It’s hard to believe that sex dolls have been around for centuries, and that they have evolved quite a bit over the years. From being taboo and socially unacceptable, sex dolls for both men and women are now becoming more mainstream each year. So what are sex dolls? And where did they come from? Let’s take a closer look.
8AD – Yes, the history of sex dolls can be traced back as far as 8AD. Although, technically it was more of a “sex statue”. According to one myth, Pygmalion sculpted a woman from ivory and bestowed on her the name Galatea. He then proceeded to become so obsessed with her that he would bathe, feed and sleep with her.
11th-12th Century – You wouldn’t typically associate sex dolls with the church, and yet the 11th and 12th Centuries saw English and Irish churches carving naked marble women into the sides of places of worship, with the intention being to ward off evil spirits.
15th Century – Okay, from here we’re moving closer to actual sex dolls as we perceive them today. This variety can be traced back to Spanish and French sailing ships in the 15th Century, which deliberately equipped their vessels with a “dama de viaje” or “dame de voyage” (a female doll made from sewn-together clothes) to keep sailors occupied during particularly long voyages at sea.
1930s – The long-standing tradition of counting a female doll among sea crew members was further adapted in the 1930s by German and Japanese fleets, who recognised the need to provide some form of sexual relief to the men onboard.
1941 – Arguably inspired by these dolls on-board German ships of the previous decade, a Nazi dictator arranged for the mass production of sculpted sex dolls for Nazi soldiers during WWII. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the dolls featured blonde hair, blue eyes, large lips and large breasts. Side note: Ruth Handler later fashioned the Barbie Doll on the likeness of these German toys.
1980s – A British company called “Sex Objects Ltd.” created the first ever sex robot, with the unsubtle name “36C”. She came complete with 16-bit microprocessor and voice synthesiser that facilitated very basic responses to speech and push button inputs.
1987 –After a 1982 attempt to import sex dolls into the UK unintentionally sparked a debate on whether laws around importing “obscene or indecent” items should be dropped, the sex companies won the case five years later, and all prohibitions were removed.
1995 – A life-sized and anatomically correct inflatable sheep is designed and manufactured by a firm called Muttonbone Productions, Inc. Its name? The Love Ewe.
2010 – In the not-too-distant past, a company called TrueCompanion developed Roxxxy. She is a sex “fembot” with advanced AI programming that allows her to learn the owner’s likes and dislikes.
There’s no telling what the future holds for sex dolls, but one thing is clear – they’re here to stay!
