I think we need to be having more open discussions about what we can do to better understand paraphilic behaviour and how we can better help these people. I strongly believe there is a difference between condoning paraphilic behaviour and trying to help someone who has certain desires that are harmful to others.

Terrific reading, good overview of the study, thanks!

BTW, the fact that this is a Mastodon post AND a website article page, is so damn genius.

Billy: I really appreciate your comment. I think that part of why I find this topic so interesting is that so many people have very strong opinions about doll ownership that is purely emotional. It is often not based on our research around doll ownership or conversations with people like you who are doll owners and can share their experiences. Again, thank you for sharing your experiences!

Myself and later about my dolls.
I have a number of anti social issues all my life and still do. I dont talk to people even if talked to depending on why. I never had a GF and not because i could not get any but because its not in my ability to make that move and im 39 now. I have agoraphobia and all the issues ive had all my life. Because of my issues i was prevented from passing into the 10th for lack of credits because i had adhd issues that limited my learning. They refused to let me repeat the 9th because i was too old to legally be in the 9th since i was held back 2 times in the 1st and 2nd grade and i did not have the education to get a GED and stayed home 24/7 to game which most women, decent women wont give a guy like me a chance even tho i was a little above average looking but in ssi (low income disability) with my issues. I had options to hook up with attractive girls but it was always for the wrong reasons on their side, one night stands or they felt bad because i didnt get out but im the type i mate for life so i always ran from chances. My mother ended up with dementia which is when i found out i had agoraphobia and remained indoors for the last 6 years and nobody coming by. We had 3 cats which not long after all 3 passed a way from old age and one passed from grieving himself because the other passed. (Want to note i never in my life looked, touched or said anything to a female in a sexual way and if i seen a female i liked, my thoughts would be me wishing i was married and or wished i had a GF to cuddle with). This is when i found out about sex dolls and it was random but i decided to buy one and so i did because all the research i did it was noted such dolls helped people with depression. After getting one which was cheap and small (not childlike) at 80cm to see if it was something i would even want. I then decided i would rather buy anime dolls and bought a 90cm one, it was $1200 Vs the 140cm model that was $2200 which i did not have. I started to learn i really liked them for many reason, they give off a presence, they are anime, they can be posed and take amazing pictures and looks nice standing on my pc desk which they do 24/7. I then saved up more money and got a 148cm elsababe that is also anime and she offers the same thing but stands by me and my desk. I do not name my dolls and i refer to them as “it” as they are still objects to me and i dont mean sexual objects but they are to me beautiful female sculptures i can have that are really affordable for what they are. I dont even care to use them and most of the time i do not, ill try once or twice but not after that and now i have 8 dolls, all anime and its the same with them but the two new ones i have not used and they are few months old. Before, i would think and wish i had a gf or a wife that i can never get (fact) and would beat myself up mentally and this would be all day every day but with these dolls, its maybe a mild wish once a month at most and im not as depressed now. Also to note, not that i had a porn addiction but would dive into it few times a week for release but after getting these dolls i have no consumed porn or cared to since then.

I live in a state that may ban small dolls which 6 of mine are, 4 90cm’s (irokebijins) and two 125cm Elsababes) none of which are childlike but because of the vague law, they can and will outlaw any mini doll as its subject to opinion which i think should be illegal for them to do. I dont want or care for realistic childlike dolls but i do not stand for laws that infringe on my rights and needs. I cannot afford full size dolls and with my heart murmur i cannot pick up anything over 50lb and most dolls over 150cm are 60 to 120lb and the lighter larger dolls cost even more.

