Relationships with objects

Objectophilia: A Love Story

Not with a someone; a something

6 min readMar 7

I’ve said it and I bet you have too, maybe, “I’m in love with my new phone/washing machine/car/box of chocolates.” But we aren’t really, are we? Not ‘in love’, just happy with the new acquisition and probably glad to see the back of the old one.

However, some people are in love with objects. Real passionate, lustful, emotional love.

It’s called ‘objectophilia’.

Or alternatively ‘objectùm-sexuality’, a condition in which an individual develops a romantic or sexual attraction towards an object or structure. It isn’t classed as a mental disorder yet it can cause harm to a person’s well-being if it interferes with their ability to function in normal society or their relationships with others.

Girl Loves an Airplane

I read an article yesterday about a young lady who professes to love airplanes. Not just any old plane though, it has to be a Boeing 737. 23-year-old Sarah Rodo, from Dortmund, Germany fell in love with a plane after her attempts at dating real people were unsuccessful. Since her first flight, she has taken 30 minibreaks in order to spend time with her ‘lover’.

Virgin Boeing. Photo by Timothy Werner on Unsplash

Sarah, who identifies as ‘objectum sexual’ has also spent thousands of dollars on a collection of scale models of her favourite Boeing. She says her one problem is that she’s never able to spend time alone with the real thing.

So, of course, I was amused at this story and thought it was a bit of a joke until I read two more linked articles about similar situations.

A Man and a Balloon

Well, lots of balloons. Aakash Majumdar, 28, from Mumbai, India began to have fond feelings for balloons that soon grew into a full-blown (sorry) passion. He takes them to bed with him and shares his feelings with them.