There is a very thin line between love and hate, and the same holds true between what is normal and what is considered not, question is, who is to judge?
Being able to relax at home and watch television from one programme to the next is one of the not so many perks of being at home but I am able to broaden my knowledge on rare occasions and do it while watching random shows. It was in such a manner that I learnt of this rare state (‘condition’ or ‘disease’ would make it glaringly abnormal) called objectum-sexuality, commonly referred to as OS or objectophillia.
I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly causes someone to love objects so much (not even gold-diggers marry money) and my initial thought was, severe heartbreak. Is it possible for a person who has been heartbroken before to lose faith in humans or living beings and develop feelings for inanimate objects?
Believe it or not, the Eiffel tower in Paris is married! A woman, by the name of Erika has taken on ‘Eiffel’ as her last name, after tying the knot in 2008, observed by 12 of her close friends. In 2009, Dr. Amy Marsh conducted a study on OS. The results showed that Objectum-sexuality is not a paraphilia but a sexual orientation. In the same way that one can be attracted to a man or a woman and be considered straight, lesbian or gay, individuals who fall for objects also have a sexual orientation for objects. It all sounds so bizarre, but if it were common, would it make it ‘normal’? Seeing as there is progression in our justice system, will we one day find that marriages between humans and objects are legal?
Phumzile Zulu