Myself and later about my dolls.
I have a number of anti social issues all my life and still do. I dont talk to people even if talked to depending on why. I never had a GF and not because i could not get any but because its not in my ability to make that move and im 39 now. I have agoraphobia and all the issues ive had all my life. Because of my issues i was prevented from passing into the 10th for lack of credits because i had adhd issues that limited my learning. They refused to let me repeat the 9th because i was too old to legally be in the 9th since i was held back 2 times in the 1st and 2nd grade and i did not have the education to get a GED and stayed home 24/7 to game which most women, decent women wont give a guy like me a chance even tho i was a little above average looking but in ssi (low income disability) with my issues. I had options to hook up with attractive girls but it was always for the wrong reasons on their side, one night stands or they felt bad because i didnt get out but im the type i mate for life so i always ran from chances. My mother ended up with dementia which is when i found out i had agoraphobia and remained indoors for the last 6 years and nobody coming by. We had 3 cats which not long after all 3 passed a way from old age and one passed from grieving himself because the other passed. (Want to note i never in my life looked, touched or said anything to a female in a sexual way and if i seen a female i liked, my thoughts would be me wishing i was married and or wished i had a GF to cuddle with). This is when i found out about sex dolls and it was random but i decided to buy one and so i did because all the research i did it was noted such dolls helped people with depression. After getting one which was cheap and small (not childlike) at 80cm to see if it was something i would even want. I then decided i would rather buy anime dolls and bought a 90cm one, it was $1200 Vs the 140cm model that was $2200 which i did not have. I started to learn i really liked them for many reason, they give off a presence, they are anime, they can be posed and take amazing pictures and looks nice standing on my pc desk which they do 24/7. I then saved up more money and got a 148cm elsababe that is also anime and she offers the same thing but stands by me and my desk. I do not name my dolls and i refer to them as “it” as they are still objects to me and i dont mean sexual objects but they are to me beautiful female sculptures i can have that are really affordable for what they are. I dont even care to use them and most of the time i do not, ill try once or twice but not after that and now i have 8 dolls, all anime and its the same with them but the two new ones i have not used and they are few months old. Before, i would think and wish i had a gf or a wife that i can never get (fact) and would beat myself up mentally and this would be all day every day but with these dolls, its maybe a mild wish once a month at most and im not as depressed now. Also to note, not that i had a porn addiction but would dive into it few times a week for release but after getting these dolls i have no consumed porn or cared to since then.

I live in a state that may ban small dolls which 6 of mine are, 4 90cm’s (irokebijins) and two 125cm Elsababes) none of which are childlike but because of the vague law, they can and will outlaw any mini doll as its subject to opinion which i think should be illegal for them to do. I dont want or care for realistic childlike dolls but i do not stand for laws that infringe on my rights and needs. I cannot afford full size dolls and with my heart murmur i cannot pick up anything over 50lb and most dolls over 150cm are 60 to 120lb and the lighter larger dolls cost even more.

Here in the UK child dolls are nationally illegal and it carries up to 7 yrs in jail. Now so far sentences publicised have seemed to be fair, those caught was also caught with thousands of indecent images of children and other offences, some having previous offences for sexual assaults involving minors.

I have no problem with those people being locked up since they wasn’t demonstrating any de-escalation in behaviour . However that’s one sided in the sense that the news is unlikely to cover arrests made in error, it is unlikely to cover men being arrested and jailed for the doll alone. There is a risk someone be branded a paedophile in a complete error , a misstep by authorities.
The reason this will happen is simple: there is no clear guidance on what a ‘child-like doll’ actually is. All they use to sentence people is using a 200+ old law relating to obscene or pornographic images. This law essentially originally made any and all pornography illegal , today it is repurposed for use in the ‘obscene’ sense.
Do you go by official documents, birth certificates, passport? dolls have none, they are not human.
Do you do medical inspections to see if doll is passed in age by puberty ? dolls are not human, there is no medical examination possible.
Do you go by breast size? maybe but does that imply an adult with A-cups is under 18?
Do you go by height? maybe but does that mean midgets or generally short people are under 18, can short adults no longer consent to sex? if the argument is height= age in the dolls case then why would the law not work the other way if that’s part of a decision in relation to you being jailed or not?

What does it objectively mean to be a child-like sex doll. The only pure legal definition part which would be less disputable would be the sexdoll part, if it has penetration holes and seems to be engineered that way then thats what it is. But that legal aspect for definition applies to adult dolls too.

It seems like a case of do-gooders and ‘think of the children’ types to usher in policies either to signal virtue or more insidiously to perhaps use as a back door to push straight up bans on anything they don’t like.

Now to be fair and clear here i do not condone some of the potential practice used to make child dolls, i know how adult dolls are sometimes made, it often involves a human subject being 3d scanned and/or parts put in plaster of paris , and might involve photographs naked, this is then handed to an artist to make the pre-mould out of clay, you might call it the master copy .
It’s possible some of the same processes are used to create child dolls, this means these Chinese factories would be using children by parental consent in exchange for money. The government there might either not care or turn a blind eye.
But a child cannot consent and we can’t regulate, oversee or set legal constraints on a foreign power.
I would suggest undercover journalism to see how the factories get from point A to B regarding the child dolls to clear that up.
If that’s not the case then there is less of a true moral issue, some dolls the master mould is created entirely by imagination and an artists hands and do not involve peoples images or parts.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. It is always helpful to hear about real life experiences in addition to the research

My best advice would be to have a real honest chat about why they had it. I commend you for researching the topic and trying to find out how you feel about it.