My Thoughts on Real Dolls and the Men Who Buy Them
If you are unaware, there are life size human dolls called Real Dolls, that are primarily market as sex toys, but for many men who purchase them, end up being much more. They are made to replicate the human body as real as possible and in the 30+ years the company has been around , they have improved dramatically. They retail for around $5000 and they offer customization options for almost every part of the doll if you ask for it. On the outside they look like sex dolls, but many times the men who purchase them use them for much more.
In a way they become a type of surrogate women that the men who purchase them desire. I recently saw a documentary called Guys and Dolls, which explored the relationship of some men and their dolls. Obviously you could tell for the majority of them it was much more than sexual. For one man in particular, he modeled the doll eerily similar to the ex girlfriend who left him. Another man purchased the doll after his elderly mother had died and it was clear it was a way of having someone that could rely on him once more. The men in many cases consider these dolls as their girlfriends or wives, not just an inanimate object.
Many of the men who purchase these dolls are broken in ways that need professional help to fix, but instead they indulge in the fantasy with the dolls. It is clear that in many ways the dolls serve the purpose of an escape from the real world and the problems they have interacting socially with others. Rather than facing the fear of confronting the opposite gender, they have chosen to ignore that aspect of their lives completely. For the most part the men aren’t delusional, they know it is a doll, but at the same time they have the amount of respect for the doll that you might have for a living being.
Yes this is a doll
The much deeper issue that these dolls highlight is how technology especially now in the age of the internet can distance us as much as it can bring us together. There is a real possibility that in 60-70 years they will be able to create real dolls not only as mute sex dolls, but as communicative partners. There are already experiments going on with digital girlfriends, all you need to do is use that technology in the doll and you can create the closest substitute to a girl friend possible. If it gets to the point where the fake is literally better than the real thing because it is easier to get along with ect, why would people choose the real thing.
We could essentially create the perfect woman/man that never complains and does exactly what we want them to. This could become a real threat to social interaction in the future. I obviously think it’s a long way off, perhaps even past my lifetime, but eventually it will come. If you look at just how much better the real dolls are now versus 30 years ago, you would be amazed. According to the company they are getting better all the time and they constantly seek out new and better Ways of fabrication.
In my opinion, the real dolls arent the problem, but rather the product of deeper problems we have within out society. Whether or not it is that we cast many people out and they don’t have the ability to find friend circles, or more people are choosing to socialize alone on the internet rather than putting themselves out there, there is a bigger problem. Technology has made us closer than ever, but at the same time driven some further apart. Real dolls cater to this demographic and is current trends continue, they should have no problem continuing to sell more.
Thanks to @Elyaque for the badges
People think war, disease, climate change or an asteroid will end the human race.
They are wrong.
Sex robots and VR are the extinction event.
Gotta give you credit for beating me to that one.
We thought we were fine... until the sex robots learned to fight..
"There are already experiments going on with digital girlfriends, "
Japan is always a leader in this technology:
The Japanese men who prefer virtual girlfriends to sex.
Also, since I've been itching for a place to slip this in (ahem)...
If we want to be serious for a moment, I think part of the problem is the deteriorating social skills of younger people. Even phone contact is practically dead; many millennials and younger are text only. Aziz Ansari covered this pretty well in his book Modern Romance, where he discusses how the younger the group you look at, the more they are paralyzed by even routine romantic situation due to a lack of socialization and social skills.
Add to that widespread narcissism from social media, and you have all the ingredients for the "asexual" step of the Mouse Utopia, right before they moved on to infanticide and cannibalism (which, hopefully, Japan will not be a leader in soon).
You post about a bunch of different stuff, but it's always fascinating. Love seeing your posts every time @calaber24p.
Real dolls are bizarre... I can understand why someone would want a Fleshlight or whatever, if it feels better then why not? But I can imagine nothing sadder than fucking a fake woman doll. It's just... ooph.
Must be weird to work there and know your company is selling something to people with most likely a big mental issue.
It is sad in a way but at least these people get something rather than nothing at all lol
With the possibility of technology like real dolls in the future, people could
create microcosmic solipstic worlds for themselves, in which all their desires and whims are catered to, and they're never questioned. It's a frightening thought - It could potentially socialize people who don't understand negotiation or how to deal with friction.
That doesn't seem too far off the mark since people already tailor news feeds and friend or follow lists to reflect only what they want to hear and see. The machine feeds into solipsism: "... they will learn to love their slavery."
This would be good for the small part of the population who have severe mental illness and are truly unable to cope with life... but potentially disastrous for the majority of people who need discomfort at times to grow into their best selves.
The real problem is not that there are guys that treat dolls like persons, but that there are guys who treat female persons like dolls.
Honestly, I think with already having first programs being able to pass the Turing test (the test is passed "if a computer is mistaken for a human more than 30% of the time during a series of five-minute keyboard conversations" http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27762088 ), sooner or later these dolls will evolve to Andriods and nobody will laugh anymore about the owners of them. The film "AI" by Steven Spielberg quite smartly addresses some of those aspects. Of course this will take time, but eventually we will get there!
Fact of the matter is, these people are escaping their fears when confronting them would bring so much value to their lives. I struggle to sympathize with them, to be perfectly honest.
I remember watching a documentary about people who marry their dolls... I felt bad but I couldn't help but laugh
great post
i like it @calaber24p
I thought only girls play with dolls. Apparently guys too. What is wrong with the world? This is just so so sad.