The sex doll community can be divided into two categories of people. The first category primarily uses sex dolls for psychological needs, having a partner, presence, and companionship. The second category focuses more on fulfilling physical needs, sex itself.
The first category/type enjoys dressing life-sized dolls, role-playing, and taking photos of the dolls, or simply having them as a presence in the home. Some people in this category seek spiritual support, while others are childless couples who buy a realistic love doll to raise as a daughter. There are also widowers who use a sex doll as a replacement for their deceased wife.
The second category focuses more on fulfilling physical needs. However, many users combine both needs.
The emergence of the categories
In 1977, Orient Industry, the famous Japanese manufacturer of adult sex dolls, launched their first "premium sex doll" called Smile.
(1)
The goal was to make using sex dolls easier for a specific group of people. At that time, only inflatable dolls were available in Japan, and they were mainly used by people with disabilities and single seniors. However, these inflatable dolls were large and difficult to secure, making them hard to use. At the time, "Smiles" were expensive, and Orient Industry had a discount program for people with physical and mental disabilities to ease the burden on this group.
Despite the "sexual" stigma attached to the perception of silicone dolls, a silicone doll is actually much more than that label suggests. It encompasses much, much more than just an adult object.
PubMed calculated that approximately 70% use the doll as a sexual aid. Additionally, approximately 80% of buyers are willing to treat a life-sized doll as a "lover", projecting their emotions and desires onto the doll and thereby fulfilling the need for mutual companionship of body and soul. (2)
Even today, as silicone dolls are increasingly seen as more than merely "sex instruments", many people's initial reaction to them may still be ''strange''.
The stereotype of the sex doll customer
This stereotype is rooted in society's sense of shame when it comes to sexuality, as well as in the fact that people talk about sex in different ways. In this way of thinking, TPE and silicone dolls are automatically associated with sex, making them seem just as shameful and strange as sex itself, as well as the people who use them.
The consequence of this stereotyping
As a result, sex doll owners feel inhibited from expressing their feelings openly, unlike people with other hobbies. But aside from these stereotypes, should owners of dolls that harm no one, cross no moral boundaries, or cause harm to others really bear the stigma of being "perverts"? We do not think so.
What type of people buy sex dolls?
Demographically, they are all kinds of people: highly or less educated, working in the legal field or show business, young and old, with or without a partner, extroverted or introverted.
There is no specific type of person who buys sex dolls; every segment of society can encounter them and feel attracted to them.
Sources
- 1. Japan Today:
Japan Today. (26/08/2024). Japan’s premier love doll maker is closing; says goodbye to fans with heartfelt message. Accessed on 19/11/2025, from https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/japan%E2%80%99s-premier-love-doll-maker-is-closing-says-goodbye-to-fans-with-heartfelt-message - 2. PubMed / PMC:
Harper, C. A., & Lievesley, R. (15/08/2020). Sex doll ownership: An agenda for research. Current Psychiatry Reports, 22(10), 54. Accessed on 19/11/2025, from https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7429526/
