Dolls' Sexuality and Owner's Sexuality: Are they related?

I'm not sure if it's linked. I have gay boys and gay girls characters, also bisexual and straight (minority). I have always been into the GLB scene even tho I was straight most my life (bi now that i'm not in a relationship), so I dunno. Maybe for some people it reflects their sexuality, for me it's not really something I would take into consideration.

 

I'm straight, I think...because I also consider myself as asexual since I don't like anyone in real life and has been like this since 10 years ago (and I'm just in my twenties, I think I'll never get marry). When it comes to attraction, I lean 100% towards men. Although, I love reading MxM novels and yaoi, none of my male dolls is gay, they are either straight or asexual, like myself. I would love to create my 2 favorite MxM characters into BJDs though, but that will take time (and a lot of money).

So, in a way, my dolls are a reflection of myself^^ they all have bits of my personality.

 

I'm straight ,but I have a 2 gay couples and I have 3 straight couple. I'm totally ok with my dolls not being the same sexuality as me

 

my doll's sexual orientation aren't really thought out. they're straight by default but if I was to complete their character, that could change.
as for myself, I'm straight leaning on the grey-A. maybe that's why I don't really bother with my doll's sexuality

 

I'm a lesbian, but most of my dolls have decided they're straight. Then again, I've only got two boys, and they haven't met (one just arrived and isn't assembled), so it's hard to say for sure! I have three MSD girls that all photo best opposite boys, and my SD16 girl hasn't met any girls her size yet.

That said, the characters they're based on were all over the map! So I have no idea. The older I get, the more comfortable I've gotten with playing/having straight characters, though. Even if it's still a little uncomfortable. I'm not sure if my dolls reflect that at all.

 

I'm asexual so any relationship that happens with my dolls does not reflect myself. Nor am I bothered with it. I'm surrounded by friends of all sexuality. It is just kinda like that.

 

i'm bisexual, but i've been dating a guy very devotedly for years and i don't have a girlfriend in the equation (permission slip is filled out and signed, you can all get in line now! /seriousjoke) so maybe that is why i currently only have female dolls? the child-like ones are like "aww, they're cute" but the adult-like dolls i own are like "aww, she's kind of sexy". it's probably pretty transparent that i channel the other side of my sexuality somewhere else (my hobby).

that said, if i think of my dolls as characters, i don't think they would all be gay or bisexual or even very sexual at all. just like people, they would have variety and probably a strong identity regarding their sexuality... but yes, i would still consider at least some of them to share my preferences if they were to be anthropomorphized? (which they are to an extent)

 

I have always identified as asexual with slight female leanings. However, the dolls I will one day own have a story all their own. They're beloved OOCs and RPG characters that I can finally make into the flesh. My first boy, Raphaello is bi. Tsu is straight as an arrow and married, though I don't know if I'll get his wife...there isn't a sculpt that really speaks to me for her. Drake is gay.

 

I'm on the "No, I don't really think so" side of the fence on this topic. I agree with the related interest crossover theory presented earlier, as it does seem plausible. But, from reading the comments and my own IRL experience interacting with other doll collectors, the owner's sexual orientation has little to no bearing on the doll's perceived sexuality.

For perspective; I'm a straight female and my dolls generally do NOT have assigned sexualities. I have taken "couples" photos of my dolls for the cute factor, and have nothing against myself or others photographing my (grown-up) dolls as hetero-, homo- or bisexual couples. I'll head-swap to change the gender of some of my dolls, if I feel like it. I don't perceive my dolls to be anything more than dolls/objects, so it is easy for me to disconnect from any assumed personalities I have projected onto them.

My dolls each have an "image concept" instead of an established "character" so this may contribute?

 

I think this depends on the owner.

Me myself... I am a gay female and all my dolls are gay. But that's not because I wanted it like that, but because they got a click with characters that were male.

Maybe for others the doll sexuality and owner sexuality are related, but not for me. It's just coincidental.

 

I consider myself pansexual (meaning I don't care about the gender as long as I'm loved) I used to consider myself bi til I found what I really wanted was just a special someone. Now as this being related to dolls, they might be a small connection just because I find people who are bi/gay/ etc are more open to the option for their dolls. That doens't mean there aren't plenty of straight people with nonstraight dolls because it could just be based on what you want to express or think would be an interesting storyline.

