History of the Sex Doll
As reported by Mike Kelly
The sex doll may consist of an entire body with face, or just a pelvic part, with the openings (vagina, anus, mouth) for copulation. The openings are sometimes vibrating and may be removable or interchangeable. A sex doll is a type of sex toy, imitating a human body for simulated sexual acts.
There has long been a sailor's term, the "dame de voyage", or "dama de viaje" in French and Spanish respectively, indicating a female doll made of sewn cloth and used by sailors aboard ship. They were first developed in their modern form by Japan and Germany during the late 1930s and early 1940s - in Germany as part of the military 'Model Borghild'project, and in Japan for use on naval submarines. In both instances, the aim was to give sexual relief to men confined in an all-male environment. 'Bild Lili' was a mid 1950s German doll marketed as a sex toy for men, and whose design is reputed to have inspired Ruth Handler to make the first Barbie doll for girls.
A 1982 attempt to import a consignment of sex dolls into Britain had the unintended consequence of lifting all import prohibitions on "obscene or indecent" items arriving from Europe. Having had the dolls seized by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise officers, Conegate Ltd. took the case all the way to the European Court of Justice, and won in 1987 (1). Britain was forced to lift its stringent import prohibitions dating from 1876, because to do otherwise would have constituted an arbitrary barrier to free trade under the terms of the Treaty of Rome.
Cheaper sex dolls are inflatable, using air. These lower price-range (less than $50) dolls are usually rather ugly, made of welded vinyl, and bear only a passing resemblance to women or men, but they have an (artificial) vagina or penis and their users are willing to overlook their shortcomings. They often burst at the seams after a few uses. Cheap imported vinyl dolls may be a health risk, if they contain large amounts of dangerous vinyl chloride or phylates.
In Japan inflatable love pillows ('dakimakura') with a life-size picture of a porn star or anime character and optionally a hole for lovemaking are also popular.
Some inflatable sex dolls are made in the form of animals, most notably sheep. These dolls are more of a joke gift or party novelty.
At the middle market price-range ($100 to $200), dolls are made of heavy latex without welded seams, have plastic mannequin-style heads and styled wigs, plastic or glass eyes, and properly moulded hands and feet. Some contain water-filled body areas. The manufacturing process causes most latex dolls to be delivered with a fine coating of zinc oxide covering the skin, and this should be removed by showering. Otherwise, latex is an inert and non-toxic natural material; although a tiny percentage of users may discover a latex allergy. All latex dolls of any quality currently on the market are manufactured in either France or Hungary.
More expensive sex dolls ($600 to $8,000) are made from silicone. They can be very lifelike, with face and body modeled on real women or men, with realistic skin material (similar to that used for movie special effects), with realistic (or real) hair. These dolls usually have an articulate PVC or metal skeleton with flexible joints that allows them to be positioned in a variety of positions for display and for sexual acts. Silicone sex dolls are obviously heavier than inflatable ones (which consist of mostly air), but are about half the weight of a real human of comparable size. They are made in the USA by Abyss Creations (the Realdoll), 1st-PC, Mimicon and others; and in Japan by Paper Moon, 4Woods, Orient Industries and others.
Silicone dolls are quite popular in Japan, where they are known as "Dutch Wives" ('datch waifu'). Their name originates from the term, possibly English, for the thick rattan or bamboo bolster, used to aid sleep in humid countries by keeping one's limbs lifted above sweaty sheets. There is even a rental service for 'datch waifu' in Tokyo, Mori no Doru, that specializes in sex dolls.
The middle market and high-end market first emerged in the USA in 1996. The market has grown for two main reasons. First, huge improvements have been made over earlier types of sex doll. Secondly, the method of retail purchase has also improved - customers now select shop online for a doll instead of having to take "pot luck" in a sex shop, and a possible purchase can be discussed first in online forums with existing owners. Extras to customize a doll to one's personal taste (wigs, clothes, perfumes, etc) can also be purchased discreetly online.
Realdolls have evolved since 1996 and the latest models are significant improvements over those of just a few years ago. The success of the Realdoll has led others to enter the market for high-end dolls, often using new proprietary materials.
When Realdolls were first released, the advertised lifespan was 10 years. Journalists were saying there would be landfills with 10 year old Realdolls in them and joked about how people would react to doll body parts sticking out of the trash.
The truth is - I have friends who collect SF props made of silicone and they are in perfect shape even though they are 20 - 25 years old!
The ongoing advances in robotics suggest that sex robots may be eventually manufactured and sold. A stepping-stone to the implementation of full robotics would be to embed some of the rapidly developing cybersex technologies in dolls, to enable telepresence sexual activity. Spin offs from new technologies will undoubtedly be introduced into sex dolls - such as miniaturization, voice response, 'smart materials' and 'intelligent textiles'. Science fiction and post-feminist theorists have already imagined a variety of artificial women, or gynoids.
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