Recently, sex with blow-up dolls has caught the fancy of some hardened robbers in Texas and Australia. In the Australian case, a man stole "Jungle Jane" sex dolls, blew them up, and dumped his spent dolls in the alley. This sounded a tad flaky and humorous until I chatted with some friends at OND. Turns out there’s a whole business of "real dolls" to satisfy the individual tastes of all. Plunging deeper into the real dolls story churned up both repulsion at the blatant sexism and then sympathy and sadness for the loneliness suffered by some who are victims of the very social perfectionism that is promoted by the real dolls from which they seek comfort. Then, I bounced back to anger when listening to some men give misogynistic reasons why they now have "alternative relationships" with rubber dolls.
It seems the main sex doll is the Real Doll. If you look at the Real Doll "gallery," the female dolls have a patented facial system that allows the buyers to have "multiple interchangeable faces for one body." Not sure if that is to give the feel of your own group of sex partners or because waking up to the same face each morning can be all so boring. While there is only one male real doll, which is blond and white, there is quite an assortment of female dolls, identified by names, like Angelina and candi. The company sells 400 dolls a year.
Select your body, and then pick out a face: The buyer can custom order body parts to get the size and configuration that fills their dreams and fantasies:
At the Real Doll Web site you can choose among nine body types, 14 faces, five skin tones, six eye colors, a palette of makeup colors, 10 wigs, and three different pubic hair styles. Save your pennies, and for $6,499 plus shipping, you can have your very own synthetic woman sent directly to your home.
The real dolls are made of silicone rubber that allows the buyer to bathe and shower with his/her doll. As one experimenter said, the dolls are "almost uncomfortably lifelike." The creator Matt believes that "having sex with a piece of rubber" that is "exactly shaped like and feels like a woman is better than never having sex." Hmm. So, now real women feel like rubber or the ever complimentary comparison of women to car tires, which may explain why real dolls were personally endorsed by Howard Stern after an on-the-air test "drive."
One doll repair specialist talked about how women are intimidated by and jealous of the perfection of the dolls that actually "come to life with motion and friction" when having sex with them. According to the real doll FAQ, oral sex provides the best effects:
When penetrated, a vacuum is formed inside the doll’s entries which provides a powerful suction effect. This effect is strongest in the RealDoll’s oral entry. Some of RealDoll's users have reported intense orgasms due to this specific feature. If you are especially interested in oral sex with your doll, we recommend faces with larger mouths such as the faces 12 (Britney) and 16 (Gabrielle).
And, given that the dolls handle a lot of "physical abuse," particularly with vaginas, there are repair specialists to provide replacements for vaginas, teeth and joints. You can even get packages of real spare pubic hair from Sweden.
Does it make anyone squeamish that we are objectifying mainly women but also men in terms of the perfect body parts? No need to wait until the "perfect" human can be cloned, you can pick out a doll that meets your standards and have sex with it too! But what happened to falling in love and wanting to kiss every bit of your lover/spouse, imperfections and all.
Can "relationships" with real dolls be therapeutic? When Elise and I discussed this issue, she mentioned the movie, "Lars and the Real Girl" so I read a summary about the film. It is about a "shy, lonely, socially inept young man [Lars] who develops [an abstinence] relationship with a life-sized, anatomically-correct doll he orders online." In the film, the family and town play along that his doll Bianca is a real woman. As time passes, Lars begins interacting more socially with real people and even befriends a real woman. After everyone is hooked on Bianca, she becomes ill. Food and flowers fill up Lars’ home from townspeople who had been touched by Bianca. After a tender last kiss, Bianca dies, leaving behind a Lars who has come to terms with past traumas and is now self-confidant.
Sounds like a sweet film, but how do doll relationships translate in real life? I watched a 5-part video series on real men having "real" affairs with the dolls, even setting up websites for their dolls. It was a sad and ironic social commentary that our already perfection driven society leaves at least some men believing that they are better suited or have no choice but to date and sometimes essentially "marry" dolls as their life partner. My sympathy quickly disappeared when the announcer proclaimed how real dolls are the "alternative relationship" that provide the "love and companionship that real women can not provide."
The video shows one young man, Davecat, who can not understand why his parents will not accept his new live-in girlfriend doll, Sidore, that he brought home. He talks about how his father is freaked out that he is not having an affair with a human, and finds it unnatural and strange. Davecat can not understand why his 6-year relationship with a doll should be so "alien" to his dad. Davecat knows that he is alone, but his doll keeps him from being lonely as he ascribes human emotions to his doll and how she is always there for him in ways women are not.
In England, a 50 year-old man is having a relationship with a doll because he was always rejected by women. He feels that his "appearance" has left him being treated as an "outsider." The dolls he owns have "immensely" improved his quality of life. In fact, he plans to live with dolls the rest of his life.
Gordon, age 39, sitting with his two dolls, explains how relationships with humans are temporary while those with inanimate objects can last for years. Gordon also talks about how he can’t have relationships with women due to his physical appearance but now that he has Ginger and Kelly, his 3 guns and a long sword, he will not be any woman’s "doormat" anymore. Now he has "peace of mind" knowing he will not have to hear "lies and deceit" from women. In fact, he plans to be buried with his two real dolls.
So, for some men, masturbation with rubber is better than real relationships with real women. How did we end up here?