Robert, the man who has this habit, tells TLC that if he saw "a 70-year-old man in the mirror, I'd quit this tomorrow." Wow. He and several others will be featured in TLC's My Strange Addiction. Robert's addiction is what's known as "female masking" and he is addicted to dressing as Sherry, a blond bombshell who looks far more doll-like than human. It's something he's been doing for 12 years.
See below:
Sex Doll
The knee-jerk, easy thing to do is make fun of Robert. Some of the comments on the YouTube video include, "I am pretty sure this guy is a serial killer." But maybe we ought to think beyond that. If he were really a "serial killer" would he go on TLC? Maybe he is trying to normalize something that many would like to shame him about. And what's so wrong with that?
We all do strange things for beauty. Imagine if someone from another culture saw our eyelash curlers or straightening irons or the way we rouge our cheeks and paint our lips. It's only "normal" to us because we are conditioned to believe it.
It's not that I think it's normal to dress as a sex doll. It's an unusual habit to be sure. But we need to have some empathy and understand that he finds this beautiful. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but who are we to judge. Personally, I hope this show runs and that people are able to keep an open mind. Rather than scoff, maybe we ought to smile and think of how brave he is to put himself out there like this.
That's courageous. We need a lot more of that in the world and a lot less cruelty. So rock on, Robert, with your sex doll mask. I salute you.
Have you ever heard of "masking?"
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