You see them hanging around Bloomingdales, Marshalls, and even the local Goodwill. They’re provocative and eerily sensual, with tight waists, long legs, and smooth stomachs. Their facial expressions are cold and indifferent; they’re always bald and often faceless; sometimes they have no head. But that doesn’t matter to me — I think mannequins are hot, and it’s making me feel a little weird.
Agalmatophilia, from the Greek word algma (statue) and philia (love), is a paraphilia involving a sexual attraction to a statue, doll, or mannequin. The condition only received serious clinical attention after German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing published his Psychopathia Sexualis in 1886. The book, which by its twelfth edition contained 238 specific case histories of human sexual behavior, contributed to popular language terms such as “sadist” (derived from the violent sexual practices outlined in the novels of Marquis de Sade), “masochist” (derived from the name of novelist Leopold von Sacher-Masoch), as well as homosexuality, necrophilia, and anilingus (I’ll let you figure those out on your own). From the early 20th century, Psychopathia Sexualis became one of the de facto medical/legal textual reference on criminal sexual pathology.
Agalmatophilia is associated with a particular anecdote from Psychopathia Sexualis about a gardener, who, while performing his daily duties — landscaping, pruning, raking, etc. fell in love (and attempted intercourse) with a statue of Venus de Milo (see image below). But was this forbidden romance the product of mental depravity, loneliness, or true love?
Agalmatophilia, or falling in love with a statue or mannequin is part of a larger category of mental conditions called “objectum sexuality.” People suffering from object sexuality develop romantic and sexual attractions to inanimate objects. One of the most famous and widely publicized cases is Erika Labrie, who in 2007 “married” the Eiffel Tower. According to Erika, she first set eyes on the story, wrought-iron lattice tower while she was in Paris in 2004 and claims to have fallen in love with it instantaneously. She describes the Eiffel Tower as her “soulmate” and says they’re in as real a relationship as two consenting adults. Erika is not alone; there’s a surprisingly long list of people who have fallen in love with objects, machines, and historical landmarks — from carnival rides and steamboats to picket fences and the Berlin Wall. One man from Washington State even admitted to copulating with more than 1,000 automobiles.
Analyzing certain paraphilias can land you in murky territory, because at one point does attraction turn to lust to infatuation to romantic love? Are we all inherently naïve, dare I say, insane, for believing that infinite affection and endearment can only exist between two animate beings? This question looms when considering modern cases of agalmatophilia. In 2012, a British paper ran a story about Reighner Deleighnie, a 40-year-old woman from London who told reporters that she had fallen in love with a three-foot statue of the Greek god, Adonis. The paper wrote that, “...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, imaging the pair of them walking through meadows of wildflowers or at the seaside.” And it appears that Ms. Deleighnie is not alone, because according to the same article, she shares the condition with Amanda Whittaker, a 27-year-old shop assistant from Leeds who fell “head-over-heels for the Statue of Liberty.”
I’m not in love with a mannequin, but I do think their physiques, poses, and expressions are hauntingly sensual. After doing a little research, I found out that mannequins didn’t always have bodies that resembled Gandhi with a C-cup. There was a time when they actually looked pretty normal. In the early 20th century, mannequins were designed to be as realistic and lifelike as possible, they were broad and pear shaped, with flatter chests and larger waists. This full-figured look channeled the Victorian Era-mindset that bigger women were from more affluent families, but by the mid-20th century, this mode of thinking was out of style, and as a result, mannequins became progressively thinner, with narrow hips and sharp, slender shoulders.
The proportions of today’s female mannequins are flat-out unachievable, but how thin are we talking? Researchers Eric Robinson and Paul Aveyard surveyed the body dimensions of mannequins displayed in high-end fashion boutiques and retailers from two different UK cities. The results of their study, published in the Journal of Eating Disorders, showed that the average female mannequin body size was representative of a “very underweight woman.” Literally, 100 percent of female mannequins represented an underweight body size, while this underweight body size was only reflected in eight percent of male mannequins (male mannequins have their own set of issues, as you can see from the image below).
But are we now in the midst of a mannequin renaissance? Brands have listened and acted on their customer’s concerns by using mannequins that represent more realistic and relatable physical proportions. Because while the “ideal” body size is subjective, it’s undeniable that there are an infinite combination of uniquely shaped waists, torsos, arms, butts, and boobs. Missguided, the UK-based international clothing retailer used mannequins with freckles and stretch marks; J.C. Penny (hi mom) displayed curvier and handicapped mannequins, while American Apparel went as far as to feature mannequins with pubic hair…One step at a time American Apparel, one step at a time.
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