To show this, just because i'm pansexual doesn't mean my dolls will be. My first girl is straight and my second girl will probably be Bi (that's the extent of the doll family right now lol) There's so many stories people want to express and so many options, the only coreelation I'd come down to is it depends on how open minded the owner is ^^

 

My personal preference has nothing to do with how I see my dolls sexuality at all. Specially since I base most of my dolls on characters from stories I write, so in most cases their preference come from that specific story. So I have straight, gay, a-sexual and too young to care :3

 

For me, yes. I am pansexual leaning towards gay. All my characters are pansexual, gay or bi. I write the same things I also I like to read and that I feel there isn't enough of out there.
I have no straight main characters as they bore the living crap out of me.

 

In my case, no. I am bisexual. When it comes to my dolls I haven't even thought about their sexuality at all since they are all tinies and therefore children who have nothing to do with sexuality in my eyes.

 

I'm bisexual, my characters are ; Gay (mxm, fxf), straight, bisexual and asexual... It so depends on the story you have in mind for them...

 

I have definitely noticed a trend like this, however it doesn't relate to me. I am straight, and although my first boy is straight as well, my second one is pansexual, currently elated with another male. What I have to blame for this is yaoi. XD I enjoy BL a lot recently, and so I wanted a doll/character to represent that, is all.

 

I'm not really sure. I never had any romance in my life aside some small crushes but my girl is going to have a boyfriend for sure. Her little sister might get a boyfriend as well or be left single. But who knows. Right now I have only one girl so there's no-one for her now.

 

Well i'm an open lesbian and i do want some of my dolls to be gay but i do thing it just depends on who the owner is and how opened mined they are.

 

I think it just depends on the person, really. If your dolls aren't characters, they wouldn't even have a sexual preference at all. If they are characters, well then, shouldn't the doll reflect the character and not the creator (saying this assuming that the writers don't use their characters as an outlet for their own thoughts and whatnot).

 

Well my female dolls all have male companions either with them or planned for them, but if I'm honest I've never given it to much thought

 

For me there is a link. At least with my first doll. Being 1. an artist and 2. bisexual (pan really). I am mostly attracted to androgyny as mentioned before. I especially love boyish girls, which I have used in the faceup and clothing choices of my first doll, Izzy. I don't wank off to her or anything like that, but she is an expression of what I find beautiful or interesting. As I believe most dolls are for people. Why would someone own a doll that they did not enjoy? That being said, I don't think everyone's doll choices are sexual. That would make 1/4 and 1/2 doll owners very creepy people indeed.

 

I don't link sexuality to dolls, more than on the fact that they resemble the human image, and usually, humanity is sexual.
Straight, homosexual?
I like reading slash romances, and still, I think i don't see my doll as homosexual.
I'm a woman married to a man and love him. I still enjoy reading whatever, and seeing photostories where the dolls are gay, although mine are not.
It has more to do with using your imagination, and what you like to imagine. My adult dolls are aventurers and focuse more on that.

 

I agree that homosexual and bisexual doll owners are fairly common, I would also suggest that creative people are extremely common in the hobby. I would theorise that there are a significant number of bisexual and homosexual people (particularly those who accept themselves and simultaneously feel free to express themselves) in the "creative people" category. Because dolls appeal to creative people, one sees a significant number of openly gay and bi doll owners.

 

i don't think it has to do with sexuality, but rather preference.
i'm straight but i really like for my boy dolls to be gay ^w^
i just find it more cute.
(maybe cause i'm a yaoi fan)

 

I know bisexual and homosexual have been mentioned, but I am a transgender/Genderqueer and I collect dolls~
I never liked dolls growing up until I found BJD's. To me, they're like little people aand like pets, they can't judge you like other humans. I find my doll, Yoru very therapudic and created his character to be related to mine. My doll is a drag queen, and a homosexual (I'm in the process of buying his boyfriend)
so in my case, my sexuality/gender identity is related to my doll. However, I dont think all of my dolls will be LGBTQ.

 

This is really intresting, I never gave it any thought before but now I have iv realised just how many of the doll owners I know are bisexual/gay. I dont know why that would be, I cant really think why it would appeal more as a hobby based on sexuality but oh well. In terms of dolls sexuality been linked to the owners, I myself am bisexual, but all my dolls are straight. Im not sure what that says about me :P but I do have a couple of dolls in the pipelines who have variouse differnet sexualities. I guess for me thats just because thats how the world is, we all have differnt prefrances just as we all have differnt hair colour. To me its just a little extra thing to make my characters more real.

