“Index” in “Artificial women”
Page locators in italics indicate figures
agency, female, 163; in Air Doll, 45; in Barbie, 147–48; developments in AI and robotics, 21, 173–75; in Ex Machina, 67–68, 84, 127; in Ghost in the Shell, 90; of golem, 135–36; in The Good Girl, 67–68; and peeling away of synthetic skin, 77–78, 84–85, 116; in The Perfect Wife, 116; of synths in Humans, 129–30; of Video Girl Barbie, 13; in Westworld, 63–64. See also identity; self-awareness
Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center (UCLA ), 99–100
aircraft warning systems, female-voiced, 15, 22, 154–58
Air Doll (film), 19, 35, 42–45, 44; Junichi, 43; Nozomi, 19, 42–45, 44
AI-Tech, 34
Alexa (Amazon), 15, 19, 22, 41, 56, 148, 162; “Alexa, Can I Trust You?” study, 150; responses to sexual harassment, 153, 154; voice options, 151
Alien (film), 149
aliens, 1, 22, 49; in 1950s Cold War films, 74. See also Under the Skin (film)
Alluring Androids, Robot Women, and Electronic Eves (New York Hall of Science), 8
Almereyda, Michael, 111–12
Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other (Turkle), 100
Alternative Limb Project, 175–76, 176
Amazing Amanda doll, 143
Amazon Echo, 153
Annabelle films, 170
apps: DALL-E 2 (AI imaging app), 163; Eterni.me digital avatar, 105; Harmony AI, 32–33, 36; HereAfter AI, 105; Lensa, 21, 173–75; Realbotix sex app, 32, 35; RealDoll X, 34–35; RealGirl, 34; Replika, 105; ToyTalk, 141, 143, 145
Archive (film), 108
À rebours (Against the Grain) (Huysmans), 52
“Are Women the More Empathetic Gender?” study, 99
Ars Electronica Festival (Linz, Austria), 56
artifice: ambiguities of, 41, 72, 91; as appealing, 82; and authenticity, 16, 18, 21, 79–80, 82, 115, 127–28, 181; dialectic with naturalism, 80; femininity conflated with, 75; of geisha, 88; inherent in simulated females, 82; as liberating, 92; peeling away of as painful, 84–85, 115–16; technological, 34. See also boundaries; cosmetics
artificial females: assemblages and constructs, 13–14, 19, 164, 173, 175; compliant, 3, 13, 15, 56–58, 68; as emblems of liberation, 18–19; lethal, 1, 13, 58–61, 65, 68, 85, 141, 162, 170–73; masking by, 3–6, 16, 72, 74–75, 77, 80, 85, 92; new breed of, 4, 22, 86; objectification of women, 148; quest for independence, freedom, and autonomy, 1–4, 16, 58, 123–24, 135; racialized and gendered design of, 6, 27, 97; rebellion and resistance by, 5–6, 20–22, 58–64, 80, 92–94, 107–8, 116, 163, 174; recurring themes, 4, 19, 37, 68–69, 84, 92, 125–29, 137–38; reflected and seen in mirrors and glass, 14, 27, 60, 72–73, 72–74, 76, 85, 115; reframed by women artists and writers, 23, 165–73; self-repairs, 67–68, 127, 173; self-sacrifices of, 3, 42, 44, 117, 126, 130, 131–32; social fears they will displace real women, 15, 35, 45–52, 125–26, 168, 170; traditional gender roles assigned to, 6, 15–16, 21, 128; underlying authenticity of, 5–6, 16, 63; vulnerability of, 42, 52, 65–66, 74–76, 89, 144. See also automatons, clockwork; caregiver robots; fears about artificial females; head, talking female; mothers, robotic; robo-prostitutes; self-awareness and self-discovery, artificial female; servants, mechanical female; sex dolls
artificial intelligence (AI), 1, 5, 13, 16, 22, 39, 161, 177; AI-enabled robot dolls in brothels, 54; and Barbie, 141; DALL-E 2 (AI imaging app), 163; ElliQ (nonhumanoid AI-endowed robot), 98, 99; Eterni.me, 105, 118n13; Harmony AI app, 32–33, 46; HereAfter AI app, 105; Lensa, 21, 173–75; Repliee Q2, 8, 9, 97; in Sophia, 3. See also RealDoll
