A sex doll brothel will not be opening its doors at a planned Yonge St. and Sheppard Ave. W. location, a city spokesperson has confirmed, saying it was informed the brothel’s lease agreement with the property has been terminated. “City staff investigated the premises for Aura Dolls for possible contraventions of the zoning and licensing bylaws,” said communications co-ordinator Angelica Santos in an email. “Subsequently, the city was notified by the property manager advising that the lease agreement with Aura Dolls has been terminated.” In an earlier email, Santos said the city determined Aura Dolls falls under the category of an “adult entertainment parlour,” and “the permitted land uses for the property at 4632 Yonge St., (do) not include an adult entertainment use, therefore the use at this location is not permitted.” Aura Dolls, the company behind the sex doll brothel that was initially set to open in early September, could not be reached for comment. On its website, a map still pinpoints their location at the intersection of Yonge and Sheppard, but states the address is given “upon booking.” Previously, the website showed a censored address at “4*** Yonge St.” On Friday, Councillor John Filion, Ward 23, said the situation “shouldn’t have happened.” “It’s just one of those problems you deal with during the course of a week that you wish didn’t exist in the first place,” Filion said. He said Yonge and Sheppard residents are relieved by the news. “They were upset, they were really bothered by what’s going on on the edge of their neighbourhood.”<doc-sep>A SEX doll brothel that claims to be the first of its kind in North America is setting up shop in Toronto to the outrage of local residents. In just over a week from now, the business will open its doors to patrons on a Canadian street home to nail salons, a massage parlour, and dry cleaners, according to CityNews. The company behind the brothel, Aura Dolls, charges $110 for one doll for 30 minutes, with rates spiking up to $1320 for four hours with two dolls. There are a total of six, lifelike silicone dolls to choose from — each with its own online profile complete with a name, photo and description. They include the dark-haired Anna, who is advertised as being “busty, romantic, and spontaneous,” and Scarlett, a blonde touted as “the absolute American dream”, reported The Sun. “We operate similar to a brothel where guests come in, they have their own room,” Aura Dolls’ marketing director Claire Lee told CityNews. It follows similar sex doll brothels in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany which have proven just as controversial amid criticism that they dehumanise and objectify women. Ms Lee noted that Aura Dolls was aware of these concerns. “At the end it’s just a doll. I see it more as a way for men to fulfil their fantasies,” she said. “We try to focus on the fact that since we have this service, for men who have these dark, violent fantasies, instead of putting out the urge to act aggressively, they can do something like this which is safe for everyone.” The company adds that the dolls are “highly sanitised” but that condoms are still “highly recommended”. Aura Dolls says it will offer a discrete service that involves customers entering via a private entrance at the back and using a buzzer system to exit — but locals aren’t convinced. Toronto City Councillor John Filion claims the “disgusting” sex doll brothel — once opened — would be breaking city bylaws, not to mention putting families at risk. “No, they’re not at all legal. It’s an illegal use. And if there’s any confusion about that, they will be getting a letter from the city very soon,” he told Canada’s CBC. “It is clearly not a legal use. It’s not permitted under the zoning bylaw and it fits the definition of adult entertainment parlour, for which you require a license — and they certainly would not get one.” Cr Filion went on to state that the business was near “an intersection where about 25,000 people live, all kinds of families, four elementary schools are very near by.” He continued: “You know, people shouldn’t really need to be out on a walk with their families and try to explain to their kids why someone is having sex with a (silicone) doll”. But Aura Dolls insists it’s not breaking any laws, adding that the only restriction around the business of sex dolls is that they don’t use childlike dolls that appear underage or are below a certain height limit. But city officials told CityNews that the business was not licensed with the city, putting it in danger of closing down. Residents also added that they plan to start a petition to shut down the brothel, which has been placing posters around town in an effort to drum up interest ahead of its September 8 opening. This story originally appeared on The Sun and has been republished here with permission.<doc-sep>Read Story Transcript A new sex doll brothel that was slated to open in Toronto in early September dehumanizes women, a critic of the proposed business said. "This does literally turn women into objects," writer Meghan Murphy told The Current's guest host, Connie Walker on Thursday. Murphy is the founder of The Feminist Current, a Canadian website. "When you turn something, or someone, into an object it becomes much easier to harm that person, or thing, or to treat it as though it doesn't have feelings," she said. Murphy says that setting up erotic dolls to be sex workers can lead to the normalization of male dominance over women. The brothel, Aura Dolls, planned to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It was set to open Sept. 8 in the city's North York neighbourhood. City councillor John Filion confirmed with city staff that the business would be in violation of a zoning bylaw and wrote on his Facebook page that the staff confirmed the lease would be cancelled. However, a similar business called Kinky S. Dolls has has been in operation in Toronto, also in the North York area, for more than a year. Doll maker strives for realism But for Matt Krivicke, the business of making sex dolls is far from objectifying — it's an art form. He started his business in L.A. in 2011, making highly realistic dolls that