The scene cuts to a shot of Erika adjusting a stocking; we see her naked leg and infer that she's consummating her commitment. Once the documentary aired in France, the staff at the Eiffel Tower "wanted nothing to do with me.
It just wrecked me. It was this final blow, and I just had to withdraw. Erika, like lots of broken-hearted people, retreated to the comfort and security of an old companion. Only in this case, that companion was—somewhat controversially—the Berlin Wall.
In the s I felt empathy for him; he can't help where he was built. They focused their hatred on the wall, rather than the politics behind it. I felt like I was suffering in the same way. I went through a lot of rejection when I was younger because of my orientation. They think I can't develop relationships with people so I choose objects so I can have control.
But I had no control over my relationship to the Eiffel Tower. If this was all about control, I'd love my toaster, you know? This animosity, argues Erika, is a specifically Western phenomena. People just accepted me. Shinto is an animist religion—if you have a headache, you'll rub the Buddha's head and then rub your own; it's an exchange of energy. Here in Germany, I'll refer to my partner as 'my big love.
It's the puritanical basis of the way people think in these countries that's made me suffer a great deal. I've lost jobs, I've lost family, and I lost my greatest love.
During the course of research, Mashiter heard a lot of breakup stories. There are relationships where the communication breaks down. I've also heard of cases where the object ended the relationship; where the person feels like they're doing everything that they can but aren't getting anything back. And there are cases where the object is destroyed. Even when you invest your affection in bricks and mortar, iron and steel, wood and hinges, that love is, it seems, far from secure.
I am a four-time world champion due to the loving relationship I've had with my Japanese sword, archery bow, and even my tower crane that I operate. After 10 years with the Eiffel Tower, Erika's relationship came to a close and she's since entered something new and as she describes it: "loving". As you can probably imagine, Erika isn't jumping to share the specifics about her new partner, but has this to say about the tower: "I have accepted defeat.
However Eiffel will always have a place in my heart. That is something the media cannot carve out of my chest. Though at times it feels as if they have tried.
As it's difficult for some people to empathise with such a radical orientation, I tried to find parallels in my own life, and asked if OS is, on some level, an extension of the loving nostalgia we hold towards certain objects. Say, a relative's ring, or a childhood toy. These sentimental relationships that people have with some objects are very similar to how we feel. However, most don't have the instinct to develop a deeper connection.
To those who want to put Erika's orientation down to past trauma, she knew of her OS tendencies since childhood. Here I am in the crowd crying out, somebody, somebody, hear my voice,'" she said. Eiffel, 36, is part of a small group of people across the world who call themselves "objectum sexuals" where their intimate life revolves around objects, not people.
The objects can range from a home computer to a set of drums or a national monument, anything they can feel a connection to. It may sound strange to most of us, but it's very real to them. It comes perfectly normal to us to connect on various levels, emotional, spiritual and also physical for some," Eiffel said. Medical experts ABC News contacted said they were not familiar with objectum sexuals, some said it might be classified as paraphilia — a disorder in which a person has an unusual sexual interest.
Some psychologists suggest that people with the condition may have been sexually abused. Certified sexologist Amy Marsh, from Albany, Calif. She said objectum sexual is not a disorder, but possibly a new sexual orientation. Marsh said she's been surveying a small online community of people with OS. I'm finding they're very happy, and they don't want to change.
I am also finding out that quite a few of them have a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome or autism, but not everybody.
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