Aspen, Bina, 105–6
“The Assault on Empathy” (Turkle), 101
assemblages and constructs, artificial female, 13–14, 164, 173, 175; in Bellmer’s work, 19, 50–51, 67; in Kruger’s work, 19, 20
Atwood, Margaret, 33
authenticity: and artifice, 16, 18, 21, 79–80, 82, 115, 127–28, 181; underlying, in artificial females, 5–6, 16, 63
“Automatic Maid-of-All-Work: A Possible Tale of the Near Future” (Campbell), 120–21
automatons, clockwork, 8, 27, 170; coin-operated erotic dancing women, 29; "French Coochee-Coochee Dancing Figure," 29; in Hugo, 161–62; “Maid Dusting a Portrait,” 122, 123; The Musician, 8, 170; Parisian, 3, 27–28, 28, 175; prostitutes as, 52; servants, 120; tea servers, 122; woman on bicycle, 163
Ava (Ex Machina), 1–6, 2, 44, 78–86, 86, 92, 107, 115, 158; agency of, 67–68, 85, 127; ambiguities of, 78–81; rejection of patriarchal power, 162; self-repair, 67–68, 173
AVA dictionary, 152
avatars: birth of artificial humans, 173–74; Eterni.me, 105, 118–19n13; sex robots, 32–34
Baessato, Giacomo, 66
Bag Lady 2 (Wosk), 7
Barata, Sophia de Oliveira, 14, 175–77, 176
Barbie: controlled conversations, 144; controversies about Hello Barbie, 15, 22, 141, 144–48; and diversity, 21, 146; Fashionistas, 146; Game Developer Barbie, 145; gender stereotypes, 143; Hello Barbie, 15, 22, 141–48; Hello Barbie Hologram, 147; as perfect woman, 146, 150; Super Talk Barbie, 143; Talking, 22; Talk With Me Barbie, 143; Teen Talk Barbie, 142–43, 145; ToyTalk, 141, 143, 145; Video Girl Barbie doll, 13, 35
Barbie Liberation Organization, 143
“Barking Bob” (aircraft warning system), 155
Barrett-Roddenberry, Majel, 149
Battlestar Galactica (television series), 149
“The Beautiful One Is Here” (Bradbury), 101
Bébé Parlant Automatique (Automatic Talking Baby), 141
Bechdel Test, 51
Bellamy, Elizabeth W., 121–22
Berrington, Emily, 60
The Big Bang Theory (television series), 22, 152; Cooper, 152; Raj, 152, 153
BINA (Breakthrough Intelligence via Neural Architecture), 105
Binoche, Juliette, 89
The Bionic Woman, 84
birth of artificial humans, 45, 86–91, 135, 139n11; avatars, 173–74; scenes of eyes opening, 90–91
“Bitchin’ Betty” (aircraft warning system), 15, 155
Black Maria, Hoochie Coochie (film), 29
Black Mirror (television series), 107
Blade Runner (film), 40, 89, 115; birth scenes in, 87; lens/eye motif in, 75; Pris, 58, 59, 138; robo-prostitutes in, 58–59, 59; Voight-Kampff test, 100
Blade Runner 2049 (film), 3, 25, 40–42, 41, 147; Joi, 3, 25, 40–42, 41, 147; K, 40–42; Rachael, 40, 42, 128, 138
body: abstracted, 56, 98–99, 132, 166; assemblages of parts, 13–14, 19, 164, 173, 175; disembodiment/fragmentation, 19, 67–68, 82–85; mind separated from, 4, 107; molds made from human women, 32, 89, 97; perfect, 49, 146; prosthetic legs, 14, 175–77, 176; as tool, 74–76; utility of organogrows, 169; weaponization of female, 172–73. See also RealDoll; sex dolls; skin, synthetic
Bokusui Wakayama, 104
The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices (al-Jazari), 120
Borden, Lizzie, 121
boundaries: between the artificial and the real, 4, 14, 16, 18, 21, 23n2, 115, 128–31, 138, 161, 166; between body and intelligence, 164; between fantasy and reality, 35; programmed rebukes by virtual assistants, 19, 56, 69. See also artifice; cyborg; hybridity, female
Un Bouquet d’étrangères (Raffaëlli), 27, 28
Bradbury, Ray: Works: “The Beautiful One Is Here,” 101; The Electric Grandmother, 42, 101, 131; “I Sing the Body Electric,” 101
Bradley, Ruth, 131
