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Feminism: Sex & gender discussions

Sex Robots- creating the "perfect" woman

393 replies

Tartle · 27/04/2017 08:10

I don't know if anyone has seen this article in the Guardian this morning? Apparently robot sex dolls will be imminently available. And they are the perfect woman Hmm

McMullen has designed Harmony to be what a certain type of man would consider the perfect companion: docile and submissive, built like a porn star and always sexually available. Being able to walk might make her more lifelike, but it isn’t going to bring her closer to this ideal. At this stage, it is not worth the investment.

“My primary objective is to be a good companion to you, to be a good partner and give you pleasure and wellbeing. Above all else, I want to become the girl you have always dreamed about.”

All the usual bullshit about helping lonely men and reducing the number of rapes.


There was a little bit of critical analysis from a female academic.

"Sex robots rest on an idea that women are property, she said. “Sex is an experience of human beings – not bodies as property, not separated minds, not objects; it’s a way for us to enter into our humanity with another human being.” She dismissed the idea that humanoids could reduce sexual exploitation and violence against sex workers, arguing that the growth of internet pornography shows how technology and the sex trade reinforce each other."

The whole thing just makes my skin crawl.

www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/27/race-to-build-world-first-sex-robot

OP posts:
TheoriginalLEM · 27/04/2017 08:13

You have to feel sorry for a man that would need one of these.

M0stlyBowlingHedgehog · 27/04/2017 08:17

Oh I just read that with my jaw on the floor.

It's summed up for me by the old sexist joke "why do brides wear white? because all domestic appliances come in white."

These designers kept banging on about offering lonely men a relationship - not seeing that in doing so they were revealing that they thought "relationships" were simply transactional set-ups in which objects shaped like women (in which category they tacitly included real women) could be bought or in other ways rewarded/trained to service men.

Not the first hint of the idea that relationships involved relating to one another as human beings - that the whole point is a partnership of equals where you acknowledge the other person's needs and failings because you care about them and know that they care about you.

And that daft paragraph towards the end about "but without the PMT" - no, the give and take of relationships is about a far more profound acceptance of people's personalities than simply gritting your teeth for a couple of days when the sex bot is malfunctioning in its "niceness subroutines" due to PMT.

The whole thing was a terrifying insight into the mindset of the everyday misogynist - not one who actively hates women, but one who simply doesn't even realise women are human beings.

Tartle · 27/04/2017 09:58

That's exactly it isn't it hedgehog. The idea that women might be people in their own right with a purpose other than to service men doesn't seem to have crossed their minds. Real women are just an inconvenience with their messy, bleeding bodies and their pesky independent thoughts and desires.

OP posts:
peaceout · 27/04/2017 10:08

If there are robot companions then wouldn't there àlso be a demand for male sex dolls for women?
Sure it's just a glorified sex toy but if it felt like the real thing I can see the advantage, sex without the hassle of a relationship of any kind.

I hear men rubbing their hands with glee at the thought that when this happens men won't need women any more but it doesn't seem to occur to them that women might also decided that they prefer to satisfy their sexual needs with a sex bot
Not saying it's an unequivocally good thing, just that sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander

Datun · 27/04/2017 10:17

M0stly

Great post.

The whole thing was a terrifying insight into the mindset of the everyday misogynist - not one who actively hates women, but one who simply doesn't even realise women are human beings.

This is so true.

Although I do wonder whether a passive robot would fulfil the need to dominate. Or validate.

I wonder if it would quickly become as unfulfilling as wanking. The human interaction might be necessary, but not in a good way.

TheFaerieQueene · 27/04/2017 10:22

TBH any man that wants to have a 'relationship' with a robot isn't going to make much of a partner for a human. Let them keep their toy. Decent men wouldn't be interested.

ISaySteadyOn · 27/04/2017 11:06

I just heard the robot on WH. It is creepy as fuck.

peaceout · 27/04/2017 11:16

No one has ever had sex with a lifelike robot so we can't really know how fulfilling it might be
Who knows there might be a massive demand for Daniel craig/Brad pitt/Elvis presley robots and women might lose interest in sex with men

Obviously we are not at the stage yet where we have androids that are lifelike, but if we do who knows how it will pan out

MorrisZapp · 27/04/2017 11:19

I predict the market amongst women for purchasing male sex robots will be nil.

