A Puzzle for Sex Doll Designers: What Do Straight Women Want? (OneZero/Medium)
Read the full article by Sarah Treleaven at OneZero.Medium.com
More dad bods, fewer plastic abs
Zach is new to Kamloops, British Columbia, but he is having trouble making friends. On his new website, he outlines his love of sports, the outdoors and going to the gym. With his brown hair, blue eyes, pouty lips, hairless body, completely impassive expression, and 8.5-inch penis, he is probably someone’s fantasy. All he really wants is to show someone a really good time — ideally while lying down. Because Zach can’t actually do much without the help of a human companion.
Zach is just one of a new generation of male sex dolls and robots — sometimes with elaborate backstories — designed to appeal to the elusive straight female market. Recent high-profile launches have fueled speculation about the potential demand for male dolls. In 2016, sex columnist Karley Sciortino made a video for Vice about “Making the World’s First Male Sex Doll,” in which she takes “Gabriel” for a road test and reports that the sex feels “absolutely indistinguishable from a real person — except that I’m completely in control.” Last year, Realbotix announced an A.I.-enabled prototype named “Henry,” and some sex doll brothels are introducing male models to their roster.
But that hype hasn’t translated into sales, and options remain extremely limited, with manufacturers typically offering two or three male dolls in a sea of dozens (or even hundreds) of highly varied female dolls. Matt McMullen, founder of RealDoll and Realbotix, says that he sells about 40 male dolls a year — 10 percent of his overall business. For all of the stubble on chiseled silicon cheeks, the penises (circumcised and uncircumcised) cast from live models, and the promotional images of dolls smoking cigarettes or strumming guitars, male sex dolls aren’t flying off the shelves. And that has designers, marketers, and manufacturers itching to figure out what women want.
Perhaps it’s unsurprising that, just as sex with a human, experiences with a sex doll can be mixed. When Kristen Dickson opened her sex doll rental business, House of Dolls, in Kamloops, British Columbia, she felt compelled to “sample her product,” so she took “Zach” home with her for the night. “I tried him out and it really wasn’t that terrible,” she says. Dickson reports that it was nicer than using a dildo because straddling the doll freed up her hands. “I do remember holding onto the chest,” she says. “[But] I don’t think I ever looked at the doll’s face.” In several months of business, Zach has only been rented once — and to a male client. “Everybody enjoys sex but the male dolls are not as well thought of as the female dolls, and they’re not as attractive,” says Dickson.