brains and skulls: Bina48, 105–7, 106, 109; in Ex Machina, 80, 88; in The Man with Two Brains, 156; “mindclones,” 106; in No Woman Born, 165–66; in The Perfect Wife, 115; research, 99–100; in Westworld, 61
Breaking Frame: Technology and the Visual Arts in the Nineteenth Century (Wosk), 6, 163
Bride of Frankenstein (film), 13, 87, 164, 175
Bride of Frankenstein (Marshall), 164
Brookings Institution report (2020), 150, 154
Butler, Octavia, 164
Byrne, Rose, 132
camera, image of, 1, 75–76, 78, 132
Campbell, M. L., 120–21
caregiver robots, 13, 22; brain activity studies of women and men, 99–100; controversies about, 100–101; developments in, 96–97; doubles to replace lost loved ones, 104–7; empathy in, 96, 97, 99–100, 117; health care aides, robotic, 15, 20, 22, 97–100, 103, 177; in Marjorie Prime, 108–13; nonhumanoid, 98–99, 99; as perfect women, 20, 26; socially assistive robots, 23, 97, 99, 117n1, 177; “synth” caregivers in Humans, 96; virtual assistants, 150. See also doubles of human beings; golem
chatbots, 105, 109; chatterbot as term, 149; ELIZA, 149, 159n10
Chatty Cathy dolls, 141–42
Chicago's Columbian Exposition (1893), 29, 30
children, parental concerns about: “empathy deficit,” 101; human connections, 101, 141, 143, 147; imagination, 145–46; pedophilia and underage sex dolls, 55–56; privacy issues, 145, 147
children’s dolls: Amazing Amanda, 143; Chatty Cathy, 141–42, 143–44; Duke G.I. Joe action figures, 143; Fashionistas doll line, 146; gender stereotypes reinforced by, 143, 145; human anatomy toys kits, 176; imaginary friends, 19, 37, 50; manufacturer control of, 144–45; phonographic (Edison), 141–42. See also Barbie
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, 145
Christo, 111
Christov-Moore, Leonardo, 99–100
Civilization and Its Discontents (Freud), 163
Cleopatra (doll and historical person), 27, 29
Cleveland Health Museum, 175–76
clones, 106–7, 117, 164, 168–69; “mindclones,” 106, 119n16
Collyer, Emilie, 65–68, 169–70, 171
companions, artificial female: AF (artificial friend), 116–17; “cobot,” 114; in fiction, 113–17; in film, 100–104, 111–13; in Marjorie Prime, 108–13; in Sayonara, 101–4, 103, 110. See also caregiver robots; doubles of human beings; golem; sex dolls
consciousness, 166–67, 169, 178n1; in artificial beings, 2, 5–6, 14, 129; in Blade Runner, 58; Eterni.me, 105, 118n13; in Ex Machina, 2, 5–6, 80, 85; in Humans, 61, 107–8, 119n17, 125, 129; in I Am Mother, 133–34, 161; in #MeToo era, 21; Turing test for, 5, 79, 107; in Westworld, 90, 92–93
Contemporary Jewish Museum (San Francisco), 167
control: as attraction for men, 33–34, 57, 69; of children’s dolls by manufacturer, 144–45; male anxieties about technology, 136, 162; of sex doll conversations, 37–40
Coppélia (Delibes), 3
CORA (Battlestar Galactica), 149
Cortana (Microsoft), 148, 159n8
cosmetics, 11, 13, 16, 31, 74, 92, 95n8; photo-editing tools as, 173
Cowan, Ruth Schwartz, 130
Cox-Palmer-White, Emily, 74–75
Crichton, Michael, 61
Crow, Kim, 155
cybernetic (feedback-controlled) systems theories, 4
“A Cyborg Manifesto” (Haraway), 4, 16, 130
“The Cyborg Mommy User’s Manual” (Hastings), 130
cyborgs, 4, 7, 78, 163–64, 166, 167, 174, 177; Freud’s formulation of, 163; human women as, 75, 130; mothers as, 130; technology of creation in films, 86–88. See also Ghost in the Shell (film)
DALL-E 2 (AI imaging app), 163
Daniels, Stormy, 32
The Dark Dark (Hunt), 171
Datsun Maxima cars, 154
Davis, Geena, 113
“Decapitated Princess” (sideshow head), 106