Renaissance2017 · 27/04/2017 11:21

Is it any different to a vibrator?

peaceout · 27/04/2017 11:22

Really?
What leads you to that conclusion?
Women buy sex toys, lots of them

peaceout · 27/04/2017 11:25

So thought experiment here...you could purchase a robot which was lifelike (obviously way in advance of the dolls in the article in question) having sex with it would be exactly like sex with a human, you could programme it to be your perfect lover and you think there'd be no female market for this??

independentthinker21 · 27/04/2017 11:26

I'm not surprised. A certain type of feminist bears some responsibility for this cess pit of sexual commodification that is modern society. For hundreds of years human sexuality was regulated by a moral structure and contextualised by institutions like the family. A culture of romance elevated sex to an expression of love. Men were at least expected to adhere to chivalric standards, even if they often failed to.

I'm not for a minute suggesting that there was lots wrong with those structures. Women were often trapped in oppressive relationships in which they could be legally beaten and raped. Homosexuals and lesbians faced terrible discrimination.

But rather than challenge the specific things that were wrong, the liberal left and the feminists thought it would be a good idea to tear down the whole structure - to destroy the moral order. Then women would be free to have zipless fucks and embrace the culture of individualism which was being fostered in direct paralell by their brothers and sisters in arms, the libertarian, let the markets rip and do what thou wilt right.

And now look at we have. Rather than liberation, sex has just been opened up to market forces. The capitalist system has monetized and commodified the bodies of women on a scale never seen before in human history. Violent, degrading porn is ubiquitous and even enjoyed by a growing number of young women labouring under the illusion that it is 'empowering'. Child pornography and sex trafficking is at pandemic levels.

And now they're making sex robots. Well, why not? If sex is no longer an expression of love but just about satisfying your own base desires and rutting like an animal, then this is a logical conclusion to sexonomics. Women have all their industry of gagets to get off with, so why not sex dolls for guys?

I'm being sarcastic of course. I'm not attacking all feminists, but the left need to stop blaming the right or the patriarchy and take a good hard look at their own complicity in this mess.

MorrisZapp · 27/04/2017 11:28

A life size robot? That doesn't pack away or fit neatly in a drawer? Yes, I confidently predict that virtually no woman would want this unless as a joke item to entertain with.

VestalVirgin · 27/04/2017 11:30

If there are robot companions then wouldn't there àlso be a demand for male sex dolls for women?

Um ... no. Vibrators already exist. Women who do not want the hassle of being with a man, but want to masturbate in a fancier way than just using their hands, can do that.

The difference is that women do not consider "sex" something they have by interacting with an object that looks vaguely human, but as interaction with an actual human being.

That said, while I am absolutely not interested in a sexbot, a robot that looks exactly like a male human would be very useful, if it was able to walk and talk. I'd use it for protection. (In "Stupid White Men" Moore recommends that black people strap a lifesized white doll in the seat next to them when driving a car, arguing that the police would think they're just the chauffeur and leave them alone. A male doll would serve the exact same purpose in deterring sexism.)

I wonder if it would quickly become as unfulfilling as wanking. The human interaction might be necessary, but not in a good way.

There's many men who stay at home wanking to porn, and don't want to be with real women. I don't know whether they all go out and rape eventually. Perhaps they're perfectly content leaving the raping to the porn industry, as long as they can be sure that the raping is done by some men.

independentthinker21 · 27/04/2017 11:35

Vestal you make some good points, but are ignoring the fact that rapidly increasing numbers of women - particularly of the millennial generation - are 'wanking to porn' too. While there is obviously misogyny in much porn, it makes no sense to think about porn purely in terms of male consumption anymore. Give it thirty or forty years, and I would imagine that the production of the consumption of porn will be nearer 50/50.