 

My dolls have all sorts of different sexualities... from asexual, to heterosexual to homosexual and even pansexual... I don't think there's a type of sexuality not expressed my one of my dolls yet, perhaps with the exception of bisexual... (there are difference between pansexuality and bisexuality, both for the mindset of the individual expressing it, as well as how it is perceived) it doesn't have to do with me at all -I, myself, am pretty much straight- it all depends on the character each doll is meant to represent.

 

I guess such statistics are not really surprising. Most doll owners are also familiar with the manga/anime scene and - fortunately - there is a quite independent and liberal view on themes like sexual orientation. Therefore such fans will "out" themselves more willingly and freely than in the "real life environment", where such a confession is still likely to make one lose his job (sorry that's still a fact "out there").

I would call myself "bi" for just one reason - I don't care for the bookcover, I want to see WHO that person really is that I'm dealing with. I never even wasted a single thought on what page I am here, when I fell in love it simply did not matter if it was a boy or a girl. If you love, you put everything else aside, it truly doesn't matter. (And those collectors who felt urged to write here that they are so straight and think this does not belong into a forum discussion - I think they are too concerned and still cannot handle such stuff as liberal as it should be. Unfortunately. If something does not touch me in any way, I don't read it or comment it, simple as that. And it is ALL about the owners - no owners, no dolls.)
But apart from that, I don't put any importance on the sexuality of my dolls ^^
They are meant to represent a certain character (as soon as I have all the clothing made and so on) and nothing else. They are food for my camera. That's why I started with repainted dolls from the Tonner Company. After that era - that seems to gradually fade - I came to the BJDs. As I think they are far too expensive to collect them I put my priority on 2 or three of them (got my first this month) that seem most suitable for taking the photos I want. I would have started with them earlier, but things like my job, expensive car repairs, taxes and bills are always above on the priority list.
(Sorry for any grammar mistakes, english is not my mother language. Thank you.)

 

I'm not certain there is a link for me personally, that's not to say there couldn't be one for other people. The sexuality of my dolls tends to come more from their characters and how their stories develop.

Straight: Andromia
Bi/possibly straight: Raleigh (The character was originally going to be in a relationship with a man, but I never wrote anything down or explored it much. When Andromia arrived, their relationship just seemed to click so much better)
Gay: Richard
Asexual: Aldric
Has the current mentality of a child and doesn't know either way: Raico

Personally, I'm bi and yet my doll characters have a range of sexualities so that's why I don't think there's a specific link in my case.

 

For me there's no real link. I don't know what my sexuality is due to some deeper issues. But my dolls have their own within their own worlds.
But I think I know where you're coming from. When I first started making OC's and drawing them a lot of them where the same as me. Same sex, same interest, same hair color and so forth. But eventually I learned that OC's I create don't have to be just like me. However a lot of the first one's were sort of like... Subconscious venting, I learned a lot about myself with them. As I grew older I created characters that could stand alone and were nothing like me!
I wouldn't think it uncommon if people just starting out in the world of character creating start to create characters much like themselves, including their own sexuality.

With my current characters, One is Asexual because he's focused on grander things.
Another I would believe to be attracted to girls. But possibly boys too since he hasn't really seen another human being in ages so he could easily fall in love with on no matter the gender.
And the last one I haven't really thought about it since I've been more focused on his housing situation. Maybe he had someone in the past but they're gone know I dunno, I'm still writing them.
Then I have a doll that doesn't have any personality. Just here to be cute.

 

EDITED TO ADD: Oops! I hadn't realized I'd already responded to this thread, five years ago, with pretty much the same answer I gave here.

Teddy

 

I think our (owners) sexuality is somehow connected with our dolls. What I mean is, dolls are projections of humans, often very realistic, so it is natural for some people, to express their own penchants on them, and through them. I personally haven't done this, but my dolls are very childish, and I don't consider them to be sexual objects at all.
When it comes to owner's orientation - I haven't noticed any interplay.

 

It could have a connection. Although I'm straight. I'm pretty sure my doll is gay... Although I guess some people think I'm a lesbian.

 

I think it varies from owner to owner.

For me, my dolls' sexualities are largely determined by their personalities. I'm asexual myself, but I have dolls who are bisexual, pansexual, heterosexual, and a couple of others who are still undecided.

