It sounds strange, shocking and unbelievable but that is the fact. Men, both rich and poor, black and white now spend fortunes to acquire toys and dolls for love making purposes. Is this true? The answer is in the affirmative. In fact, promoters of this fact say, it is better than masturbation.
Investigations carried out by this newspaper clearly show that most of the giant toys and dolls you see in most of the rich men’s houses are not really bought and kept for decoration purposes but as bed mates. Most times, a first time visitor may not really comprehend that these toys and dolls are not human beings but artificial objects.
According to reports, some of these toys and dolls cost fortunes, depending on their respective sizes, shapes and the fabricators. There are some sold $3000, $4000, $5000 and $6000. That is, between N500, 000 to N2m. The import here is that this practice is for what Nigerians call Big Boys, that is, the well to do in the society.
Why should a man spend such a fortune on an abstract creation rather than approaching any of the beautiful girls in town? According to The Atlantic newspaper, “Manufactured in the shape of a human woman, she is covered in artificial skin made of silicone, so she’s soft. These high-end, anatomically correct—even equipped with fake tongues—love dolls (or capital-D Dolls) are ostensibly made for sex. Their users see their dolls as life partners, not sex toys, though they are obviously aren’t legally married”. This action is called synthetic love.
A well known promoter of synthetic love, Davecat, who “married” two dolls, said: “I bought Shi-chan back in 2000. Admittedly, my reasons for purchasing her were 70 percent sex, 30 percent companionship. I’ve always been attracted to artificial women such as mannequins, and especially Gynoids, which are robots made in the likeness of human females. In late 1998 one of my best friends, showed me the RealDoll website, as she knew I was keen on artificial women. I thought they were gorgeous creations, and having one would not only dispel loneliness, but be excellent for sex as well. And I was right!
Asked if he did not usually consider his doll as an artificial creation, he said, “It actually didn’t take me too long to regard Shi-chan as a synthetic person, and not simply a thing; it occurred pretty much when I opened her crate for the first time. I was immediately stunned by her lifelike beauty, and after I mentally collected myself, extracted her from her crate, and sat her down on the couch, I just held her in my arms for a while. It felt so right and natural, if you’ll pardon the pun. It seemed perfectly normal for me to treat something that resembles an organic woman the same way I’d treat an actual organic woman. Part of the (sexual) appeal of synthetics is how much they look like their organic counterparts. If you have a robot shaped like a refrigerator, that won’t have as much draw as a robot in the shape of a human; people will be more willing to interact with the human-shaped one. Further still, if that humanoid robot has artificial skin and sounds like a human, most people dealing with it are more than likely to even have a moment where they forget it’s a robot.”
He added, “I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of artificial people, specifically artificial women. Before I knew Dolls existed, I’d long identified as being a techno sexual, even before I knew there was a word for it. A techno sexual is someone who is attracted to robots. Like any subculture, there’s many shades within the term. Some techno sexuals prefer their organic partners to dress as robots; others are attracted to robots who don’t necessarily have a humanoid appearance. My preference is for humanoid robots that are covered in artificial flesh, so they look organic upon first glance”.
According to The Sun of London, “Sex robots are essentially realistic dolls that have sophisticated movements that closely mimic humans so that they can romp. Sex bots are hyper-realistic with features such as built-in heaters to create the feeling of body warmth. They also have sensors to react to your touch. One company is even developing a head that can speak, smile and sing for its robot sex dolls, while sex doll Harmony is the first to offer an “emotional connection”. Experts say these specialised robots will start to appear in ordinary homes in the next decade, as lonely humans look for love”.
A Catholic priest with the Archdiocese of Owerri who is in charge of education, Rev Fr. Osinachi Bethran Ujunwa, explained that any man or woman sleeping or making love with any other thing apart from a female was committing a crime and sin against God, humanity and humanities. He noted that the claim that loneliness was a major reason for making love to toys and dolls was a huge lie. The priest revealed that the improvement in technology and science was a major reason for most of the actions about making love with dolls and toys.
A community leader, Comrade Casmir Iwuh submitted that traditionally, making love with toys, dolls and any other object for that matter is against Igbo tradition and culture, and as such, abominable.