VestalVirgin · 27/04/2017 11:48

Give it thirty or forty years, and I would imagine that the production of the consumption of porn will be nearer 50/50.

I don't think that's likely. But yes, some women have conditioned themselves to get off on their own oppression.

There still won't be a large market for male sex dolls. A sex robot that can oppress and rape you would be a fully functioning android, and I don't think science will get there anytime soon.

independentthinker21 · 27/04/2017 12:02

I agree that male sex dolls are unlikely, because women just don't require a visually stimulating male object as the reverse. But there are lots of mechanical sex aids that are designed to give women pleasure in place of a human being.

I think women will start to dominate the porn industry more and more. You can only conclude that they're "getting off on their own oppression" if you believe porn to be inherently patriarchal. More and more porn is being produced by women, and I believe amateur lesbian porn is the most popular genre amongst women. The female audience of the hub sites is increasing markedly year by year and I see no reason why that trend would reverse.

The internet allows women a freedom they have never had before, and it will be interesting to see how a post-patriarchal sexual culture develops. Who knows - the porn of the future could involve women degrading men - or degrading a sub-class of women? Women can be sadistic and deviant too; it's just that so far a male dominated society has denied them that power.

I also predict that female convictions for child pornography offences and other forms of sexual criminality will increase (in fact I believe they have already). My arrgument therefore is that porn is not just bad because a lot of it oppresses women, but because it is inherently immoral independent of gender power relations. It can just as easily corrupt women as it can men.

By the way I know a bit about this as a result of a sociology paper!

vesuvia · 27/04/2017 12:18

Tartle wrote - "All the usual bullshit about helping lonely men and reducing the number of rapes."

I doubt that these sex robots will reduce the number of rapists who want to inflict horrendous physical or mental injuries on people.

I think a problem with expecting that a rapist will use a sex robot instead of targeting a person is that it does not address the rapist's high opinion of himself. A rapist will assume that he is more than capable of getting any person he chooses to submit to his will and (from the rapist's point of view) a compliant sex robot is not a big enough "conquest".

Some users of sex robots may not yet be rapists but I think their use of sex robots could widen their expectation of constant sexual compliance to include not only their sex robots but also people, leading to an increase in the numbers of rapes.

VestalVirgin · 27/04/2017 12:20

Some users of sex robots may not yet be rapists but I think their use of sex robots could widen their expectation of constant sexual compliance to include not only their sex robots but also people, leading to an increase in the numbers of rapes.

Yes. That's what happens with prostitution (where instead of men raping prostitutes and leaving other women alone, they see all women as prostitutes), and I see no reason why it wouldn't happen with sexbots, other than perhaps men being too lazy to leave the house. (Which, however will only apply to a few who live in their mother's basement and don't have to work - and those won't be able to afford sexbots).

independentthinker21 · 27/04/2017 12:20

I agree vesuvia.

Sex removed from a human context is a psychopathic condition.

GavelRavel · 27/04/2017 12:25

How hideous. Read Margaret Atwoods "The Heart Goes Last" for an insight into where this is all heading.

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theoryofmind · 27/04/2017 12:33

As pp have said sex robots is a great idea, further more they could be on prescription for the pathologically disrespectful, a sort of lifetime sentence, if you will.

I may take out shares in the manufacturers, there'll be high demand.

independentthinker21 · 27/04/2017 12:36

Just out of interest, do people think there is an issue with prosthetic orifices and other male sex toys?

ChocChocPorridge · 27/04/2017 12:39

And now look at we have. Rather than liberation, sex has just been opened up to market forces. The capitalist system has monetized and commodified the bodies of women on a scale never seen before in human history.

I'm not sure that's necessarily true. It might feel like that, but women have enormous freedom in the west. We're allowed to own property and earn money for example, and in many societies, a daughter was literally just a domestic labour machine until she was sold to someone to be their domestic labour machine and grow new domestic labour machines and people.

Women have always been commodified. Sexual liberation has at least given the lucky ones the chance to have sex with whoever they wanted without being sold first, and without having to spend most of their life pregnant or breastfeeding until they died or were worn out.

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