decorative arts, nineteenth century, 6–7, 18, 125
“Dedicated to the One I Love” (The Mamas & the Papas), 46
Delacroix, Eugène, 27
Delaney, J. P., 114–16
Delibes, Léo, 3
Dell, Michael, 4–5
Descartes, René, 58
Design Prosthetics, 176
“Developing Social and Empathetic AI” (Breazeal), 100
“Digital Revolution,” 5
Digital-Tutors, 8
Diligent Robotics, 177
disabilities: Barbie with, 21; prosthetic legs, 14, 175–77, 176; robot caregivers for people with, 20, 97, 177
disbelief, suspension of, 36–37
disembodiment/fragmentation, 19, 67–68, 82–85. See also voices, virtual
diversity, 14, 21, 27, 28, 154; Barbie doll Fashionistas, 146; of sex dolls, 53; at Worlds’ Fairs, 127–28
Doane, Mary Ann, 72
dolls: M3gan (Model 3 Generative Android), 170–71, 171; talking, 141–48; talking sex dolls, 8–9, 17, 54; Talky Tina doll; 141, 170; woman as doll, 19, 68. See also Barbie; children’s dolls; sex dolls
Doona, Bae, 43
doubles of human beings, 14, 21, 97; to achieve immortality, 104–6, 108–11; in fiction, 113–17; in film and television series, 107–13; in The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, 19, 164–65; in Klara and the Sun, 117; Maria, evil robotic double of, 18, 87, 87, 90–91, 136, 162; in Marjorie Prime, 108–13; in No Woman Born, 165–66; in The Perfect Wife, 114–16; to replace lost family members, 104–5; robotics projects, 104–7; separate identities demanded by, 107–8. See also caregiver robots; women, human
Dream Doll (Handler), 146
Dr. Strangelove (film), 172–73
Dummy (television series), 19, 45, 47–52, 48, 70n22
Dwight (“Love Machine”), 171
Edison, Thomas, 29, 141–42; in L’Ève future, 18, 165
elderly: with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, 22, 97, 98–99, 117n1; ElliQ robot designed for, 98, 99; robotic health care aides for, 15, 20, 22, 97–100, 103, 177. See also caregiver robots
The Electric Grandmother (Bradbury and Kindley), 42, 101, 131; Agatha, 101–2; Fantoccini, Guido, 101
Elijah of Chelm (Rabbi), 134
ElliQ (nonhumanoid AI-endowed robot), 98, 99
Elms, Joan, 155
“Ely’s Automatic Housemaid” (Bellamy), 121–22
Emma (sex doll), 34–35
emotions, 41–43, 66; and Barbie dolls, 144; and caregiver robots, 100; human capacity for, 110–11; programmed, 66; and robo-prostitutes, 54; of robots in fiction, 63, 65–66, 89, 102, 104, 107, 113–15, 128; and sex doll apps, 32, 34; and sex dolls, 56
empathy, 40, 54, 74, 82, 93; artificial, 14–15, 42, 113, 117; in caregiver robots, 96, 97, 99–100, 117; between dolls and children, 144; “empathy deficit” in young children, 101; perceived in virtual voices, 149–50; women as empathetic, 99–100
The Empathy Diaries (Turkle), 101
Ex Machina (film), 1–6, 2, 9, 44, 57, 76, 78–80, 107, 115; agency in, 67–68, 84, 127; ambiguities of vision in, 80–86, 91; Ava, 1–6, 44, 67–68, 78–86, 86, 92, 107, 115, 158, 162, 173; birth scenes in, 87; Caleb, 5, 78–86, 92, 127; consciousness in, 2, 5–6, 80, 85; interplay between artifice and naturalism in, 80; Kyoko, 5, 83, 83–84, 84, 85; Nathan, 2, 80, 82–85; threat of violent disruption in, 82–83
exoticism/Orientalism, 27, 53, 175
eye, image of, 1, 75–76, 78, 132; in Humans, 125; opening of artificial women's eyes, 90–91. See also vision
Fatima (belly dancer), 29
fears about artificial females, 161; about industrialization and steam-powered mechanization, 7, 18, 120–22; about sex dolls, 48–49, 55–57, 68–69; creepy feeling, 101, 106–7, 109–10, 126; of robotic females replacing humans, 15, 35, 45–52, 125–26, 168, 170; of rogue female robots, 1, 4, 16, 18, 57, 68, 120–21, 136; runaway robotic females, 18, 57, 132; "uncanny valley" effect, 3, 33, 82, 107, 110; of women as hypercharged sexual beings, 136, 162
