This article was a really interesting read. While I’m completely unable to comment from the perspective of a professional it did make me think, as a (pretty much) straight woman who happily makes use of various sex toys, about what a male sex doll would have to be like in order for me to want one.

First of all, let’s be completely honest. I’m married and though we are a happy couple open to experimentation I have zero need or desire for a fake man when I have a real one. Besides, it would take up valuable storage space when not in use.

In terms of appearance, though, the dolls pictured here are a bit too pretty. Give me a scruffy older model ala Harrison Ford, or a younger one who is less defined sixpack and pouty lips and more strong arms and sassy eyes. I wouldn’t go so far as to want a dad bod kind of model, but it does make you consider the difference in what a man thinks is attractive in a man, versus what a woman thinks. For example, I can’t remember the last woman I spoke to who did not rank the arms as one of her top physical attributes on a man, nor do I recall any of my female friends saying that defined abs are all that important. We also tend to like a nice, shapely butt. Just saying.

At the risk of enforcing the gendered stereotypes mentioned in this article, if I were to find myself single and in need of sexual release or companionship, my choice would not be a sex doll, regardless of how well it fit my standards of attractiveness. With (as the author notes) so many simple and effective toys on the market for women already, a sex doll seems needlessly complicated for the purposes of getting off. As for companionship, soft toys are easy to cuddle at night, or I’d get more cats, and I would make sure to see friends and family more.

Effectively, from the perspective of myself as a single example of the elusive “straight woman” a male sex doll is expensive, cumbersome, and not really an improvement over the items already available to me. He would not be a substitute for an actual man, and there are already plenty of “not a man” options available for both sex and company.