These Men Dress Up As Rubber Dolls (And It’s Not About Sex)

Children all over the world use costumes and dolls to play pretend. After they're grown, most lose interest in the toys of youth. But some men are less keen to give up on make-believe.

Meet “Robert,” who has been a masker for almost two decades. A resident of Southern California, Robert likes to relax poolside and unwind. But when he gets home, he has little interest in sweatsuits and leisurewear. Instead, he transforms into “Sherry.”

Sherry is blonde and feminine, outfitted in dresses and bikinis to laze around the house. She is Robert — only wrapped in a full bodysuit called a FemSkin and topped with a Rapunzel-esque wig.

As Robert tells it, “most maskers…dress in private and in secret.” Although so much of what was once anathema has become mainstream, the masker movement is still considered taboo. “I don’t think it will ever be a popular pastime,” Robert concedes. And yet there are a few online communities where maskers gather to chat and share tips. These “sympathetic sites” have become a virtual home for the subculture. For maskers, a second skin is more and less than armor. It is freedom.