What Do Feminists Think About Sex Dolls?

Article by Sara Matthews:

A sex doll, also known as a love doll is a type of anthropomorphic toy used for performing sex acts as a replacement for one’s sexual partner. These may consist of an entire body of around 25kg with a face, or just a partial body, with the accessories necessary for sexual stimulation. Sex dolls exist in many forms but are distinguished from sex robots, which are anthropomorphic creations designed to be able to engage in more complex interactions.

To feminists, sex dolls are animatronic humanoid dolls with penetrable orifices where male buyers use them as substitutes for females. These products promote the objectification of the female body and as such, constitute a further assault on human intimacy when pornography, prostitution, and child exploitation are facilitated and proliferated by digital technology, turning it into a global profitable industry. In their beliefs, these dolls in the form of a woman add to persuasive cultures where sexual violence against females is reiterated in a new way.

Many sources supplying adult toys and sex dolls confirmed that they had a sudden jump in sales in recent months since many men have upgraded from smaller masturbators to full-scale sex dolls. WM dolls, one of the professional model manufacturing factories located in China, is committing ongoing research and development with their production of internationally patented products.

In 2016, there was a call for a ban on the creation of anthropomorphic sex robots. In 2015, a Japanese robot company actually banned sex with their products. A few months back, a 43-year-old Sydney man was accused of importing parts of 11 childlike sex dolls in air cargo shipments. Another news article aired that a Singaporean student is facing deportation from Australia after he had been caught by authorities for importing a child-like sex doll from China.

On one hand, if men are acting out their fantasies on dolls rather than humans, it’s a good sign that real women are being replaced by inanimate objects, and that saves women and children from harm. Think about prostitution; in a common-sense approach, it seems reasonable as it could do good and reduce the harm that’s done to prostitutes. By establishing this belief, many sex dolls brothels have been opened across Europe in which an encounter costs a about 100 euros.

On the other hand, we are actually harming women by allowing these places to exist. The harm doesn’t come directly to a particular woman but a huge cultural damage is developing, because it’s reinforcing the idea that already exists which is women are just objects and men can use them for sexual pleasure however they wish. But that’s why we need to have a feminist analysis about these things and understand if we need to step away from such inventions.

Feminists argue that men are using sex dolls to show how a woman should behave while having sex; it’s most likely that a man needs it because a woman is unable to fulfil all of his extreme sexual fantasies. That’s why there is the prediction that sooner or later, manufacturers will have the dolls programmed to say “no, please stop or, yes, do it harder” with a playful voice. They accepted it as a mere doll in the first place but later, they hint it towards the ultimate debasement of women. Feminists firmly believe that sex dolls are more than a manifestation of pornographic culture and it represents the male dominant society’s belief that men can have sex when and however they want no matter what the cost.

Men usually fantasize that it’s not a doll lying beneath them but a woman he craves to make his underlying desires come true. Maybe one day there will be a real body instead of this polymer product and he will be doing the same practices – raping, choking, and hitting. What feminists fear most is the result they worked for centuries for - That freeing women from oppression will go in vain. They blame the porn culture and the sex doll industry as men intend to buy dolls that are objectified as women made of rubber and plastic so that they can practice the same things they observe in porn. These practices are gradually changing the views about female dignities towards negativity.

Some of the feminists have commented that adolescent girls and young women are more objectified today than before. It’s undeniable: The “sexed” up advertisements for products, the usage of scantily dressed women and little girls dressed in bras and sheer stockings are on the rise. Feminist groups argue that sex dolls are reinforcing the view that girls are sex objects and reinforce violence against women and the exploitation of the dolls is part of the dehumanizing of women. To them, these objects have appearances and attribute typical of the objectifying, sexualized, and degrading attitude to women found in today’s mainstream pornography. They claim that the tech-driven fantasies may lead or are leading to real violence against women.

The idea of a woman being an object seems to be on the rise among men because the vast majority of the dolls are in female form and as a result, society having equal rights and views for both man and woman is being questioned. In respect to the openings of sex doll brothels across Europe due to the revolution of the sex doll industry, feminists believe, the places are made to make money on the simulation of raping women. That’s why they call for banning the industry.

In my opinion, I think that a lifelike sex doll is exactly the type of partner that certain types of men need, so they don’t go and make an actual woman feel miserable. But I do mean some. Admittedly, there are plenty of genuine great guys out there who just can't be bothered with chasing women and that's fine. I believe times may come when guys will rave about these lifelike dolls and AI robots, and the idea that they won’t need women anymore because they’ve got everything they need from an inanimate object. Some may in fact fantasize with the expectation that real women, as a result, will tremble in their boots and beg them to come back.

Sometime into the future sex dolls may likely become better partners than women who will be satisfying males desires and women will soon be or should be replaced in their view. I feel that guys will want a slave, whose only mission in life is to do whatever they want as a partner and gratify him in every possible way. I place no concerns about them replacing women with dolls and bots. However, no matter what the creators and the supporters assert about the harmlessness or social good of these dolls, they reflect clear beliefs about what men deserve and what women are for. The message is clear that sex is something men get from women without mutuality. In this context, challenges, disagreements, feelings, and thoughts are not valuable or desired qualities but merely something males want to use for satisfaction from women. Sex robots don’t undo the violence or extreme domination, they simply normalize it.

People love to pretend as though everything from prostitution to pornography to sex dolls is a solution to not only men’s loneliness and sexual needs but also their violent and perverse desires. And some have claimed that sex robots are the perfect solution to prevent rape and the abuse of women. But how creating realistic, non-human dolls that men may project their desires onto and do whatever they wish with will negatively impact men’s views about women. It’s actually the capitalist patriarchy that claims sex dolls and robots as the next natural step to stop sexual violence against women and use this claim to promote their industry.