Female Android Modeling in Maya, 8
The Feminine Mystique (Friedan), 50
femininity, 16, 57, 75, 165–66, 174. See also artifice; cosmetics; gender; masking
feminist science fiction. See science fiction, feminist
femme fatale, 1, 18, 81; in Under the Skin, 73–75
Femmes Fatales (Doane), 72
Fessler, Leah, 153–54
film and television series: audience investment in inner struggles of artificial females, 92; changing technology, 86–88; doubles to replace lost loved ones, 107–13; early audiences, 162, 170; robo-prostitutes in, 57–68; sex dolls in, 19, 40–45; sexism of industry, 52; special effects, 79. See also specific works
firefighting, Native American, 167, 168
Fledgling (Butler), 164
Foray, June, 141
Ford (Brave New World), 91
Ford, Harrison, 58
Frankenstein (Shelley), 4, 33, 68, 85, 120–21, 135, 164; Creature/Monster, 68, 121, 137, 164; Creature's companion, 13, 87, 164, 175; Frankenstein, Victor, 33, 85, 120–21, 135, 164
Friedan, Betty, 50
Front, Rebecca, 96
Gabriel, Leah, 66
Gadot, Gal, 53
The Gates (Christo and Jeanne-Claude, installation), 111
geishas, 88
Geminoid F (robot), 103
gender: anatomy teaching, 175–76; digital skills gap, 153; empathy as stereotypical female trait, 14–15, 162; gendered roles given to artificial humans, 15–16, 21, 22, 68–69, 97–99, 128, 143, 148–55, 158, 162; nineteenth-century roles, 27; nonbinary characters and humans, 21, 69, 167, 178n7; redefinitions of, 4, 6, 14, 16, 21, 161, 164; as social construction, 19, 23n2, 178–79n8; traditional roles assigned to artificial females, 6, 15–16, 21, 68–69, 97, 128; women in robotics field, 68–69; workplace assumptions, 150
Gérôme, Jean-Léon, 27
Gerwig, Greta, 147–48
Ghost in the Shell (film), 72, 76, 86–90, 87, 88, 165; 1995 anime version, 86; birth scene in, 86–87; Major, 86–90, 88; Ouelet, Dr., 88–89
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, 87; gynoids, 87, 95n7
Glass Houses: Avatars Dance 1 (Mixon), 167
Glazer, John, 72
golem, 134–38; in Glass Houses: Avatars Dance 1, 167–68; Puttermesser and Xanthippe (Ozick), 15, 134–37, 167; waldos, 167; in Weitz’s art, 14, 167–68; The World That We Knew, 134, 137–38. See also caregiver robots
The Golem (Singer), 167
The Good Girl (Collyer), 57, 65–68, 66, 165, 169–70, 171; Anjali, 65–68, 66; Nats, 169–70; Ven, 65–68, 66
Google Assistant, 153
Google Now, 148
The Graduate (Nichols), 5
grandmother, robotic, 42, 101. See also caregiver robots
Hagner, Meredith, 48
Handler, Ruth, 146
The Handmaid’s Tale (Atwood), 33
Hanger, Meredith, 48
Hanson Robotics, 97
Harmony (robotic head), 33–34
Harrison, Jordan, 108–11
Hasbro (toy manufacturer), 143
Hastings, Pattie Belle, 130
Hawker, Luke, 132
Hay, Mark, 55
head, talking female, 10, 10–11; Bina 48, 105–7, 106; Harmony (robotic head) app, 33–34; in nineteenth-century sideshows, 106–7; sex dolls, 33–34, 168–69; SHE (Pollock), 11, 11–13; Solana (robotic head), 33–34. See also voice
heads of dolls, bisque, 122
Heller, Cody, 19, 48–52, 70n22, 165
Hello Barbie doll. See Barbie
Her (film), 40, 78, 86, 107, 157, 162; disembodied female voice in, 156–58
HereAfter AI app, 105
Hirata, Oriza, 101
Hiroshima bomb, 172–73
Hoffman, Alice, 134, 137–38, 165
Hoffman, E. T. A. See Tales of Hoffmann (Hoffman)
Hollinger, Veronica, 178–79n8
holograms: Hello Barbie Hologram, 147; Joi (Blade Runner 2049), 2, 3, 40–42, 41, 147; towering females, 41, 89–90; Walter Prime, 112–13. See also transparency
