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