So since it's one of my main interests I just keep my mouth shut a lot of the time, I'm interested mostly in a few niche things that most people don't care to chat about so it's like, not a secret but not a topic that comes up much. It feels like a waste of energy to talk the ear off of someone about something they don't care about. which results in too much blabbing online at people who do like dolls but probably don't care much what I have to say about them... Oh well.
I won't make any efforts really to hide who I am and what I like, if they come to my house they will see my dolls and my other collected toys. If they don't like it they will have to get over it. I have had a friend of my husband call my dolls all manner of weird and creepy and question why i like them, of course I hear him say such things about other hobbies as well, all I can really do is pity him, what a sad way of life to only see negatives in someone else's joy. No way am I going to bend to his will or anyone else's by hiding my hobby. My life, my rules, if you don't like it, then you'll have to find something else to do besides bugging me

 

I shared my hobby with a few friends and most of them were interested or at least polite about it. I’ve only had one experience where someone had an unnecessarily immature reaction… I’ve learned to only talk about it around people who I know would appreciate it

 

Yes, but more like there is nobody near me who collects dolls, so in a way, I don't talk about my collection other than online.

 

Reading some of these replies makes me so sad for people but I completely understand being in to a hobby and loved ones not understanding or being interested.

I don't hide my interests but I don't discuss them anymore either. My friends have either dropped their creative pursuits as they aged, or become too distant to have conversations with. Because of my age and lets face it , my own weirdness, I also find it hard to really be a part of a community despite my efforts now and then. So yeah, I mostly keep to myself but that is not the same as hiding it.

Thankfully I live on my own so my dolls and hobbies are all out in the open here!