Source: wilsontimes.com 11/4/25
On Monday, The Washington Post reports, “fast-fashion” retailer Shein banned sales of sex dolls on its site after a government regulatory agency threatened to bar the company from operating in France and referred it to prosecutors. Some of the dolls sold on Shein’s online platform were, it seems, too “childlike” in appearance.
I consider it lazy to assert, as many opinionators do, that “no one” supports, or “everyone” wants, this or that particular thing, but if there’s a subject that commands anything close to societal unanimity, it’s opposition to the sexual molestation of children.
Pretty much all of us who aren’t sexual abusers of children want sexual abusers of children stopped and punished. Many even advocate capital punishment as a permanent individual solution and future collective deterrent, and while I’m opposed to the death penalty myself, I do find the opinion understandable.
It’s odd, then, that so many opponents of child molestation also advocate for laws that increase, rather than decrease, the likelihood that someone with such tendencies will act, in that way, on those tendencies.
Or is it really that odd? These days, public opinion — followed by legislative and law enforcement attitudes — seems largely driven by moral panic. Many people don’t want to just stop…
Related articles:
Against Moral Panic: Or, Dolls Aren’t Real Kids [counterpunch.org 11/5/25]
I read Florida made it a felony to possess such dolls.
Realist dolls causes child molestation, while dildos cause exotic sex. I thought these morons were for prevention, yet want to ban everything they consider deviant.
I see this story raised itself from the dead. I got a good laugh at it back then, and I still get a good laugh. ☺️ And I still have the same question. Why didn’t this man just buy his own Elmo doll to peasure himself?
“It’s odd, then, that so many opponents of child molestation also advocate for laws that increase, rather than decrease, the likelihood that someone with such tendencies will act, in that way, on those tendencies.“
That sentence captures the essence of the argument that childlike dolls or AI child porn with no victims will ultimately lead to more molestation. The logic or illogic–I don’t know which–is that someone who indulges in such things will eventually become dissatisfied, and will go on to greater things which actually cause harm. The counter argument is that these private activities are a substitute for the real thing and thus deter actual molestation.
I suspect that both arguments have some validity, but I’ve seen no empirical evidence or studies on the subject; nor are such studies likely to be done. That is why the substitution argument will not prevail over moral panic. Substitution may very well prevent more molestation than it produces, but we will never know that. The question of whether substitution prevents more harm than it produces will go unanswered. Even if there is a definitive answer, like there is for recidivism, some minds will never change.
You cannot reason a person out of something they were not reasoned into.” ~ Jonathan Swift