customers use for erotic and non-erotic purposes. "It's a business where I can really infuse all of my art ability to create a product that looks like it has personality," he told Walker. "When you look at the doll, I want it to feel like the doll is looking at you." Krivicke said clients enjoy the realism he provides with each doll, with options that include choosing between four different female body types, 12 different heads and 13 different skin tones. Male dolls are also available. Toronto councillor John Filion says a sex doll brothel that is set to open in September breaks city bylaws. (Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images) He believes his erotic dolls do not objectify women, but rather celebrate the human form with lifelike features such as stretch marks, tan lines and freckles. In fact, Krivicke argues women objectify men when they use sex toys that resemble the male phallus. "They have stripped the entire body away and they only have the penis, which I think is way more objectifying of a male body because what they're signifying is that they don't need any other aspect of the person," he told Walker. Dolls don't teach men 'healthy things,' says critic But Murphy doesn't buy his argument because, she says, "masturbation isn't dehumanizing." The real issue is the fact these lifelike dolls are given "personalities" and are sold at a brothel as though they are prostitutes, she said. "I think that really differentiates these dolls from tools that people might use to masturbate in the privacy of their own homes," Murphy said. As for the argument that men are relying on the lifelike dolls for companionship, Murphy said it's the same defence people use for prostitution and it obscures what drives men to seek a prostitute for sex. The idea of a sex doll brothel reinforces patriarchy in our society and dehumanizes women, says Meghan Murphy, founder of The Feminist Current. (Vincent Kessler/Reuters) "The reason that men go to prostitutes is because they want to be in a position of dominance and because they don't want to have to care about the person on the other end of the exchange," Murphy explained. It's the same reason men would go to a sex doll brothel, she said. "He doesn't want to have to feel empathy toward someone else ... he doesn't want to think about what she needs. He doesn't want to think about if he's hurting her or not," she told Walker. "I don't think that's healthy. I don't think that teaches men healthy things about sex and sexuality and women." Listen to the full discussion near the top of this page. Written by Lisa Ayuso. Produced by The Current's Julie Crysler, Samira Mohyeddin and Danielle Carr.<doc-sep>
Toronto Closes First-Ever Sex Doll Brothel Week Before Opening Day Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Toronto has shut down what was going to be the first-ever sex doll brothel in North America just a week before it was slated to open. Because of a decades-old bylaw, city officials in the North York region of Canada's most-populous city said this week that the Aura Dolls brothel would be illegal because it falls under the category of "adult entertainment parlor" and is therefore not allowed in the neighborhood in which it had planned to set up shop, Toronto's CityNews reports. Councilman John Fillion said in a letter to residents obtained by the news outlet that he met with city staff to see if the doll brothel was legal in that location following a barrage of complaints he had received from his ward. The city's declaration that the shop was indeed illegal was based on a motion Fillion made approximately 20 years ago restricting sex retail shops to industrial areas. "Both the business owner and property owner were advised by city staff that the proposed use is illegal and that, if the business opened, they would be charged," Fillion said in the letter to residents. "As a result, I am pleased to advise you that city staff were told that the lease has been canceled." He tweeted Thursday, noting the backlash from local residents: "Thanks to all who spoke up for our community. I received many emails, and 1 from a young female student concerned about the objectification of women wrote that such businesses 'wrongly educate men that women are plastic dolls, rather than human beings who exist for male pleasure.'" Meghan Murphy, editor of the Canadian website Feminist Current, concurs. Murphy weighed in on the controversy Thursday, noting in an interview with CBC radio that doll brothels are similar to actual brothels in terms of the destructive messages they send to men about women, particularly that it turns them into objects. "The reason that men go to prostitutes is because they want to be in a position of dominance and because they don't want to have to care about the person on the other end of the exchange," Murphy said. And such is the reasoning why men visit a sex doll brothel, she added. "He doesn't want to have to feel empathy toward someone else ... he doesn't want to think about what she needs. He doesn't want to think about if he's hurting her or not." According to the Toronto Sun, an hour with one of the dolls at Aura Dolls costs $120, and double that for two dolls. The shop had planned to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Aura Dolls said earlier this week that they had a license with the city, a claim city officials denied. Yet another company a few miles away, Kinky S Dolls, which opened in May of last year, maintains it's actually the first "adult love dolls brothel in North America." The owner reportedly has approximately 500 male clients and the shop has a business license and is run like a sex retail store. Clients have the option of renting the dolls first before buying them. Many robotic sex dolls are made by companies in China and Japan, but some are now being manufactured in western nations, such as the United States. Earlier this summer, as The Christian Post reported, the U.S. House passed by voice vote a bill barring the importation and sale of such dolls that resemble children. Sponsors of the legislation said that using them is a short step away from and will normalize committing sexual abuse on children.