"Allowing Real Doll Imports?" Will Gender Conflicts Worsen? [Han Seung-gon's Incident Notebook]

Women's Groups Express Concern Over 'Extreme Sexual Objectification' of Real Dolls
"Complete Ban on Rape Dolls" Women Outraged
Photos Surfaced Showing Real Doll Limbs Cut Off and Thrown into Bathtub

Real dolls sold on the market. The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] Amid the controversy surrounding realdolls (sex toys shaped similarly to the human body) escalating into a conflict between men and women, a court ruling stating that realdolls cannot be considered as harming social morals and that their import should be permitted is expected to intensify the conflict further.

According to the Seoul Administrative Court on the 25th, the Administrative Division 5 (Presiding Judge Park Yang-jun) recently ruled to cancel the decision by the customs chief at Gimpo Airport to withhold import clearance of an adult female full-body doll.

Company A, which imports and distributes adult products, attempted to import one realdoll from a Chinese company in January last year, but Gimpo Airport Customs classified the product as an "item that harms public morals" and withheld clearance. Company A appealed the customs decision by filing a review request with the Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service, but when no decision was made within the deadline, they filed a lawsuit to cancel the withholding decision at the court.

◆ Court: "Cannot be seen as seriously damaging or distorting human dignity and value"

The court stated, "This item cannot be regarded as explicitly depicting sexual organs or acts to the extent that it seriously damages or distorts human dignity and value," and judged that "it does not fall under items that harm public morals."

It added, "Sex toys are used in very private spaces," and "The state should avoid interfering as much as possible in personal activities in private domains, as this is the way to realize human dignity and freedom."

Regarding customs' claim that the item (realdoll) is "excessively sophisticated," the court rejected it, saying, "Except in special circumstances, there is almost no chance of confusion with a real person, and it is merely a full-body doll in the form of a woman."

Furthermore, the court judged, "Sex toys are tools intended to satisfy sexual pleasure and inevitably realistically replicate the shape or attributes of the body," and "Just because the depiction is specific and explicit does not necessarily mean it violates sexual morality."

On the afternoon of September 28, 2019, participants are shouting slogans at the 'Protest Against the Ruling Allowing Real Doll Imports' held at Cheonggye Plaza in Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

◆ "Male adult products focus on dominating the female body"

However, following this court ruling, social conflicts surrounding realdolls are expected to deepen. Women's groups criticize realdolls for brutally violating women's dignity. They point out that rather than simply satisfying sexual desires through realdolls, distorted views of women are projected onto them in the process.

According to a paper titled "Realdolls, Eroticism of Domination" presented by Professor Yoon Ji-young of Konkuk University's Body Culture Research Institute at an academic conference jointly hosted with Ewha Womans University's Ewha Institute of Humanities and Sciences in October 2019, the main content criticizes the first trial court's July 2017 ruling on the same issue, pointing out that realdolls are used more to dominate women.

Professor Yoon criticized the difference between the process of approving realdoll imports and the realdolls used by men. In the paper, she stated, "The first trial court defined realdolls as 'obscene materials' that explicitly depict sexual organs to the extent that they seriously damage human dignity and value, but the second trial defined them as 'sex toys' and allowed their import." She added, "When the first trial spoke of 'human dignity,' it referred to women, but in the second trial, the 'individual' with sexual freedom was limited to men."

Regarding realdoll use, she criticized the difference between adult products used by women and realdolls used by men. Professor Yoon said about female realdolls, "Female adult products do not aim to perfectly replicate the male body," and "If women use devices focusing on what their own bodies feel, realdolls and other male adult products focus on dominating the female body, which is a clear difference."

In particular, Professor Yoon defined realdolls as "a will to dominate the passive and always vulnerable female body." She further criticized, "There is no consideration of how the objectification of the female body as a tool for men's therapy and sexual release causes personal violations or psychological and physical harm to women, or how it can be a traumatic factor in some aspects."

Summarizing the main points of this paper, which is a critical view of men who use realdolls, realdolls are not simply sex toys but projections of sexual desires stemming from a distorted view of men, ultimately potentially infringing on women's dignity.

Damage to a real doll posted on an online community. Photo by Online Community

◆ Realdolls brutally damaged and posted as proof shots

Concerns about realdolls violating women's dignity during use have grown, and in August 2019, a photo of a realdoll with its torso detached placed in a bathtub was posted on an online community.

The poster said, "I bought a cheap realdoll to dispose of it, but was told not to just throw it away, and since no one would buy a cheap realdoll, I separated it into parts in the bathhouse for two hours and put it in a bag to throw away." They added, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me, really felt like committing murder and destroying evidence, damn."

Netizens reacted with discomfort. One user said, "It's truly horrifying. People buy realdolls to satisfy desires. I really hope they don't call them family." Another user expressed a negative reaction, saying, "It inevitably reminds me of sexual assault. It evokes a horrific crime."

In response, women's groups expressed concerns that sexual objectification is reaching an extreme. A staff member from the Sexual Violence Counseling Center of the Korean Women’s Minwoo Association in Domi said at a discussion titled "Let's Talk Realdolls, Is Rape Really Okay?" that "Realdolls, which accept anything done to them, show how women have been portrayed in our society," criticizing that "women are reproduced as vessels."

When asked if realdolls would reduce sexual violence, the staff responded, "The idea that dolls are needed to reduce sexual violence is based on the logic that sexual violence is sexual release," and pointed out, "Sexual desire is not a desire to rape."

Experts have pointed out that realdolls can damage women's personalities. Seo Seung-hee, director of the Korea Cyber Sexual Violence Response Center, said in an interview with CBS's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show," "Realdolls are not just reproductions of women but make women feel that they exist in a world where they are objects for men's sexual desires."

She added, "This is an infringement on women's personal rights," and "Nowadays, realdolls are also discussed on social media as 'rape dolls.' They are made to feel exactly like humans in texture and appearance, and one-sided sexual acts occur regardless of consent, which is why they are given this name," reiterating her criticism.