Object sexuality

Not to be confused with Sexual objectification.

Object sexuality or objectophilia is a group of paraphilias characterized by sexual or romantic attraction focused on particular inanimate objects. Individuals with this attraction may have strong feelings of love and commitment to certain items or structures of their fixation. Some do not desire sexual or close emotional relationships with humans. Object-sexual individuals also often believe in animism, and sense reciprocation based on the belief that objects have souls, intelligence, feelings, and the ability to communicate. Questions of objectophilia's legality or ethical provenance have not arisen, given that inanimate objects are inert and not harmed through object sexuality. Public sexual consummation of object sexual desires may be dealt with through public nudity or anti-exhibitionism legislation.

Pygmalion by Jean-Baptiste Regnault, 1786, Musée national du château et des Trianons

Research

In 2009, Amy Marsh, a clinical sexologist, surveyed the twenty-one English-speaking members of Erika Eiffel's 40-strong OS Internationale about their experiences.^[1] About half reported autism spectrum disorders: six had been diagnosed, four were affected but not diagnosed, and three of the remaining nine reported having "some traits."^[2] According to Marsh, "The emotions and experiences reported by OS people correspond to general definitions of sexual orientation," such as that in an APA article "on sexual orientation and homosexuality ... [which] refers to sexual orientation as involving 'feelings and self-concept'".

Sociolinguistic researcher Heiko Motschenbacher has developed the concept of humanonormativity to describe the marginalization of objectum sexuality. Humanonormativity is "the belief that people normally and naturally engage in sexual practices and romantic relationships with other human beings."^[3] It arises as a discourse that pathologizes objectum sexuality. This concept has been referenced in relevant academic fields, including research on fictosexuality.^[4]

OS awareness and advocacy

In 2009, Erika Eiffel appeared on Good Morning America^[5] and The Tyra Banks Show^[6] with Amy Marsh to discuss her "marriage" to the Eiffel Tower and how her object love helped her become a world champion archer. Marsh shared the results of her survey and her belief that OS could be a genuine sexual orientation, reasoning that if childhood trauma were a factor in being OS, there would be more OS individuals. Eiffel, who had adopted her surname after a 2007 "marriage" to the Eiffel Tower,^[5] founded OS Internationale, an educational website and online community for those identifying or researching attraction to objects.

Literature

Marsh sees OS-like behavior in classic literature.^[1] In Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame:

[Quasimodo] loved [the bells], caressed them, talked to them, understood them. From the carillon in the steeple of the transept to the great bell over the doorway, they all shared his love. Claude Frollo had made him the bell ringer of Notre-Dame, and to give the great bell in marriage to Quasimodo was to give Juliet to Romeo.^[1]

Describing his passion for sculptures, Horace Walpole commented in 1791 that "Sir William Hamilton had actually married his Gallery of Statues".^[7]

In popular culture

Real life

• In 1979, a Swedish woman married the Berlin Wall^[8]
• In 2007, Erika Eiffel married the Eiffel Tower^[9][5]
• In 2010, Woman's Day magazine listed ten romances between people and things, including the Berlin Wall, a fairground ride, a dakimakura, a Volkswagen Beetle, the World Trade Center, a steam locomotive, an iBook, and a metal processing system ^[10]
• A March 2012 segment of TLC's My Strange Addiction featured Nathaniel, a man emotionally and sexually attracted to his car. Nathaniel told Anderson Cooper that he was also attracted to jet skis and airplanes^[11]
• In 2013, an Australian woman, Jodi Rose, married the Le Pont du Diable Bridge in France^[12]
• In 2016, an American man was refused permission to marry his computer^[13]
• In 2020, a Russian woman, Rain Gordon, married a briefcase^[14]

Music

• Keys N Krates's video for the song "Save Me," featuring Katy B, focuses on this particular sexuality^[15]

Cinema

• Electric Dreams (1984) tells the story of a love triangle between a man, a woman, and a sentient personal computer.^[16]
• Christine (1983) tells the story of a young man and his relationship with a sentient car.^[17]
• Jumbo (2020) tells the story of a cleaner at an amusement park who falls in love with a fairground ride. Zoé Wittock, the director, took her inspiration from the experience of Erika Eiffel.^[18]
• Titane tells the story of a female serial killer who becomes pregnant after rubbing herself into a car.^[19]

Television

• Australian Netflix series Lunatics (2019) features a character named Keith Dick (played by Chris Lilley), a fashion designer who falls for “Karen”, a Sharp XE-A203 cash register, as well as an old fashioned vacuum cleaner

See also

• Agalmatophilia, sexual attraction towards dolls, statues, mannequins or other objects which mimic the appearance of humans
• Animism, the belief that all things, both animate and inanimate, possess a spiritual essence
• Doll fetish
• Fictosexuality
• List of paraphilias
• Mechanophilia, a paraphilia involving sexual attraction towards machines, particularly vehicles
• Paraphilia – Atypical sexual attraction
• Plushophilia – Stuffed toy animal fetishism
• Sexual fetishism
• Shoe fetishism

References

1. Marsh, Amy (2010-03-01). "Love Among the Objectum Sexuals". Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality. 13.
2. N.B. There are only 20 responses, though the author claims 21 respondents.
3. Motschenbacher, Heiko (2018). "Language and Sexual Normativity". In Hall, Kira; Barrett, Rusty (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Language and Sexuality. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190212926.013.14.
4. Matsuura, Yuu (2023). "対人性愛中心主義批判の射程に関する検討――フェミニズム・クィアスタディーズにおける対物性愛研究を踏まえて" [Humanonormativity and Human Oriented Sexualism: A Discussion Based on Objectum Sexuality Studies from a Feminist and Queer Perspective]. 人間科学共生社会学 (Human Science Sociology and Anthropology) (in Japanese) (13). Faculty of Human-Environment Studies, Kyushu University. doi:10.15017/7151776.
5. Snow, Kate; Brady, Janann (2009-04-08). "Woman Proves Love for Eiffel Tower With Commitment Ceremony". ABC News.
6. Filip, Kristyn (February 15, 2012). "The woman who married the Eiffel Tower". The Fulcrum.
7. Barker, C.; Trussler, S. (1997). New Theatre Quarterly 49: Volume 13, Part 1. New Theatre Quarterly. Cambridge University Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-521-58902-4. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
8. "Hasselhoff marries Berlin Wall". The Irish Times. April 1, 2013. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
9. "Inanimate attachment: Love objects". The Globe and Mail. Aug 21, 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
10. "10 Romances Between People and…Things". 12 April 2010.
11. . Anderson. February 10, 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-02-14.
12. "Jodi Rose bridges differences to marry Le Pont du Diable Bridge in France". 6 July 2013.
13. "Man sues Utah County clerk for refusing to issue license to marry computer". 29 June 2016.
14. "Woman marries her briefcase after five-year relationship".
15. Matthew Meadow (3 August 2015). "Keys N Krates - Save Me". YourEDM. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
16. Jackson, Angelique (2023-10-10). "'80s Cult Classic 'Electric Dreams' Remake in the Works from Veteran Film Executive Paul Davidson (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
17. Bradshaw, Peter (2023-10-19). "Christine review – Stephen King's evil car still has a one-track mind". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
18. Armistead, Claire (9 July 2021). "'I know it's weird' – Jumbo: the film about a woman who falls in love with a funfair ride". the Guardian. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
19. Barber, Nicholas. "Titane: The most shocking film of 2021". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2021-07-26.

External links

• The OS Internationale website
• Interviews of Eija-Riitta Berliner-Mauer and Erika Eiffel
• Eija-Riitta Berliner-Mauers website