Erika Eiffel

Erika Eiffel at the 2006 Texas Shootout Archery

Erika "Aya" Eiffel (also Erika La Tour Eiffel , nee Erika LaBrie ; born June 19, 1972 in La Plata , Maryland ) is an American archer and activist , best known for her relationship with the Eiffel Tower . Her " marriage " to the Paris attraction triggered a worldwide media coverage, in addition, Eiffel became known as co-founder of OS Internationale , which advocates the interests of object sex .

biography

Erika Eiffel was born Erika LaBrie in Maryland but grew up with foster families in Maine . As a child she was interested in martial arts . After finishing school, LaBrie went to Ellsworth Air Force Base , where she trained as a meteorologist and as a co-pilot on the F-15 fighter jet . She was accepted into the United States Air Force Academy . In addition, she deepened her knowledge of various Asian martial arts styles at the air force base.

After an incident in which LaBrie was a victim of sexual harassment and defended herself with a Japanese wooden sword , she interrupted her military career and went to Japan for two years in 1994 . LaBrie returned to the United States in 1996 but was unable to continue her career with the US Air Force for health reasons. She then moved to Japan again.

In Japan, LaBrie initially devoted herself to various disciplines of sword fighting, including the third Dan in Iaidō . When she had to give up this sport due to a back injury, she began to be interested in the Japanese archery arts Kyūdō and Yabusame in 1999 . She showed great talent in this sport and set several Japanese records in archery. In 2002 LaBrie left Japan for good and from then on competed for the United States in international archery competitions. She achieved top 10 placements in international individual competitions, won several national championships and was a member of the US national team several times between 2004 and 2009.

Object sexuality

The Eiffel Tower in Paris

As a child, Erika LaBrie was fascinated by various objects, with which she developed an intense relationship. In addition to the Japanese sword she owned at the United States Air Force Academy and her first sports bow , an F-15 fighter plane was one of the objects that attracted LaBrie emotionally.

In January 2004, Erika LaBrie visited the Eiffel Tower in Paris for the first time. LaBrie developed a special relationship with the building, which she visited regularly in the following years. On April 8, 2007, she finally “married” the Eiffel Tower in a private ceremony and in the presence of close friends. Although the authorities did not recognize the marriage, a name change was granted, so that La Brie has been officially named Erika Eiffel since 2007 .

With her symbolic wedding, Erika Eiffel publicly acknowledged her object sexuality. The name for this rare sexual orientation goes back to the Swede Eija-Riitta Eklöf-Berliner-Mauer , who "married" the Berlin Wall in 1979 . In February 2008 Erika Eiffel founded the website Objectum Sexuality Internationale (OS Internationale) together with the German Oliver Arndt , which serves as a global forum for objectophiles and as an information platform about object sexuality.

The establishment of OS Internationale made the media aware of Eiffel. Numerous interviews appeared; the British television station Channel Five portrayed Eiffel in a documentary . On the occasion of her second “wedding anniversary” Erika Eiffel appeared on the news program Good Morning America , and other television appearances followed. While object sexuality was previously perceived as a bizarre issue , the case of Erika Eiffel aroused the interest of sexologists , and in 2010 the first scientific treatises on the subject were published. Eiffel regards her object sexuality not as fetishism but as a sexual orientation . Her relationship with the Eiffel Tower is characterized by “deep spiritual and high emotional feelings”, a sexual act in the conventional sense does not take place.

live in Berlin

In 2009 Erika Eiffel moved from California to Berlin . She remained connected to the Eiffel Tower, but now her passion for the Berlin Wall became the focus. She was already fascinated by the wall in the 1980s, but for years suppressed these emotions. In 2008, Eiffel first spoke publicly about her interest in the Berlin Wall when she appeared alongside Eija-Riitta Eklöf-Berliner-Mauer in the documentary Berlinmuren . The film by the Norwegian artist Lars Laumann was produced as part of the 5th Berlin Biennale for contemporary art . Even Erika Eiffel has dealt artistically with the Berlin Wall, the fall of 2008 were in the Wall Museum several designed by Eiffel replicas of the wall display.

After retraining, LaBrie became a crane operator. In 2013 she won the women's world championship in tower crane driving. At the topping-out ceremony of the Humboldtforum Berlin on June 12, 2015, she maneuvered the topping-out wreath onto the shell.

Based on Erika Eiffel's love affairs with the Eiffel Tower and the Berlin Wall, the musical Erika’s Wall was created in 2010 and premiered in 2010 by the Music Theater Company in Highland Park , Illinois .

Web links

• Object sexuality international

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Jody Berger: Unbowed by Adversity: When One Dream Died, Olympic Hopeful Erika La Brie Took Aim at Another . In: The Rocky Mountain News , June 12, 2004.
2. ↑ ABC 7 News: Cadet Who Admitted To Assault Discharged Honorably ( Memento of the original from September 25, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , September 24, 2003.  
3. ↑ Biography ( Memento of the original from April 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on AyasArchery.com, accessed March 24, 2012.  
4. ↑ The Iron Maiden Archer  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   . Interview on Archery.org, June 21, 2006, accessed March 24, 2012.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Jennifer Hofmann: ERIKA EIFFEL - IN LOVE WITH THE WALL ( Memento of the original from January 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: So So Magazine , accessed March 24, 2012.
6. ↑ Tobias Kurfer: Objectophilia: Sex with the Eiffel Tower . In: Focus , September 26, 2009.
7. ↑ Sarah Boesveld: Love objects . In: The Globe and Mail , August 20, 2009.
8. ^ Aislinn Simpson: Woman with objects fetish marries Eiffel Tower . In: The Daily Telegraph , June 4, 2008.
9. ↑ Kate Snow, Jonann Brady: Woman Proves Love for Eiffel Tower With Commitment Ceremony . ABC News , April 8, 2009.
10. ↑ Amy Marsh: Love among the objectum sexuals . In: Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality , Volume 13, March 1, 2010.
11. ↑ Jennifer Terry: Loving Object . In: Trans-humanities , Vol. 2, No. 1, 2010.
12. ↑ Zachary Turpin: Interview by Email: Erika Eiffel ( Memento of the original from May 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Book of Odds , accessed March 28, 2012.  
13. ^ Marguerite Preston: Object of Affection . In: The College Hill Independent , February 11, 2010, accessed March 28, 2012.
14. ↑ Nadja Wünsche: Wall Show . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , August 10, 2011.
15. ↑ Anja Lösel: 5th Berlin Biennale: Sex with the Berlin Wall . In: stern , April 4, 2008.
16. ↑ Museum has the wall built . the daily newspaper , November 6, 2008.
17. ↑ World Championship Ladies Crane Operator Cup  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
18. ↑ Berliner Extrablatt. Bulletin of the Förderverein Berliner Schloss eV, No. 84, October 2015, page 43
19. ^ The Music Theater Company's ERIKA'S WALL Closes . BroadwayWorld Chicago, accessed March 24, 2012.