With the recent trend of sex dolls becoming more and more popular, you’d be surprised how many strange facts and figures there are to this phenomenon.
Here are some stories about sex dolls you probably don’t need to know:
1. Although most owners of sex dolls only regard sex dolls as their own toys, some people go beyond this and regard these dolls as real companions.
An extreme example is Dave Carter from Michigan, USA. He married a sex doll named Heidorn and later bought a sex doll named Elena. They are all made by the Abyss Corporation and are worth about $6,000.
Although they are not legally married, they have matching wedding rings and are preparing for a ceremony for their 15th anniversary.
2. Japan’s sex doll industry calls dolls “Dutch wives.”
Historically, this is because Dutch sailors spent months on the high seas and tried creative solutions to their “loneliness”, ending up with rags to make a sex doll and more. In French, they are called “Mrs.” Voyage”, in Spanish they are “Mrs. Travel.” These two words roughly translate as “Ms. Travel.”
The sailors made these love dolls out of leather and sold them to the Japanese during their stay in Japanese ports. So to this day, the history of sex dolls from the Netherlands has remained in Japan.
3. Today, Barbie dolls are a childhood necessity for most children. While this brand of dolls are now kid-friendly, their origins are actually much longer.
In fact, Barbie was originally based on a sex doll. Back in the 1950s, there was a German doll named Bild Lilli, based on a particularly popular German actress, designed for adults. The doll was so popular at the time that American toy makers took notice and created Barbies that were more suitable for children.
4. Sex dolls can become very realistic. From the internal alloy construction to the details on the eyebrows, the craftsmanship makes the sex doll look almost real. But this also makes them very heavy, ranging from 30kg to 55kg. This may be one of the reasons why not many women buy sex dolls. These weights make moving them an exercise.
5. Many sex doll manufacturers offer male sex dolls, but on average these products only account for about 10% of total sales.
It probably doesn’t help that men have far fewer options for sex dolls than women, and far less customization than female sex dolls.
6. They like to call themselves “baby friends” based on their loyalty to the sex doll industry and culture.
This fandom revolves around their collective love of sex dolls, with many baby friends fantasizing about sex dolls and becoming real partners.
Dealing with real people seemed too difficult for most of these people, so they turned to sex dolls. Many people will argue that man-made objects don’t lie, deceive, and criticize you like flesh and blood.
7. “Fleshlight” inventor Steven Shubin has been involved in the field of synthetic sex dolls as early as 1995.
A creative and technical person, he once patented a mannequin filled with oily elastomers. He later patented one of his inventions in 1996, which was eventually named “Fleshlight”.
8. Howard Stern was known for indecent behavior on his show, but he was probably one of the main reasons why sex dolls were so popular in the 1990s!
At the time, he ordered a sex doll for his show and promoted it on air. As a result of the program, orders for dolls have increased significantly. The company now sells as many as 300 dolls a year, each priced at at least $5,500. It has to be said that the company’s income is all his credit.
9. More mature industry models are also starting to notice the growing popularity of sex dolls.
So far, the Japanese custom industry has also experimented with purchasing sex dolls and has opened experience centers in developed areas such as Tokyo. The Japanese creative use of sex dolls doesn’t stop there – they did the movie Air Dolls. The protagonist is a silicone inflatable doll named Xiao Wang. The film follows her transformation from doll to human. Stories of emotional experiences.
10. The more realistic the sex doll, the more creepy and objectionable it is.
As early as 1970, a robotics engineer named Masahiro Mori documented the phenomenon that the closer an artificial human body is to a real person, the more disturbing it becomes. This phenomenon is known as the “uncanny valley”. People would be more receptive if robots were like Transformers, but the closer we get to human form, we start to notice subtle differences between them and real people.