"Are Adult Real Dolls Acceptable?" 'Minor Real Doll' Import Ban Rekindles 'Real Doll Debate'

Supreme Court Rules "Import of Minor Female Appearance Real Dolls Prohibited"
"Minor Real Dolls Cannot Be Imported... Considered as Sexual Objects of Children"

Real doll. Photo source unrelated to specific expressions in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] The Supreme Court has ruled that importing real dolls modeled after the bodies of minors is prohibited. The main reason is the potential for child sexual crimes. Consequently, some have criticized whether adult real dolls are free from issues. The Supreme Court's ruling, which views the use of minor real dolls as increasing the risk of child sexual crimes, has raised questions about whether the use of adult real dolls poses no concerns regarding sexual crimes.

Previously, in the case of real dolls modeled after adult women, some male users disposed of them in ways reminiscent of heinous crimes, sparking outrage among women. Experts have also pointed out that these are not merely sexual tools but that some men project twisted sexual desires toward women onto them.

On the 25th, the Supreme Court ruled that real dolls modeled after the bodies of minors should not be imported. The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Min Yoo-sook) overturned and remanded the lower court's decision in an appeal case filed by an importer against Incheon Customs' import clearance suspension. The court stated that real dolls that appear to have the body of a female under 16 should be regarded similarly to child and youth sexual exploitation materials.

Earlier, the first and second trials found the import clearance suspension on the real doll imported from a Chinese company by the importer to be unjust. However, the Supreme Court judged that considering the real doll's length, weight, shape, material, function, and use, if it is a sexual tool realistically modeled after the body of a female under 16, it could be classified as an "item harmful to public morals" under the Customs Act.

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]

The real doll in question is 150 cm in length and weighs 17.4 kg, made of silicone material with a skin tone similar to that of East Asians. It can be posed in various positions such as sitting or bending.

Women who heard this news expressed disbelief. Kim, a woman in her 30s working in an office, prefaced her comment with "some men" and said, "Isn't it true that some men project their desire to dominate women through real dolls or use them merely as tools for sexual desire relief?" She added, "The court says minor real dolls have many problems, but adult real dolls also have many issues."

The court views real dolls as not violating human dignity. The first and second trials previously ruled, "Just because the overall appearance resembles the human body or the expression is specific and explicit does not seriously damage or distort human dignity and value or violate normal sexual modesty." They judged that although this product expresses the appearance of adult women more precisely than previous products, it does not reach the level of being indistinguishable from a real person, and thus import clearance should be allowed.

Real doll. Photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Women expressed that they could not understand this ruling. Park, a woman in her 20s and a university student, criticized, "While one might enjoy their sexual fantasies using real dolls, that very point can flow in a direction that disregards actual women's human rights." Another female office worker, Choi, said, "If someone thinks of a real doll as an acquaintance and uses it as a sexual tool, what would they think when meeting a real acquaintance?" She added, "Just the thought is horrifying."

Meanwhile, in March, a real doll with only the upper body remaining was found in the Han River, causing some citizens to mistake it for a violent crime. Some women expressed outrage, saying, "I wonder why they deliberately damage real dolls shaped like women's bodies instead of properly disposing of them," and "Isn't this an extreme form of sexual objectification?"

Damage to a real doll posted on an online community in August 2020. Photo by Online Community

Earlier, in August 2020, a similar incident occurred. At that time, a photo of a real doll with its torso separated and placed in a bathtub was posted on an online community.

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

Concerns about the extreme sexual objectification of women through real dolls are rising, and experts also point this out. Professor Yoon Ji-young of Konkuk University's Body Culture Research Institute criticized in her paper "Real Dolls, Eroticism of Domination," stating, "It is a will to dominate the passive and always vulnerable female body," and "The fact that the female body is shaped as a tool for men's therapy and sexual desire relief is not considered at all in terms of what kind of personal infringement or psychological and physical harm it causes women, or how it can be a traumatic factor." This is a concern about extreme sexual objectification toward women.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court ruled that whether a real doll is modeled after the body appearance of a minor under 16 should be judged individually by comprehensively considering various factors such as the person's appearance and body description in each specific case.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.