 

This isn't the case for me I'm married. I love my husband and never went that way. I am however not skinny and would love to wear clothes like my dolls. So they get to wear cute stuff that i can't.lol

 

I'm a lesbian, and I kind of love saying it, cause it's the only time I've really clicked with the sexuality I labelled myself as. So yay. As such for planned female dolls, I have Cadere planned, who's a lesbian, Famine (pan but leans towards sapphic), Valkyrie (bi), Melody (ace lesbian), Nyx, who I don't know about the sexuality of, Neferet (bi but leans heavily to women), Katherine (straight), Di (pansexual but aromantic) and Jo (pan). For men, I have Jack (gay), Thanatos (who's probably pan, but is really just in love with Frost), Grim (complicated. Considers self straight. Will have sex with anything. Considers himself aro. Falls in love.), War (straight), Morte (bisexual but heteroromantic), Kalona (strikes me as pan), midnight (is a god. Just wants love.) and Frost (male-aligned non-binary.)

So tldr; I'm a lesbian and I have 2 lesbians, 2 bi girls, and three pansexual girls, as well as one straight girl. I have a lot of lgbt+ men too, one gay man, two pansexual men (probably three including midnight), 1-2 bi guys, depending on how honest grim feels, and one straight guy. Plus non-binary frost who would self-identify as gay.

So, long story longer, I think as a sexual minority, I'm more inclined to write characters like me who are in the minority, though I do have a decent balance of f/f, m/m and m/f ships... Albeit slightly stilted toward f/f because I used these characters to explore my own sexuality.

 

I'd think that varies from owner to owner. But for me, no. I'm asexual/hetero-romantic, but I have dolls planned who will be straight, lesbian, and bi. I like writing characters who aren't like me.

 

I've never really considered my dolls' sexualities, but I do have a doll that is agender, like myself. I'm going to assume the lack of thought into their sexualities is partly due to the fact that I'm asexual, so perceiving them in that manner hasn't really crossed my mind. I think that dolls and their identities relating to their owner's differs from case to case, though. Still, I do find it amazing that there is so much representation and variety in the community, whether it be the owners or their dolls!

 

All my dolls are gay and I am pansexual so at least as for myself there is no link between our sexualities.

 

I do believe that dolls are a creative outlet and can be made into anything based on the story they are given, however I don't necessarily believe that their is any link in sexuality of the owners of the dolls and dolls themselves. I'm only into guys (though I can appreciate beauty and attractiveness as well as any other person) , and my boyfriend is very much into girls only yet he is incredibly supportive of my doll hobby.

In all though, I really think it depends on how a person perceives themselves as well as their dolls. It could be linked if you want it to be, however it could also have nothing to do with the hobby.

 

Being a gay male, dolls don't represent me in my sexuality. My dolls are more mini mannequins to me. My boys are all going to have a storyline that revolves around fashion in some way or another.
(But I will confess all my boys are gay... so I can pair them up with one another so they aren't alone lol just like their owner.)

1. I like to design menswear, when I feel that creative urge so I use male dolls, which I usually only collect for inspiration.

2. I do visual display/merchandising so again they are mini mannequins.

 

I've noticed that doll collecting seems to attract people who perhaps... deviate a little from the norm? the LGBTA+ community, non gender conforming people, alternative lifestyle folk, neuro atypical people, the nerds and geeks, those generally considered "outsiders" amongst the "normal" people and i'm not sure why. Is it perhaps the same reason why roleplay attracts similar people? Escapism and creativity? Not sure. But I have noticed that while doll collecting in general seems to attract a lot of people who deviate from "the norm" socially, it also seems to depend on WHAT dolls.
For instance, Sindy collectors seem to be predominantly older women who have retired and are almost reliving their childhood with a much loved memory of their youth. Meanwhile, Barbie has a huge gay male following. Monster High attracts a lot of geeks and social outcasts, no doubt because of the "be yourself" message of the franchise as well as being a bit macabre.
It goes on and on.

I think you could write a whole thesus on why and how, and probably still not come to any solid conclusions.

I'm a bi doll collector as well lol. Married to a bi guy as well. Quite funny. But for me my dolls, like my rp characters have never been supposed to be "me" as I really don't much like ME. They're not even idealised me, theyre someone totally else with their own flaws and problems. They're not so much alter egos, as characters who wander into my head and sit around telling me stuff and not shutting up till I share it (they're jerks.) and apparently this isn't uncommon for creative people. Maybe it's a form of madness, I dunno, but it means that for me, my dolls will seldom if ever have anything in common with me, and that includes my sexuality. It's escapism, but not escape into a perfect world, just into a different one. My dolls are just 3d avatars of characters, yet I don't rp my doll characters and I don't doll shell my rp characters. I would if I could, but I just can't find sculpts that are right for most of them heh. So I keep the two separate for my own sanity.