Sunday, June 19, 2011

Objectophilia - in love with objects

Objectophilia (object sexuality or objectum sexuality) can be defined as an emotional and romantic desire towards different objects. Those with objectophilia can feel attraction, love, and can even commit to the objects that become their partners. Some of these individuals believe in animism and consider that non-human entities are spiritual beings. 
 
They don’t describe themselves as fetishists because they don’t use the objects to enhance their sexual pleasure, the objects are the only thing they desire and they fall in love with them.

You probably heard of the woman who married the Eiffel Tower . It seems that her love for objects began with Lance, a bow; then she moved on to a piece of fence which is currently her partner. However, she always loved the Eiffel Tower and she changed her name to show the whole world how much she loves it. Then, there’s the woman who married the Berlin Wall. She is now 54 years old and she married the wall in 1979. It seems that her love for the wall began when she first saw it on TV, then she just started collecting pictures with her future “husband”. But she hasn’t visited her husband since part of it was destroyed in 1989. Nowadays, she is in a loving relationship with a garden fence.

Another woman, in love with the Twin Towers, declares that "when it comes to love, I am only attracted to objects. I couldn't imagine a love affair with a human being".  Fortunately for her she has a model of the Twin Towers. They are made from anodized aluminium and the advantage is that they don’t rust when she takes a bath with them. The same article tells the story of Joachim A. who was in a relationship with a Hammond organ, but now “he has now been in a steady relationship with a steam locomotive for several years. He admits that he has been unfaithful over the years because "a love affair could very well begin with a broken radiator”.

An article in the Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality, written by Amy Marsh argues that objectophilia is not a paraphilia but a sexual orientation. Here’s the paragraph:

Based on statements made by objectum sexuals and on the research discussed in this article, it appears that objectum sexuality can be distinguished from a simple paraphilia by its complex array of emotional and affectionate qualities, in addition to its sexual characteristics. The most striking feature of this research was the discovery of the array of emotions and depth of connection that OS people feel for their objects. Judging from the thoughts expressed in open-ended responses, OS appears to be a genuine - though rare - sexual orientation. The emotions and experiences reported by OS people correspond to general definitions of sexual orientation. For example, an article on sexual orientation and homosexuality, published on American Psychological Association Help Center website, refers to sexual orientation as involving “feelings and self concept.” If references to human lovers were stripped from this particular article, it would dovetail with the experiences and feelings described by OS people.

For further reading and stories you can go on http://objectum-sexuality.org/

Is objectophilia a paraphilia, a disorder, a sickness? People who claim to have it also say that they couldn't fall in love with a human being because they don't feel attracted to them. On the other hand, attraction is not the only thing that defines love and when it comes to other needs like communicating and emotional support it can be really hard to obtain those from an object. Or maybe these people have found a new meaning to unrequited and unconditional love. 

8 comments:

  1. hi andreea, this article of yours is very strange ande very rare i think...i hope.. its definitelo abnormal for a human not to totlaly like any human at all.
    i dont know what to say about this kind of people, do they feel a fullfillment in life this way, or is it cultivated and exaggerated ) until they become abnormally affected? :) i think you know better than me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All of these people have Autism including me. And all of these people have a sexual disorder including me were we are in love with objects rather then humans. In fact we all have several severe symptoms of Autism. And the object symptom would be a preoccupation with objects or parts of objects which can be anything from making love to an object to spinning wheels. In otherwords, not using the object as it should be and is always with it. So once you learn about Autism you will understand why these people love objects. Our brains are wired differently so we have different thought processes which we have no control over. But, at least I don't make an ass of myself by putting this very personal symptom all over the Internet. Hope you can get familiar with Autism and learn about it.

      This should get you started:
      Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a range of complex neurodevelopment disorders

      Delete
  2. I don't know what to say, it's hard for me to understand how they feel attracted to objects. It's hard for any of us to put ourselves in their spot. As long as what they do doesn't hurt anyone and truly makes them happy, I guess there's no point in judging them. It's their choice to be like that and I respect it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is clearly an illness and should be treated as such. What if this irrational 'love' resulted in the person harming another human being, for example defending their 'object' if it were innocently threatened?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is not an illness. It is a symptom of Autism. And everyone of these people have the Autism Spectrum Disorder which is a range of complex neurodevelopment disorders. I'm also Autistic with this same sexual disorder. So everyone here needs to put things into perspective and learn how the Autistic mind works instead of throwing words around that is false.

      However, this sexual disorder should not be plastered all over the Internet either. It is a very personal thing with me that I just have to deal with because my brain is all screwed up like all of the Autistic people with these objectophilias or sexual disorders.

      Delete
  4. It's not a sickness and not everyone with it has autism and I support you and your happiness.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Not all have autism. Some are victims of trauma. And after something like that, you can't blame them for not wanting to be with a real person

    ReplyDelete
  6. Not all have autism. Some are victims of trauma. And after something like that, you can't blame them for not wanting to be with a real person

    ReplyDelete