Sex robots / dolls

[hirondelle]

Interesting article here, about a sex doll on display at an Electronica Arts festival which so badly 'molested' by the men who... ahem... viewed her, that she had to be sent away for repairs.  The article goes on to say how

"The attack on Samantha is deeply disturbing. It’s a blatant example of the violence that can happen when we tell men they can do whatever they want to an object designed to resemble a woman’s body."  It also goes on to assert that the whole point of sex robots is that they eroticise non consent.  

Full article here - well worth a read.  Aside from the obvious question of how much molesting you are able to do in a public convention, or whether not it was horny men who damaged her (there has been some refuting).  What also interested me was my interest.  I found the implication simultaneously very disturbing and oddly arousing (it was written to elicit only disgust / dismay).  Not sure it would be prudent to explain why here... but I would love to know your thoughts on the whole debacle.  

 

[Rapture]

@hirondellethe link isn't posting to the story

[Phoenix]

@Rapture, I had the same issue despite the URL appearing to be correct. Try googling the headline: "The damage to Samantha the sex robot shows male aggression being normalised." and it should be the first result.

I can't support the writer's thesis that use of a device which can't consent normalizes violent behavior. She cites the lack of evidence supporting the idea of a reduction in male violence by way of access to an outlet for such violence, but she also leaves out that there's no consensus on the research in the other direction. This very topic has been hotly debated (and subsequently funded for research) for almost twenty years now, ever since it was discovered that the Columbine shooters were fans of Doom. The research has been mixed since then. It's possible that this may change as the objects we are able to interact with become more realistic in a physical way, but that's impossible to know for sure.

I view this piece as a visceral reaction, and suggest we consider the following facts. First, sex robots aren't going to be crossing the uncanny valley anytime soon, perhaps even not for another 50 years. Second, what *is* going to arrive much, much sooner is a very similar and more realistic experience provided by a combination of virtual reality goggles and haptic feedback. That AI programming would be very similar to that in these sex robots, and with the haptic feedback, a physical extension of that programming. Third, there's video games, mostly in Japan where such things aren't illegal, that have depictions of sex with underage persons. By real world definitions, that's non-consent.

My point is that society has been here for a while, in a lot of ways, in the virtual realm. I find it interesting that the author was made uncomfortable when that realm met with an prototype of a physical object with basic responses. The implications of this incident are disturbing, to be sure, but I don't know that they speak to anything larger.

[Rapture]

36 minutes ago, Phoenix said:

@Rapture, Third, there's video games, mostly in Japan where such things aren't illegal, that have depictions of sex with underage persons. By real world definitions, that's non consent.

Just for the record in Japan animation or video games aren't covered by consent laws or anything of the like because it's a cartoon. It's not real and falls into a legal grey area.

[Phoenix]

They aren't in the US either, but they can run afoul of child pornography laws here. Japanese games are also self-regulated not to have depictions of rape.

[hirondelle]

Yes it's an opinion piece written by a feminist writer with an agenda.  I just thought the consent angle was interesting,  one I hadn't considered before.

Quote

A sex robot cannot give consent — it can only take whatever its owner throws at it. As a result, it not only invites abusive treatment, it demands it. The brands behind the robots explicitly encourage the owners to act out sexual entitlement and aggression on these plastic bodies, allowing for men to associate the sexual pleasure of their orgasm with non-consent. Why else would True Companions dolls have a “frigid Farrah” setting that encourages the owner to simulate rape?

The idea that regular guys might buy something to rape it (doll or robot) is both disturbing and darkly intriguing to me.  Bottom line: men a weird. 

[Phoenix]

It's weird to this man, too, heh. But then non-consent isn't a turn on for me at all, simulated or otherwise, except for maybe a couple of implied consent scenarios.

[Timberwolf]

10 hours ago, hirondelle said:

Bottom line: men a weird.

You're weird also @hirondelle

[hirondelle]

There is also this... ladies, would you?

 

[Timberwolf]

 @hirondelle, I think you killed the thread with this.  I think everybody ran away.  

[Tika]

Slutever... lol

Personally dolls like that kind of creep me out, male or female.  I have no issue with toys, realistic or otherwise but the thought of it actually looking like an entire person who is staring at me but not responding... Yeah that doesn't work for me.  But then I enjoy the response from a partner almost more than anything else.

And to the original article and the way men responded to the female doll.  I think it's not men in general but a certain personality type (that really can be male or female)  I also think that if it was a group that did this it may have been some just following the group mind and not necessarily all of them wanting that originally.  I do personally find a lot of dark things intriguing but there's always a level of trust and consent given.

 

[Timberwolf]

If I'm not mistaken, and I very well could be, the person who wrote this article would disagree with you about how women would act in a situation like this, and how (all) men would act in a situation like this.  But yeah, I don't know if I could use a real doll or whatever.  They are kind of cool, but kind of creep me out.

[Phoenix]

13 hours ago, Tika said:

Personally dolls like that kind of creep me out, male or female.  I have no issue with toys, realistic or otherwise but the thought of it actually looking like an entire person who is staring at me but not responding... Yeah that doesn't work for me.

 

13 hours ago, Timberwolf said:

They are kind of cool, but kind of creep me out.

The uncanny valley effect. Kind of a fascinating concept, really, but it's a big hurdle for the sex robot designers. I'm sure a robot not being at 98.6 degrees doesn't help, either.

[Timberwolf]

22 hours ago, Phoenix said:

I'm sure a robot not being at 98.6 degrees doesn't help, either.

Maybe get them an internal heater.  

[Phoenix]

I need one for my fleshlight.

I mean, uh...my all-weather, winter-rated flashlight.