love dolls, objects that can strikingly resemble humans, are not strictly sextoys. For their owners, it is not about masturbating, but about having a relationship, sexual or otherwise.
As you browse the web, you come across several accounts and reports that help better understand the point of view of people who live with real dolls. Here is a compilation of them.
Testimony from a former owner of sex dolls
On Reddit, a former owner of sex dolls recounts his experience. Here is a translation of his account:
“I have owned several silicone love dolls”
I spent about 11,000 dollars buying myself sex dolls and sex toys, namely a Boy Toy doll (by the makers of RealDoll), a fellatio machine Venus 2000 (note: the male device sold by the makers of the Sybian), as well as a Japanese LifeDoll and a Japanese HoneyDolls doll head.
These products had seemed interesting to me when I was looking at photos on the web, but please allow me to explain… Simply owning them was by far the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me in my life. Are you squirming in your chair? Perfect. Let’s go:
The delivery ordeal
Silicone dolls fitted with metal skeletons such as RealDoll and Boy Toy are quite heavy; the box they are shipped in easily weighs 100 lbs (note: 45 kg). You see that person next to you? Ask them to collapse limply, then lift them, carry them into the next room, and set them down without hurting their fingers or toes. See? It is not easy.
When the plain cardboard box, 5 feet (note: 1.52 m) tall, finally arrives, be prepared to explain to your neighbours why you have taken a full day off to collect a “grandfather clock” that they are not allowed to look at. Also be prepared to ask a friend to help you move this so-called family heirloom if you live upstairs.
Once the box is in your home, there is a feeling of mischievous elation, like actually managing to steal a porn film. Like cheating the system. However, in my case, as soon as I opened the box, I realised: I had made a major mistake.
But I had paid so much for that damn thing. Might as well take it out of its box.
The uncanny valley
As you may have noticed, the faces of high-end sex dolls have an artificial look in the manner of “uncanny valley”. The faces look like a woman who has felt an ice cube slide slowly down her spine, by surprise, at random each day for a week.
Note: the “uncanny valley”, or in English “uncanny valley”, is a scientific theory by Japanese robotics engineer Masahiro Mori. According to it, the more an android robot is similar to a human being, the more its imperfections seem monstrous to us.
Preparing the love doll
New dolls have adjustable faces. Or even faces, eyelids, eyeballs and necks that are removable. Once everything is in place, the “sexy woman” illusion starts to become noticeable (as in the pictures used to sell them). But the preparation of the doll is the deal-breaker hidden behind owning a doll.
If you own a doll, I strongly suggest you not do the preparation when you are aroused, because it will kill any form of libido. Hmm? What is that? Wait, darling, your eyeball is looking cross-eyed. Let me remove your entire face to fix that. Brrr…
The preparation generally involves moving the doll, applying powder to the silicone so it is not sticky, putting clothes on her, warming her up using an electric blanket, and finally putting her into the desired position. Again, once the libido-killing preparation is finished, the illusion is highly credible.
I presume that some real doll owners leave their doll in their bed for the sole purpose of reducing preparation time. On a website called “DollForum”, many sex doll owners seem comfortable with all that preparation, or at least used to it. For me, it was too tedious to be worth it. I imagine that those who have owned dolls the longest are those who have had the fewest real relationships, because they have little to compare it to.
Having sex with a doll
Even so, the doll was meant for sex, and I had paid a lot for it. I had to try. For science.
Having sex with a silicone doll requires imagination, a lot of imagination. Yes, the physical appearance can be very sexy if she is dressed in your favourite outfit and your favourite wig… But the act itself leaves a lot to be desired. There is no intimacy. The doll makes no sound, no movement, no interaction. There are no sparkling eyes that look into yours and close slightly when you find a rhythm of penetration that she enjoys. No emotional connection.
Edit : People have asked me: “If it did not work, why buy another one?” It took me several attempts to realise that a doll is not a substitute for emotional connection. This story only relates my most recent purchase.
For anyone who has ever been in love, I believe the experience of owning a silicone doll would become quickly, or even instantaneously, frustrating. Again, some doll owners are very happy with their decision, but it was not my thing. So I sold the dolls back, and recovered a good part of my money that way. And I have had no regrets since. Intimacy and connection with others now make more sense to me. And that has helped me have more fulfilling real relationships.
Reports
Guys and dolls
“Guys and dolls” is a video report (in English) devoted to people who own and live with sex dolls.
For some of them, real dolls are substitutes, synthetic partners, after failing to seduce a flesh-and-blood woman. But others feel very happy with their dolls, and would not want a relationship with a human woman.
If this video does not work, the report is also available in several parts here.
It is also the name of a 1950s musical, but that is off the subject.
Davecat, who is seen in this report, describes himself as “objectum-sexual” (see his interview on Vice.com). That is, he feels a deep emotional, affectionate and sexual attraction towards an object.
Also worth seeing:
- the Davecat’s blog, devoted to news about “synthetiks”.
- Doll Making: Behind the Scenes of Making Silicone Dolls : photos featuring owners of love dolls and their dolls (you can find several protagonists from the previous report there).
For science
In I did it For Science : To have sexual relations with “the world’s finest love doll.” : a journalist from Nerve.com recounts how he had sex with a RealDoll and what he felt during the encounter.
Their manufacture
A short documentary on the manufacture of real dolls:
(If this video does not work, this report is also available on Vimeo).
Edit : also worth seeing, on Vocativ, a photo report on sex dolls.
