Married to a doll - article in The Atlantic

Post by **RainLover** » Sun Sep 08, 2013 4:51 pm

: 2013-09-06 The Atlantic - Synthetic love.jpg (142.24 KiB) Viewed 1753 times

Jule Beck for The Atlantic interviewing Davecat wrote:When did you start feeling like Sidore was not just a sex toy but someone/something you were in a relationship with?

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. There was never a moment when Shi-chan—or any Doll, for that matter—was merely an object to me.

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. With Sidore, her draw was instantaneous. There was never a moment when Shi-chan—or any Doll, for that matter—was merely an object to me.

Original article and photos:

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archi ... ve/279361/

Dollarhyde · Post by **Dollarhyde** » Sun Sep 08, 2013 9:14 pm

Good for Davecat...

Yoube Bosley · Post by **Yoube Bosley** » Sun Sep 08, 2013 10:37 pm

Sidore wears purple hair as good as anybody.

The comments are full of the PC, deeply inside the box thinking you'd expect from the brie and chardonnay NPR crowd The Atlantic attracts. :drinking:

Post by **Playtime** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 1:35 am

G'day everyone,...

Looked like it was going to be another re-hash of past articals going by the headline.
Will have to read it thoroughly later.

Playtime.

LaDollyVita · Post by **LaDollyVita** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 1:55 am

This was an enjoyable read. Nothing particularly new if you have followed Davecat's public life. If you are feeling particularly adventurous give the "comments" a go. Good grief! So many armchair quarterbacks on misogyny, sexism, and sanity.

I really applaud ambassadors of Doll ownership like Davecat, Everhard, and our vey own Midiman, who have risked public abuse to raise awareness. Not everyone is prepared for that exposure to criticism. In fact, many upstanding members of our community won't risk exposure to people that they know love them.

Of course, Doll ownership is not a one size fits all passion, and the sex toy categorization of Dolls is "limited and unimaginative", to loosely quote Davecat. To be honest, Dolls Alive! and the wonderful photo stories of dolls in real life dramas are far more interesting to me than threads on who has the hottest boobs. But that's just my preference. I find the erotic side of dolls appealing as well, so I won't say I avoid risqué content here at TDF.

Ultimately, I think Davecat's vision of the future, where Real Doll, robotics, and AI all intersect, is scary to a lot of people. I'm biased personally, and look forward to what may come. Regardless, without all the possible moral complications of synthetik's rights, it's still great to see Dolls being discussed and considered in journalism and the media.

Wim · Post by **Wim** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 3:24 am

His doll will live longer than him, the way he treats his dolls.

Everhard · Post by **Everhard** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 2:00 pm

Mistress wrote:His doll will live longer than him, the way he treats his dolls.

No. His dolls will live as long as he does. Dolls can be repaired and rebuilt, as Sidore has been.

Post by **RainLover** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 3:57 pm

I was impressed how The Atlantic gave him such a warm reception. The article ran considerably longer than a lot of articles on the doll topic.

As for the comments, many are typical of the judgmental control freak rants one finds among narrow minded people who have just stumbled across dolls for the first time and find it rings their gender identity/expression and sexual identity/expression alarm bells. Equally important, however, were the counterpoints; commenters trying to dissuade people from "pathologizing" doll ownership, get over themselves, and live and let live.

In the long run, I think people who throw stones at doll owners in comment sections like that one are going to cause more sympathy from others who see the judgmental control aspect of the critics for what it is.

As one commenter said, "So let him do his thing, as long as he never tries to interact with real women ever again - once he's made this choice, he can't re-enter the real people pool of relationships!" to which someone replied, "Why couldn't he, if he decides to? Because you say so? I don't think that's going to do it," and another who said, "are you willing to extend the 'never re-enter the real people pool of relationships' to women addicted to vibrators? He's just a harmless guy who could go back and forth the same exact way women with vibrators eventually often get real life boyfriends. He won't succumb to loneliness and technology has now caught up to his needs." Thank you. Well said.

Post by **brigittes hubbie** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 5:05 pm

That was a great read. I already realized that treating Brigitte like a real girl and living with her like that isn´t unique or special, but still it´s special to read such a thoughtful interview.
Chris

Kinkuro · Post by **Kinkuro** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 7:16 pm

Oh I think I saw this guy in a documentary once. He seemed like a really nice guy. For me personally taking a doll to that level where you have a full on relationship with it and make it your wife is a little extreme. I don't think it's for me. But If it makes you happy I have no problem with it. As far as the comments go, all this moral BS they were throwing around, That kind of stuff get's me going on all kinds of levels. I mean the whole remark about him cheating on his "wife" or whatever. Why is the idea of a relationship where more than two people are involved so scary to people? I mean yes, if you and another individual make the agreement that you are going to be faithful to each other, you should always honor that. But there is nothing wrong with a relationship that involves more people if all parties are consenting. And none of this applies to Dolls at all because they're not human beings, so why even bring it up?