Psychology Facts

▼ Objectophilia ▼

》 Object sexuality or objectophilia is a form of 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.


》Loving Objects Is Not a Fetish: It's a Sexual Orientation. 
Objectophilia may seem like a fetish, but it's not. Fetishists use objects exclusively as a means of achieving sexual gratification. Their focus is on the fetish, not the object itself, and sexual gratification tends to be associated with the feeling of power over the object.


》While objectophiles do focus on the object and its qualities, their attraction to objects is not purely sexual, depersonalized, objectified, or derived from having a sense of power over the object. It can also be romantic and involve intense emotions.

》 Possible reasons why one could be suffering from objectophilia:

Social isolation:
People who are extremely shy and lonely, have difficulty in establishing normal relationships. Engaging in a routine conversation is hard for them. They have a vacuum in their life, which they fill by having relationship with objects such as dolls, phone, jewellery etc.

Animism:
According to experts, animism is one the strangest reasons why one can suffer from objectophilia. Animism is the religious belief that objects and structures possess a distinct spiritual presence. Hence, the phrase "That doll is possessed".

Not a pleasant childhood:
In few cases, people don't have a pleasant childhood while growing up. This could be for various reasons. However, this affects their capability to form healthy relationships with other people.

One-sided relationship:
Some people prefer one-sided relationship because they aren't great at receiving feedback. They also have extremely fragile egos. So, they don't like it if their partner talks back or disagrees with them.

It's all in the structure:
At times, people have a very specific or let's just say weird preference for physical attributes of a structure. For example, few years ago 46 year- old American Erika LaBrie married the Eiffel Tower in France because she was enamored by its structure.

》 It is estimated that only a very small amount of people in the world are emotionally and sexually attracted to objects and the vast majority of them are women.

》 "Objectophiles" are known to be advocating that objects and inanimate things also possess souls and feelings, despite of most humans not being aware of them.

》 There are a number of well known objectophiles who have turned up in national and international media:

Edward Smith, a 57-year-old man from Washington State in the U.S., admitted to having had sex with over 1,000 cars. He said: "I write poetry about cars, I sing to them and talk to them just like a girlfriend. I know what's in my heart and I have no desire to change."

Amanda Whittaker from Leeds (U.K.) gave an interview to the Daily Mail regarding her romantic feelings for the Statue of Liberty. Whittaker said: "She is my long-distance lover and I am blown away by how stunning she is. Other people might be shocked to think I can have romantic feelings for an object, but I am not the same as them."

Reighner Deleighnie, a 40-year old woman from London (U.K.) claimed that she had fallen in love with a three-foot statue of the Greek God Adonis that she bought for £395. It was reported: "She enjoys reading and talking to her companion, and keeps him close by when she watches television and eats dinner. She also kisses and caresses him, imagining the pair of them walking through meadows of wildflowers or at the seaside."

Amy Wolfe, a 33-year old woman from Pennsylvania (U.S.), declared her romantic feelings for a fairground ride '1001 Nachts' in Knoebels Amusement Park that she fell in love with at age 13. She said: "I love him as much as women love their husbands and know we'll be together forever. I was instantly attracted to him sexually and mentally." She's now marrying the ride.

41-year-old Joachim A. from Germany recognized and accepted his inclination when he was just 12 years old. He fell head over heels "into an emotionally and physically very complex and deep relationship, which lasted for years." His partner as a teenager was a Hammond organ. He's now in a steady relationship with a steam locomotive and has been for several years.

》 In 2010, Dr Amy Marsh's Love Among the Objectum Sexuals, the first OS survey among 21 English-speaking objectophiles from OSI's pool of 40, was published in the Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality.

》Objectophilia May Be Linked to Synesthesia. There are some phenomenological similarities between objectophilia and synesthesia of the kind that attributes a personality to objects. A recent study found a link between objectophilia and grapheme-personalization synesthesia

》Autism Can Provide an Explanation for the Attraction to Objects. Although objectophilia may be tied to synesthesia or cross-modal mental imagery, it is most closely related to autism (or Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD). Objectophiles have been found to have autistic traits that may explain the attraction they develop towards objects.

》 Much like being attracted to specific physical attributes in men and women, objectum sexuals are drawn to certain features in objects. Many prefer metal (plastic is no favourite), and larger, more complex entities.

》 The first presumable "objectophile" comes from the classic novel of Victor Hugo; The Hunchback of Notre Dame, in which the protagonist is described to be rather affectionate towards the bells of the cathedral; loved them, caressed them and understood them.