I heard recently that Pornhub has brought a new product concept to its site. The product is called ‘Sex Doll Pussies’, and it’s basically a realistic silicone vagina attached to a mannequin. Apparently, they have scoured the internet for pictures of women to create the design of the product.
At first, I was absolutely horrified. I couldn’t believe that a “porn” site was selling women’s genitals as a toy to men. It felt wrong on so many levels and I just had to let my friends know what had happened. I was so angry about it that I posted about it on my socials asking for views and opinions.
In my opinion, it’s exploitative and disrespectful to use women’s body parts for the sexual pleasure of men. I believe it perpetuates the objectification and dehumanisation of women, and that it has a damaging effect on those who are exposed to it. There’s a long history of objectification of women that this product just contributes to, and that makes me really mad.
But then, I started to think more about the concept and I wondered if this product could actually have a positive impact in some way. After all, it does represent a form of access to women’s bodies that many might not have in real life and this could, at least in theory, foster empathy without risking the exploitation of real women.
The only way to genuinely create a positive impact from such a product is by making sure it is designed to accurately represent real women and not to caricature them. So, I decided to do a bit more research. I looked at the product images and was relieved to find out that the female models chosen to represent the silicone pussies were more realistic than sexualised mannequins. This means, sex dolls of course, that there’s a much less chance of stereotypes and objectification emerging from this product.
But still, I can’t help but feel that the concept is still rooted in highly exploitative messages. Is it really okay to be paying for an artificial version of a woman’s body? Is this just another way for men to view women’s bodies as mere objects? Although adult content is a big and thriving industry, this just takes it a step too far for me.
Once my initial shock subsided and I gave it more thought, I started to feel more confused than mad. On the one hand, it’s hard to ignore that this product does add to the objectification and dehumanisation of women. On the other, if it could be seen as a progressive measure to regulate and dildos render harmless the objectification of women, then perhaps it’s not as bad as it first seemed? I’m not sure. What do you think?