Technology Can Now Fulfil your Fantasies
Sex. Such a tiny word, such a vast array of opportunity.
There’s nothing more private and particular to a person than their sexual wants, and when it comes to ‘bumping the uglies’ we all know that the act itself comes in more than 50 Shades of Grey – from Vanilla to scorching red hot.
But what about masturbation? Surely that’s pretty straight forward?
Having sex with inanimate objects is nothing new. Since the moment Adam got the hump with Eve and left her stranded in Eden with nothing but the memory of their time together and a field of courgette plants – women around the world have made do with their fingers, something long and thick and a bout of good old fashioned imagination.
We don’t care if what we use even looks like a penis, because let’s face it, those things were not created to be looked at and admired for their beauty. We know men are visual creatures, they need to see it to believe it, but not us… we are more than happy with our sparkly pink dildos and our animal-inspired vibrators.
And men are perfectly happy laying back, thinking of page three and lubing up their hands. Right?
Well, actually…
As technology evolves so have the opportunities to give men solo sexual gratification like no other, sex that not only satisfies the physical but also the visual. Masturbation without the imagination.
In the world of Sex Bots (yes, it’s an actual community) inventors have been working very hard on the fake fanny. Unlike us, men’s hands are apparently no longer cutting the mustard. More and more are opting for skipping the ‘going out and pulling’ stage and staying in to ‘Netflix and chill’ with their pretend girlfriends, or at least the vital parts of their anatomy.
Companies like Fleshlights (you’ve gotta love a pun) and RealDoll have cornered the market of elaborate masturbation toys for men. For not very much money you can now buy a plastic cup thingy with squidgy stuff inside and one end shaped like a hairless vagina to stick your pecker in, or for those that take their solo sex much more seriously, have money to splash and adequate storage space you can buy an entire pretend woman. A pretty gorgeous one at that, complete with interchangeable parts and wigs and positions.
It’s easy to laugh, isn’t it? Us women can’t buy our own silicone stud muffins to ride and writhe over, and neither would we want to. To us women it’s all a bit creepy and laughable, which I guess is why such dolls don’t exist (believe me, I’ve done my research). And if they did, would we swap our imagination, our ClitLit porn sites or the real-deal for a life-size piece of plastic between our legs? Perhaps not. And to be fair, many men would balk at even the thought of shagging a doll too so it’s not all that mainstream, but it’s out there.
So we’ve established that plastic can be fantastic, but as silicone and technology have evolved so has the the world of virtual sex which every day is getting more and more real. Men can now put on their masks and place their special helmet over their own special helmet and do what they fancy to a computer character while their actions are simulated upon their own bodies.
Does that sound like fun to you or pretty grim? If they invented one for women, would you have a go? Take a look at this video, this guy is having a seriously good time… so where’s the shagging machine for women?
I’m kidding. Maybe.
Clearly there is a market for this, and I really don’t think it’s such a terrible thing.
Hear me out, I’m not recommending every man should build his own virtual ‘friend with benefits’ and stop trying it on with the likes of us normal women, but there are occasions when taking masturbation that futuristic step further is beneficial to all.
Every adult on this planet has sexual needs, some stronger than others, yet not everyone has the opportunity to fulfill them. There are men that are marooned on oil rigs or working on ships for months on end and don’t see a woman for most of the year, let alone get to touch one. There are agoraphobic men, shy men and dare I say it… plain old fashioned not that much to look at men… that need this. There are men that are far away from their wives and can either pay a sex worker to fulfill their desires or stay faithful, plug themselves in and act out their fantasies.
What they are doing doesn’t bother me and it doesn’t hurt anyone, but as a strident feminist I’m not going to pretend that the objectification of women isn’t disturbing. Are these toys any more sexist than the giant plastic penis we all (okay, most of us) have in our bedside drawers?
Activists from The Campaign Against Robot Sex (yes, that’s a thing) say it is. Researcher Lydia Kaye says sex robots will ‘create a fine line between fantasy and reality‘, and much like violent video games that make men more aggressive, these sex toys are encouraging men to view women as mere objects.
“Sex robots will create another means through which women will be presented as objects to be used for sexual gratification and mistreatment,” she said.
But I really don’t think we have anything to worry about. Firstly there’s nothing to be jealous of, it’s not as if men out there are getting nervous because we are growing attached to our nine inch dildos which they can’t compete with. And secondly, the kind of guys that are doing this aren’t your average husband, they are men that aren’t able to be with women for one reason or another.
It’s merely a technological move onward from the lubed hand and the porn mag. These aren’t men that are cancelling their dates because their Lara Croft-type fantasy is waiting on screen for them to do dirty things to, no video game can compete with a woman that knows what she is doing. No animatronic babe can kiss and hold or lick and suck like a real woman. No silicone doll can talk back and tell the man how amazing he is, jump on top and take the reigns or whip up a bacon sandwich afterwards.
These toys are made for fun and to satisfy a basic need, and perhaps as technology evolves us women can join in and they will make a simulated threesome game where husbands and wives can act out fantasies together? Why not make the techie wank more inclusive and less seedy? Surely it would be safer and healthier to re-enact a couple’s desires in a way that won’t ruin their relationships or risk a husband leaving his wife for that woman he met at the swingers party.
Sex is the most natural thing in the world, but our sexual cravings can just as easily be fulfilled using inanimate objects. Personally, if a bit of plastic or a computer game kept my other half busy while I wasn’t there it would be preferable to him going off with a real-life woman. That’s not to say that you will see me lobbying RealDoll designers to start designing me a Brock O’Hurn lookalikey, but there’s nothing wrong with using my own bit of plastic shaped like a certain part of my ideal man and using my imagination.
And let me tell you something, the story lines I create in my head beat anything any computer game programmer could come up with any day!
