History
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The preceding history of sex toys has led to an increased versatility of its functions and how there are numerous ways to derive sexual satisfaction. The evolution of sex toys has led to the progression and development of artificial intelligence to create sex dolls, otherwise referred to as sex robots or fornicatory dolls all with the same purpose ‘to provide an artificial representation of the human body for sexual usage’.
The origins of sex dolls share much obscurity due to societies being reluctant to acknowledge their existence. At the birth of the age of science, early appearances of sex dolls caused great controversy due to the teachings of the church. Replications of human beings were considered as a threat to the originality of the soul of each human being, and therefore linking artificial creations and the sex act was strictly taboo.
Sex dolls were originally inflatable with air; consisting of penetration areas at the mouth, vagina, and anus. The female equivalent to the sex doll, the dildo has existed since ancient times and despite being used currently as a sex aid, during the late 19th century the main purpose was prevalent in medicinal aid for hysterical women, the dildo was considered as a medical treatment that stimulated the nervous system. By 1968, sex dolls were being advertised in pornographic magazines and now forming part of the pornographic industry they have become available within the sex toy market. Sex dolls have quickly progressed to being strikingly detailed devices that at a distance, look like real human beings. By the 1970's, materials such as latex and silicone were widely used in the manufacturing of sex dolls to create greater replications of human beings as well as facilitate the durability of the dolls. RealDolls, a company producing sex dolls from the late 1990's, allow customers to select shades of nipples; skin and lip type; hair and eye colour; pubic hair; eyebrows; removable tongues, tattoos, piercings and oral inserts (Lee, 2017). However, in the case where a customer desires to have a copy of a celebrity, the company will only do so if they get permission.
Sex robots can be considered as the modern-day version of Pygmalion. In the Greek myth of Pygmalion and Galatea, King Pygmalion’s hatred for women motivated him to create a statue of his idea of the “perfect” woman, Galatea, whom he ends up falling in love with. Evidently, with the help of AI and social robotics, the myth of a woman created to suit a man’s needs is made into reality.
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- Emilia Valente
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