Cybersex, Virtual Reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Sex Robots, Sex Dolls

Open Access: No.

Abstract

The ownership of sex dolls has become an increasingly discussed phenomenon in recent years, with legal scholars and legislators calling for increased regulation and criminalization of such articles. However, our knowledge of sex doll ownership is lacking, and the peer-reviewed literature is especially sparse on detailed phenomenological analyses of the motivations of sex doll owners and their experiences of owning a doll. In this study, we interviewed nine male owners of sex dolls to investigate these issues. Two main themes were elicited from the data: “the ‘perfect’ partner” and “sex doll or love doll?”. In understanding doll ownership in this way, we hope to add to ongoing social discussions about the types of people who own dolls, why they do so, and how dolls act as a functional aspect of their sexual (and nonsexual) lives.

Relevance

This study found that many sex doll owners “had a tendency to have a history of poor quality or broken relationships…which led them to see women as being difficult to understand and hostile.”  These men also saw sex dolls as a ‘perfect partner’ because real women, in their view, lack the ideals of sexual attractiveness. The men, too, displayed low self-esteem.

Citation

Lievesley, R., Reynolds, R., & Harper, C. A. (2023). The ‘perfect’ partner: Understanding the lived experiences of men who own sex dolls. Sexuality & Culture, 27(4), 1419–1441. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-023-10071-5