Beyond the Sex Doll: Post-Human Companionship and the Rise of the ‘Allodoll’
The increasing market for realistic sex dolls has led to heated debate about future relationships with these entities and whether they could lead to an increasing objectification of women or possibly encourage abuse. However, limited academic research has been carried out on the topic, and little is...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2018-10-01
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| Series: | Robotics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/7/4/62 |
| _version_ | 1828113672085438464 |
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| author | Mitchell Langcaster-James Gillian R Bentley |
| author_facet | Mitchell Langcaster-James Gillian R Bentley |
| author_sort | Mitchell Langcaster-James |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The increasing market for realistic sex dolls has led to heated debate about future relationships with these entities and whether they could lead to an increasing objectification of women or possibly encourage abuse. However, limited academic research has been carried out on the topic, and little is known about the motivations and experiences of those who purchase and use sex dolls. Therefore, we conducted a mixed methods study of 83 participants, accessed through online doll forums, who completed a 22-item, semi-structured questionnaire. The majority were heterosexual, white, employed, middle-aged males; just over half were not in a current relationship, and approximately half lived alone. A thematic analysis revealed a high prevalence of non-sexual, post-human companionship dynamics between dolls and their owners, as well as reservations by doll owners about future robotic developments. In light of these findings, we suggest a new term, ‘allodoll’, which more accurately reflects the broader, non-sexual relationships of these doll owners, and could broaden the scope of future research. Although sex doll forums may be biased towards certain types of doll users, our findings may allay some of the fears of the more detrimental consequences of sex doll use. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T12:12:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-26403a6efd3945bcaff5a254bdf8e03d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2218-6581 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T12:12:33Z |
| publishDate | 2018-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Robotics |
| spelling | doaj.art-26403a6efd3945bcaff5a254bdf8e03d2022-12-22T04:24:34ZengMDPI AGRobotics2218-65812018-10-01746210.3390/robotics7040062robotics7040062Beyond the Sex Doll: Post-Human Companionship and the Rise of the ‘Allodoll’Mitchell Langcaster-James0Gillian R Bentley1Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham DH1 3L, UKDepartment of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham DH1 3L, UKThe increasing market for realistic sex dolls has led to heated debate about future relationships with these entities and whether they could lead to an increasing objectification of women or possibly encourage abuse. However, limited academic research has been carried out on the topic, and little is known about the motivations and experiences of those who purchase and use sex dolls. Therefore, we conducted a mixed methods study of 83 participants, accessed through online doll forums, who completed a 22-item, semi-structured questionnaire. The majority were heterosexual, white, employed, middle-aged males; just over half were not in a current relationship, and approximately half lived alone. A thematic analysis revealed a high prevalence of non-sexual, post-human companionship dynamics between dolls and their owners, as well as reservations by doll owners about future robotic developments. In light of these findings, we suggest a new term, ‘allodoll’, which more accurately reflects the broader, non-sexual relationships of these doll owners, and could broaden the scope of future research. Although sex doll forums may be biased towards certain types of doll users, our findings may allay some of the fears of the more detrimental consequences of sex doll use.http://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/7/4/62sex dollsex robotscompanionshippost-human kinshipallodoll |
| spellingShingle | Mitchell Langcaster-James Gillian R Bentley Beyond the Sex Doll: Post-Human Companionship and the Rise of the ‘Allodoll’ Robotics sex doll sex robots companionship post-human kinship allodoll |
| title | Beyond the Sex Doll: Post-Human Companionship and the Rise of the ‘Allodoll’ |
| title_full | Beyond the Sex Doll: Post-Human Companionship and the Rise of the ‘Allodoll’ |
| title_fullStr | Beyond the Sex Doll: Post-Human Companionship and the Rise of the ‘Allodoll’ |
| title_full_unstemmed | Beyond the Sex Doll: Post-Human Companionship and the Rise of the ‘Allodoll’ |
| title_short | Beyond the Sex Doll: Post-Human Companionship and the Rise of the ‘Allodoll’ |
| title_sort | beyond the sex doll post human companionship and the rise of the allodoll |
| topic | sex doll sex robots companionship post-human kinship allodoll |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/7/4/62 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mitchelllangcasterjames beyondthesexdollposthumancompanionshipandtheriseoftheallodoll AT gillianrbentley beyondthesexdollposthumancompanionshipandtheriseoftheallodoll |