I'd like to say a few words if I may, since I happen to find the "Doll" phenomenon quite interesting. History has shown that people have been fascinated with banging inanimate objects for a long time. Sailors during the 15th century would often use "Dutch wives" the older equivalent of the Japanese love pillow during long voyages at sea, and the first human shaped sex doll was actually built by Nazis during the top secret Borghild-project to keep Nazi soldiers "safe from STDs" and occupied during the war. Still, sex doll technology has only started taking off in the past few years; to the point where you can now get male dolls with working penises, transgendered models and even dolls with customized personalities.

But, I feel the more interesting issue raised here is not the technology itself but our reaction to it. It's not uncommon for people to balk at the thought of Real Dolls, seeing how they can be offensive to our highly evolved facial recognition features as well as by reducing women to sexual objects. I do think that's a very interesting and valid discussion as well, but for the purposes of this thread I'll stick to the doll culture itself.

There's a very interesting BBC Real Documentary called Love Me, Love My Doll (can someone help edit this URL so it auto-verifies the age? I'm afraid I've forgotten how to do it) that delves a bit into the lives of consumers who purchase Real Dolls. Many of them are "socially awkward men" as the Real Doll PR coordinator herself puts it, who are so far removed from being able to hold normal relationships with people that they turn to silicone alternatives. Still, is it "wrong" I wonder, because the company puts a vagina in the doll, or the doll around the vagina? What exactly is being imitated here?

Humanity is a slave to its animal desires. Imagine what it must be like to be trapped in a mind that craves social companionship, yet lacks the faculties to do so. Minds, no different than yours or mine, capable of creating blogs, daily journals and entire back stories for a fuckable object. I wonder if it's healthier to deny them that source of output, and force them to live in the "real" world. No different than letting someone follow the religious tenets that make them happy, I suppose. Or losing ourselves in an ocean of content so we can numb the grind of another day.

edit:

Here's a link to an unrelated but very well-written doll fiction; courtesy of user MiracleJones

And if you haven't already, I strongly recommend watching Lars and the Real Girl