Just now the internet is going through another spasm of sex-negative Nervous Nellies in a freakout about an impending wave of “sex robot” products — life-like silicone sex dolls that increasingly will be equipped with basic interactive functionalities. Why the freakout? As near as I can tell, the women (and, yes, it is mostly women) doing the freaking are the same ones who hate porn and despise sex workers and get angry when “their” men masturbate. Lots of women enjoy using their power to say “yes” and “no” to sex as a lever to influence the behavior of the men in their lives; and some few of these women will protest anything that offers men sexual pleasures that are alternative to their own dubious charms. Objections to silicone sex dolls or to flesh-and-blood sex workers or to internet porn are all part of the same phenomenon: a fear that men who have lots of options for sexual gratification won’t be as easy to lead around by their presumed-desperate dicks.
As a man, therefore, I waste very little time on the pearls-clutching internet think-pieces fretting endlessly about how ever-improving sex dolls will impact future sexual politics. But I do admit to a fascination with the underlying technologies. In my lifetime sex dolls have progressed enormously, from cheap vinyl inflatables all the way to top-end life-sized artwork-quality fully-articulated human statues of surpassing loveliness, made of silicone or TPE or a bewildering array of proprietary mixtures and materials. In truth, I had not realized the sheer variety of models, styles, and sizes that were available, until the people at OVDoll asked me to look at their enormous selection of realistic sex dolls:
Ovdoll has a detailed website with oh-so-many dolls to choose from. Headquartered in Japan with a factory in GuangDong (Canton) China and a sales office in the US, they export dolls to more than 100 countries and they tout their 8+ years of exporting experience. There’s a photo of a scene from their factory that you would be pardoned for thinking came straight out of a science fiction movie:
What’s more, if the OVDoll ready selection isn’t sufficient for you, it’s possible to custom-order a doll in nine different body sizes, five breast sizes, four skin colors, and three eye colors, while choosing from more than 200 different available heads with diverse facial features, and then selecting from an assorting of wigs and pubic hair stylings. Plus there’s even an available selection of body tattoos! That’s a lot of customer choice in the selection of your love doll’s appearance, and most of these choices are also available in varying quantities when ordering one of the stock, not-quite-so-custom dolls in their web catalog.
Breathless internet think-piece writers notwithstanding, I don’t believe the current generation of sex dolls or even the next generation of “sex robots” with AI-driven speech routines and advanced animatronics are going to replace live human women in the sexual affections of most men. At the end of the day, we’re talking about fancy luxurious sex toys. But sex toys, as someone recently wrote in my Twitter feed, are about joy. And if you’re against joy, you’re absolutely on the wrong side.
Similar Sex Blogging:
