I swear, after this post I will try to shut up about Real Dolls for a while.

Of course, those of you with strong sanity-preservation instincts will know to immediately start worrying about what I might post next. >:D

So I've been reading the feministing discussion of ages past about whether Real Doll usage can be compared to vibrators. And I do understand that most vibrators don't look exactly like a penis, but...well, leaving aside the men who pretend their dolls are their girlfriends (and I agree that that's more than a little maladjusted), surely most of the doll-users are, more or less, just using them as sex toys or for imaginative play? I mean, the guys in the documentaries are probably on the far end of a bell curve--there could easily be lots of men who've used these toys as toys and who were also sane enough not to want to discuss that on film. And even the guys in the docs could have been edited for maximum effect; maybe there were clear statements of, "I like to pretend that..." which got edited out.

I know the dolls are meant to look human, and vibrators aren't, but to me that mostly just suggests one of two things:

1) The people using the dolls lack the imagination required to use, say, a vibrator, so they need more verisimilitude in their sex toys (and if you don't believe that's possible, go talk to anyone with experience as a phone-sex operator; they'll tell you, straight out, that some people are genuinely too unimaginative/uncreative to fantasize without help),

or else

2) Men simply have larger disposable incomes than women, so they can afford bigger and more elaborate toys. I mean, seriously: these things* cost around seven thousand USD each. You'd have to have a significant amount of cash in your entertainment budget to be able to afford that. Absolute Boyfriends don't come cheap.

I just don't see a significant difference in behaviour between using one 'thing' for sexual gratification instead of another. And while I agree completely that there is something hideously and alarmingly sexist about some of the remarks made by the iDollators, well: I've heard some pretty damned dehumanizing, sexist remarks made by women, in the context of comparing men and vibrators, too.


*I've read a rumour (and no, you don't want to know WHERE I've read it) that Abyss are taking suggestions for the name of the new male RealDoll. My favourite suggestion: Gerard. Seriously.