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| ==In fiction== | ==In fiction== | ||
| Among the first conceptualizations of constructions similar to gynoids in literary history is ]'s account of ], who sculpted a female statue so beautiful that he fell in love with it. After praying to ] she takes pity on him and converts the statue into a real woman with whom Pygmalion has children. | |||
| ⚫ | Patricia Melzer writes that gynoids are "irresistably linked" to men's lust, and are mainly designed as sex-objects, having no use beyond "pleasing men's violent sexual desires".<ref>Melzer, p. 204</ref> A long tradition exists in fiction, of men attempting to create the stereotypical "perfect woman".<ref name=melzer202>Melzer, p. 202</ref> |
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| In ]'s ] a femininely shaped robot is given skin so that she is not known to be a robot and successfully impersonates Maria, who is imprisoned. The robot works as an exotic dancer. | |||
| Sex with gynoids has been compared to necrophilia.<ref>{{cite book |title= The body's perilous pleasures: dangerous desires and contemporary culture|last= Michele |first= Aaron|authorlink= |coauthors= |year= 1999|publisher= Edinburgh University Press|pages=108-124 |isbn=9780748609611}}</ref> | Sex with gynoids has been compared to necrophilia.<ref>{{cite book |title= The body's perilous pleasures: dangerous desires and contemporary culture|last= Michele |first= Aaron|authorlink= |coauthors= |year= 1999|publisher= Edinburgh University Press|pages=108-124 |isbn=9780748609611}}</ref> | ||
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| ==In real life== | ==In real life== | ||
| The fetishization of gynoids in real life has been attributed to similar male desires for a custom-made passive women, and has been compared to life-size sex dolls.<ref name=desirbody21>"The automaton becomes both a philosophical toy and sexual fetish", "I extent the meaning of gynoid to include non-mechanical model of women such life-size dolls" Stratton, p.21</ref> | |||
| * ] was the first attempt at producing a realistic-looking "female" android. It speaks Japanese and English and has been produced for a price of 13000 euro. | * ] was the first attempt at producing a realistic-looking "female" android. It speaks Japanese and English and has been produced for a price of 13000 euro. | ||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * ] | |||
| * ]<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7946780.stm</ref> | |||
| ==Controversy== | |||
| ⚫ | Feminist author Patricia Melzer writes that gynoids are "irresistably linked" to men's lust, and are mainly designed as sex-objects, having no use beyond "pleasing men's violent sexual desires".<ref>Melzer, p. 204</ref> A long tradition exists in fiction, of men attempting to create the stereotypical "perfect woman".<ref name=melzer202>Melzer, p. 202</ref> Female cyborgs have been similarly used in fiction, in which natural bodies are modified to become objects of fantasy.<ref name=melzer202/> Fiction about gynoids or female cyborgs reinforce "essentialist ideas of feminity", according to Magret Grebowicz.<ref>{{cite book |title= SciFi in the mind's eye: reading science through science fiction|last= Grebowicz|first= Margret |authorlink= |coauthors= L. Timmel Duchamp, Nicola Griffith, Terry Bisson|year=2007 |publisher= Open Court|page=xviii |isbn=9780812696301}}</ref> Fictional gynoids are often unique products made to fit a particular man's desire, as seen in the novel '']'' and films '']'', '']'' and '']''. The gynoid character Eve from '']'' has been described as "a literal sex bomb", with her subservience to patriachal authority and a bomb in place of reproductive organs.<ref name=desirbody230>Stratton, p.230</ref> | ||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
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Gynoid (from Greek γυνη, gynē - woman) is a term used to describe a robot designed to look like a human female, as compared to an android modeled after a male. The term is not common, however, with android being used to refer to both "genders" of robot. The portmanteau fembot (female robot) has also been used.
In fiction
Among the first conceptualizations of constructions similar to gynoids in literary history is Ovid's account of Pygmalion, who sculpted a female statue so beautiful that he fell in love with it. After praying to Venus she takes pity on him and converts the statue into a real woman with whom Pygmalion has children.
In Fritz Lang's Metropolis a femininely shaped robot is given skin so that she is not known to be a robot and successfully impersonates Maria, who is imprisoned. The robot works as an exotic dancer.
Sex with gynoids has been compared to necrophilia.
In The Bionic Woman, the Fembots were a line of powerful life-like gynoids that Jaime Sommers fought in two multi-part episodes of the series: "Kill Oscar" (with help from Steve Austin) and "Fembots in Las Vegas". Despite the feminine prefix, there were also male versions, including some designed to impersonate particular individuals for the purpose of infiltration. While not truly artificially intelligent, the fembots still had extremely sophisticated programming that allowed them to pass for human in most situations.
In a parody of the fembots from The Bionic Woman, attractive fembots in fuzzy see-through night-gowns were used as a lure for the fictional agent Austin Powers in the movie Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery. The film's sequels had cameo appearances of characters revealed as fembots. The term "fembot" was also used in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (referring to a robot duplicate of the title character, a.k.a. the Buffybot).
In real life
- Project Aiko was the first attempt at producing a realistic-looking "female" android. It speaks Japanese and English and has been produced for a price of 13000 euro.
- EveR-1
- Actroid
- HRP-4C
Controversy
Feminist author Patricia Melzer writes that gynoids are "irresistably linked" to men's lust, and are mainly designed as sex-objects, having no use beyond "pleasing men's violent sexual desires". A long tradition exists in fiction, of men attempting to create the stereotypical "perfect woman". Female cyborgs have been similarly used in fiction, in which natural bodies are modified to become objects of fantasy. Fiction about gynoids or female cyborgs reinforce "essentialist ideas of feminity", according to Magret Grebowicz. Fictional gynoids are often unique products made to fit a particular man's desire, as seen in the novel Tomorrow's Eve and films The Benumbed Woman, Stepford Wives and Mannequin. The gynoid character Eve from Eve of Destruction has been described as "a literal sex bomb", with her subservience to patriachal authority and a bomb in place of reproductive organs.
See also
References
- Michele, Aaron (1999). The body's perilous pleasures: dangerous desires and contemporary culture. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 108–124. ISBN 9780748609611.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - Melzer, p. 204
- ^ Melzer, p. 202
- Grebowicz, Margret (2007). SciFi in the mind's eye: reading science through science fiction. Open Court. p. xviii. ISBN 9780812696301.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Stratton, p.230
- Jordana, Ludmilla (1989) Sexual Visions: Images of Gender in Science and Medicine between the Eighteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0-299-12290-5
- Leman, Joy (1991) "Wise Scientists and Female Androids: Class and Gender in Science Fiction." In, Corner, John, editor. Popular Television in Britain. London: BFI Publishing. ISBN 0-85170-269-4
- Jon Stratton, The desirable body: cultural fetishism and the erotics of consumption, University of Illinois Press, 2001, ISBN 9780252069512.
- Patricia Melzer, Alien Constructions: Science Fiction and Feminist Thought, University of Texas Press, 2006, ISBN 9780292713079.
- Stratton, Jon (2001). The desirable body: cultural fetishism and the erotics of consumption. US: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252069512.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help)
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