What Happens to the Touch-Starved Men of the Arab World? And Why Dolls Might Be Part of the Solution. (God bless the West)

Sex dolls are banned from almost every country that is majority Muslim

Down the block from me where I live in New York City, there’s a smoke shop owned by a group of young Yemeni guys in their early 20s. Smart kids, fluent in English, selling unlicensed cannabis and doing their thing. I see them often. One day I told them that I work in the doll business and showed them a couple pictures of one of my Dolls, and one of them goes, “If this was legal in Yemen, you would make so much money.”

At first, it sounded like a joke, but they weren’t joking. They understood. Because they’ve seen it. They’ve lived it. They know what happens to men in their culture who go through life with no touch, no affection, and no real chance at intimacy.

In a lot of the Arab and Muslim world, there is no dating scene. Relationships are strictly regulated. There’s no such thing as casual. No Netflix and chill. No situationships. No Tinder swiping. You either get married or you get nothing. And getting married isn’t just a matter of love, it’s a matter of money, family status, and social expectations. Many have to pay a dowry, provide a home, and win the approval of not just the girl but her entire extended family.

Now imagine you're a regular guy in a country like Yemen, Egypt, Jordan, or Saudi Arabia. You’re working a low-income job, maybe you live with your parents, and you don’t have the means to build a life that meets those expectations. You can’t date, you can’t marry, and even thinking about sex is taboo. There’s no real outlet. No privacy. No escape.

Millions of men fall into that category. In Saudi Arabia alone, there are over 5.6 million people past the expected marriage age who remain single. In the UAE, the vast majority of the population isn’t even Emirati. Most of the country is made up of migrant workers, men from South Asia, North Africa, and other parts of the Arab world, who come to work long hours for low pay, often living in crowded labor camps with no privacy, no partners, and no legal path to intimacy. These men make up the backbone of the economy, but socially, they’re invisible. They can’t date Emirati women. They can’t bring wives or families with them. And there’s no legal or cultural space for them to find connection. These aren’t just poor men from poor countries. These are working men living inside one of the wealthiest nations on Earth, and they’re completely cut off from any form of closeness, affection, or human contact.

And nearly every Muslim-majority country bans Dolls outright. In Saudi, sex toys are considered pornographic material and illegal. In the UAE, importing them can get you jailed. In Morocco, just the rumor of a sex Doll being sold triggered a police raid. There’s no safe or legal way for a man to even privately seek comfort.

So what happens to these men?

Some fall into depression. Others retreat completely and stop trying. And a small but significant number are targeted by extremist groups. Because when a man is invisible, when he’s stripped of touch, dignity, and a future, he becomes easier to radicalize. These groups know exactly who to look for. They find the guy who has been rejected by his own family, told he’s a failure, and left with no identity. Then they offer him one. They say, we see you, we respect you, you matter. And he clings to it. Not because he’s evil, but because he’s empty and has nothing left to lose.

Now imagine if that same guy had access to a Doll. Not a joke. Not a sin. Just a private, personal outlet where he could experience closeness. Something warm. Something safe. No judgment. No rejection. No fear. A way to feel like a man again without crossing a line or getting hurt.

These Yemeni guys at the smoke shop? They weren’t mocking me. They were being real. They grew up in a system that leaves men starving for connection unless they can buy their way into a marriage. And they know how common it is for a guy to fall through the cracks and never come back.

This isn’t about replacing women. It’s about dignity. Survival. Giving someone the smallest piece of peace before someone else comes along and fills that emptiness with hate.

For the men who are forgotten by their communities, rejected by their families, and pulled into darkness by people who promise them something more, just imagine if they had access to a Doll. Imagine what that simple human-like connection could do for a man who was never given one to begin with.

God bless America!

-Benji