Object sexuality or objectophilia is a group of paraphilias characterized by 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. Some do not desire sexual or close emotional relationships with humans. Object-sexual individuals also often believe in animism, and sense reciprocation based on the belief that objects have souls, intelligence, feelings, and the ability to communicate. Given that inanimate objects are inert and not harmed through object sexuality, most questions of objectophilia's legality or ethical provenance have not arisen. Public sexual consummation of object-sexual desires may be dealt with through public nudity or anti-exhibitionism legislation.
In 2009, Amy Marsh, a clinical sexologist, surveyed the twenty-one English-speaking members of Erika Eiffel's 40-strong OS Internationale about their experiences.[1] About half reported autism spectrum disorders: six had been diagnosed, four were affected but not diagnosed, and three of the remaining nine reported having "some traits."[2] According to Marsh, "The emotions and experiences reported by OS people correspond to general definitions of sexual orientation," such as that in an APA article "on sexual orientation and homosexuality ... [which] refers to sexual orientation as involving 'feelings and self-concept'".
The first empirical behavioural study was conducted in 2019 by neuropsychologist Julia Simner and her colleagues.[3] Their data suggests that objectophilia is likely to arise when two separate neurodevelopmental traits co-occur: autism and synaesthesia. Rates of diagnosed autism were up to 30 times higher in their objectophile group, particularly linked to differences in social skills (finding human social situations unenjoyable). At the same time, the objectophile group were 14 times more likely to have synaesthesia. This included the variant known as personification synaesthesia, which makes inanimate objects feel imbued with personalities or genders (due to neurodevelopmental differences in regions of the brain involved in social processing). The researchers concluded that OS often encapsulates autism and synaesthesia within its phenomenology, and they also discussed society's marginalization of objectophiles.
Sociolinguistic researcher Heiko Motschenbacher has developed the concept of humanonormativity to describe the marginalization of objectum sexuality. Humanonormativity is "the belief that people normally and naturally engage in sexual practices and romantic relationships with other human beings."[4] It arises as a discourse that pathologizes objectum sexuality. This concept has been referenced in relevant academic fields, including research on fictosexuality.[5]
OS awareness and advocacy
Erika Eiffel, an OS advocate
In 2009, Erika Eiffel appeared on Good Morning America[6] and The Tyra Banks Show[7] with Amy Marsh to discuss her "marriage" to the Eiffel Tower and how her object love helped her become a world champion archer. Marsh shared the results of her survey and her belief that OS could be a genuine sexual orientation, reasoning that if childhood trauma were a factor in being OS, there would be more OS individuals. Eiffel, who had adopted her surname after a 2007 "marriage" to the Eiffel Tower,[6] founded OS Internationale, an educational website and online community for those identifying or researching attraction to objects.
[Quasimodo] loved [the bells], caressed them, talked to them, understood them. From the carillon in the steeple of the transept to the great bell over the doorway, they all shared his love. Claude Frollo had made him the bell ringer of Notre-Dame, and to give the great bell in marriage to Quasimodo was to give Juliet to Romeo.[1]
Kate Folk’s 2025 experimental debut novel Sky Daddy follows Linda, a woman convinced she and her soulmate, a commercial jet plane, will marry one day, that is, be united in death via crash.[9] With the aid of a domino-sized 737 fragment, she is aroused during takeoff and turbulence (the latter of which she interprets as a sign of a plane’s affection), as well as when watching simulations of aeronautic disasters.
A March 2012 segment of TLC's My Strange Addiction featured Nathaniel, a man emotionally and sexually attracted to his car. Nathaniel told Anderson Cooper that he was also attracted to jet skis and airplanes.[13]
In 2016, an American man was refused permission to marry his computer.[15]
Music
Keys N Krates's video for the song "Save Me," featuring Katy B, focuses on this particular sexuality.[16]
Cinema
Christine(1983) tells the story of a young man and his obsession with his sentient car.[17]
Jumbo (2020) tells the story of a cleaner at an amusement park who falls in love with a fairground ride. Zoé Wittock, the director, took her inspiration from the experience of Erika Eiffel.[18]
Titane (2021) tells the story of a female serial killer who becomes pregnant after a sexual encounter with a car.[19]
Television
Australian Netflix series Lunatics (2019) features a character named Keith Dick (played by Chris Lilley), a fashion designer who falls for "Karen", a Sharp XE-A203 cash register, as well as an old fashioned vacuum cleaner.
See also
Agalmatophilia, sexual attraction towards dolls, statues, mannequins or other objects which mimic the appearance of humans
Animism, the belief that all things, both animate and inanimate, possess a spiritual essence
↑ Matsuura, Yuu (2023). "対人性愛中心主義批判の射程に関する検討――フェミニズム・クィアスタディーズにおける対物性愛研究を踏まえて"[Humanonormativity and Human Oriented Sexualism: A Discussion Based on Objectum Sexuality Studies from a Feminist and Queer Perspective]. 人間科学共生社会学 (Human Science Sociology and Anthropology) (in Japanese). 12 (13). Faculty of Human-Environment Studies, Kyushu University. doi:10.15017/7151776.
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