Agalmatophilia

Agalmatophilia is the sexual attraction to a statue, doll or mannequin. Pygmalionism (from the myth of Pygmalion), refers to a state of love for an object of one\'s own creation, but may also be used to describe the attraction to statues.Havelock Ellis. 1927. Studies in the Psychology of Sex (Volume V: Erotic Symbolism; The Mechanism of Detumescence; The Psychic State in Pregnancy).

Preferences in the individual

Agalmatophilia also crosses over into transformation fetishism in the form of fantasies about people transformed into any of those objects. For many it is the idea of immobility or loss of control that is arousing rather than an immobile object per se, and so there are also fantasies about mannequin-like paralysis which sometimes cross over into hypnofetishism and robot fetishism^{[improper synthesis?]} (See also: Gynoid). Such fantasies may of course be extended to roleplaying, and the self-coined term used by fetishists who enjoy being transformed appears to be "rubber doll" or "latex doll".

Representation in the arts

A number of famous art photographers have extensively featured sexualised life-sized dolls in their work, such as: Hans Bellmer, Bernard Faucon, Helmut Newton, Morton Bartlett, Katan Amano, Kishin Shinoyama, and Ryoichi Yoshida.

Agalmatophilia features prominently in Tarsem Singh\'s 2000 thriller movie The Cell. The movie centres on a serial killer named Carl Stargher who drowns his victims (all young women) and then bleaches their bodies so they resemble dolls. He then masturbates while hanging himself above them. Later on in the movie there is a scene taking place inside his mind in which a psychiatrist finds a collection of grotesque, doll-like, corpse-like women inside display cases depicting scenes, while attached to crude machinery that jerks them about in sadomasochistic sexual poses; how the killer percieves his victims.

See also

• Doll fetish
• Gynoid
• Human furniture
• Robot fetishism
• Sex doll
• Sexual objectification
• Michael Jackson

Notes

References

• Scobie A, Taylor J. "Agalmatophilia, the statue syndrome." J Hist Behav Sci. 1975 Jan; 11(1):49-54.
• White M J. "The Statue Syndrome: Perversion? Fantasy? Anecdote?" "J Sex Res". 1978 Nov; 14(4):246-249.
• Kenneth Gross. The Dream of the Moving Statue. Cornell University Press. 1992. (A wide-ranging survey of \'living statues\' in literature and the arts).
• Silke Wenk, "Pygmalions Wahlverwandtschaften. Die Rekonstruktion des Schöpfermythos im nachfaschistischen Deutschland" IN: Konstruktionen von Männlichkeit und Weiblichkeit in Kunst und Kunstgeschichte. Berlin, 1989.
• Elena Dorfman. Still Lovers (2005). ISBN 0-9766708-1-X. (Female art/fashion photographer photographs men and their dolls).
• Elisabeth Alexandre. Des Poupées et des hommes - enquete sur l\'amour Artif. (2005). ISBN 2-84271-252-8 (Book is in French - \'Dolls and Men - Investigation into Artificial Love\').
• Troy Banarzi\'s "Euphonika". (2006). ("Performance art" exploring peoples relationships with dolls and statues; includes video interviews with contemporary statuephiles).
• Guys and Dolls: Art, Science, Fashion and relationships. Royal Pavilion, Libraries and Museums. (2005). (102-page catalogue of a major exhibition at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, England).

External links

• "Just Like a Woman" - Salon.com article describing cultural phenomenon of RealDolls
• "Real Dolls: Love in the Age of Silicone" - original, more detailed version of the Salon article
• The Technosexuality, Pygmalionist & Mind Control Fetish FAQ 3.0

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