by Alice Bizarre

Agalmatophilia has always been something that has fascinated me, ever since I saw the wind-up doll scene in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or when I picked up Daphne Du Maurier’s story “The Doll”, but what exactly is Agalmatophilia?

Agalmatophilia is a paraphilia in which someone is sexually attracted to statues, dolls, mannequins or inanimate objects resembling the human form. Most would recognise it as someone using a sex doll for their pleasure but taking it a step further and having an attraction to the item itself. Part of the objectophilia family (sexual attraction to inanimate objects), these things are usually rooted in childhood so there are many reasons why people engage in agalmatophilia. The attraction of perfection, lack of emotional need from the second party, the freedom to act and be how you want to without the insecurity or shyness you may feel around a random hook up, control etc. Now this can be purely sexual control, being able to alter the way the figure looks or more emotionally to have something you can control when there is a lack of it in the rest of your life.  Or simply: you think statues are hot, beautiful and turn you on and you just may not know why!

The most famous depiction of agalmatophilia is the Greek story of Pygmalion, the Cypriot sculptor who carved a woman out of ivory whom he found so perfect he fell in love with ‘her’. However, agalmatophilia should not be mixed with pygmaliomism: the act of falling in love with one’s own creation.

It is very easy to judge or sensationalise a fetish like this, especially as when it is featured in media. It often focuses on individuals who fall in love, marry or have relationships with their own dolls; Lars and the Real Girl (2007), Mannequin (1987) and even the relationship between Dolores and Five in the show The Umbrella Academy. This is also when we move into the realms of ‘what can a figured object give someone; emotionally and physically?’.

Whilst agalmatophilia is one of the physically safer fetishes out there, it’s hard to ignore the potential negatives behind it, such an objectification of genders and the emotionless sexual experience that comes with that, social isolation, lack of sexual education growth, harmful behaviour etc. We also question emotional reasons people engage with dolls like dolls helping with loneliness or how an object cannot lie or cheat or maliciously/intentionally hurt you [check out the documentary Silicone Soul which explores this in depth].

One of the first documented cases of agalmatophilia was in Richard Von Krafft-Ebbing’s Psychopathia Sexualis in 1877 which writes about a male gardener who fell in love with a statue of the Venus de Milo and was discovered attempting to have sexual intercourse with it. We’ve come a long way from marble statues and those who used to dressed up scarecrows for their delights. Now we have blow-up dolls, anatomically correct silicone models and even a future of Artificial Intelligence. The fantasy of having a ‘person’ you are able to change and somewhere you easily alter things to fit your own tastes and desires means that one could say robots would fall under agalmatophilia too (I’m looking at you Blade Runner, Metropolis and Weird Science). This fetish has a lot of different directions you can take it to and explore;

• Wanting to engage sexually with a human form object like a mannequin
• Roleplay where one person is active and the other is still and passive like a statue. According to the book “Curious Pleasures; A Gentlemen’s Collection of Beastliness” the immobility makes the passive participant ‘helpless’ to their partners advances and some will even paint their partner like marble or ivory. All consensual, the passive person can stop by simple breaking character. This can also include robot roleplay and doll like movements.
• The idea of immobility and loss of control can be arousing for some which means roleplay within agalmatophilia can also be seen as a form of sub/dom play.
• Other fetishes that can take away the ‘human’ aspect of someone can be associated with agalmatophilia such as human furniture (acting as an object), masks (taking away physical human expression) and full doll suits (creating that perfection in skin and body)
• Some have even argued that the use of toys such as dildos and flesh lights is a form of agalmatophilia.

There is also a big appeal when partners engage in figure fun; allowing the freedom to be able to play together with the element of a third party without any emotional worries or complications. Dolls have even been used as a compromise to those in relationships where sexual activity is difficult or none existent (for medical reasons etc.) but wish to remain monogamous.  So, if you ever find yourself in the rare instance involved with a statue lover, whip out the body paint, get into character and see how long you can stay still for whilst your partner enjoys every inch of you….

Alice Bizarre is a pro SFX makeup artist, specialising in horror looks. She also performs horror burlesque, and has been a well know face on the scene for a few years! You can follow her on Instagram and Facebook