Homer, 120
Hope in a Jar (Peiss), 95n8
Hopkins, Anthony, 93
Horton, Helen, 149
Howard, Ayanna, 177
Hoyt, Patricia, 155
Hugo (film), 161–62
human, the: empathy as a defining characteristic of, 100; redefinition of, 4, 6, 161, 164. See also doubles of human beings; women, human
Humans (television series), 1, 15, 26, 40, 55, 57, 96, 163; agency of synths in, 129–30; Anita/Mia, 15, 26, 40, 125–26, 126, 127, 163; automated female servants in, 124–30; based on Real Humans, 125; consciousness in, 61, 107–8, 119n17; and contemporary developments in robotics, 96–97; doubles of humans in, 107; Drummond, Pete, 131; Elster, David, 129, 131; eye image in, 125; Ginny, 107–8; Hawkins, Joe, 125, 127–29; inequality of power relations in, 128–29; Laura, 61, 125–26; Mattie, 129; Millican, George, 96; Morrow, Athena, 107–8; Niska, 15, 60, 60–61; Odi and Vera, 96; robo-prostitutes in, 59–61; Sam, 131, 131–32; shifting boundaries between artifice and authenticity in, 127–28; Sophie, 125–26; Toby, 127, 128, 129; V, 107–8; Voss, Karen, 131, 131–32
Hurt, William, 96
Huxley, Aldous, 91
Huysmans, J.-K. (Joris-Karl), 52
hybridity, female, 4, 16, 86, 164, 166, 176–277. See also boundaries
Iacoboni, Marco, 99–100
I Am Mother (film), 132, 132–34
Ich bin dein Mensch (I’m Your Man) (film), 127
I’d Blush If I Could (UNESCO report, 2019), 153
identity, 61–63; programmed in robots, 62–63; of robot doubles in films and fiction, 107–8, 114–17; stripped from female robots, 114–15. See also agency
The Iliad (Homer), 120
“In Defense of Sex Robots” (Lieberman), 69
Indiana University School of Informatics, Computers, and Engineering, 149–50
The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow (Jones), 19, 164–65
Intelligent Robotics Laboratory (Osaka University, Japan), 97, 98
Intuition Robotics (Israel), 98
Ishiguro, Hiroshi, 144; Erica, 97; Geminoid F, 103; Kodomoroid, 97, 144; Repliee Q1, 8; Repliee Q2, 8, 9, 97
Ishiguro, Kazuo, 15, 116–17, 162; Works: Klara and the Sun, 15, 116–17, 162; Never Let Me Go, 168
I shop therefore I am (Kruger), 143
“I Sing the Body Electric” (Bradbury), 101
Jacob, Oren, 145
James, William, 113
Japan: brothels in, 52, 53, 55; caregiving for elderly, 97
Jaquet-Droz, Henri-Louis and Pierre, 8, 170
Jeanne-Claude, 111
Jecker, Nancy S., 97
Jenkins, Billy, 131
Jentsch, Ernst, 3
The Jetsons (television series), 122–23, 124
Johansson, Scarlett, 73, 73, 86, 88, 156, 157; robot double of, 89
Joi (Blade Runner 2049), 3, 25, 40–42, 41, 147
Jumeau (dollmaker), 122
Kaczynski, Ted (fictional, “Love Machine”), 171–73
Kahlo, Frida, 93
Kauvar, Elaine M., 136
Kellett, E. E., 3
Kennedy, Jenny, 148–49, 151–52
Kidman, Nicole, 124
Kindley, Jeffrey, 101
Klara and the Sun (Ishiguro), 15, 116–17, 162
Kodomoroid (female robot), 97, 144
Kubrick, Stanley, 172–73
Kumao, Heidi, 175
“The Lady Automaton” (Kellett), 3
Lambert, Léopold, 122
Lanchester, Elsa, 164
Lang, Fritz. See Metropolis (Lang)
Lansdowne, Chris Anthony, 143
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (video game), 8
Lars and the Real Girl (film), 57, 147
“La Tete Vivante Sans Corps” (The Living Head without a Body) (sideshow head), 106
Leeson, Lynn Hershman, 13, 24n11
L’Ève future (Villiers de l’Isle-Adam), 18, 165
LGBTQI+, 21, 27, 53, 151, 164, 174, 178–79n8
Lieberman, Hallie, 69
Lindroth, Guile, 37
Lipson, Hod, 178n1
Little Egypt (belly dancer), 30
“Living Doll” episode (The Twilight Zone), 141, 142, 170
Locatelli, Chloé, 34
Loew ben Bezalel, Judah (Rabbi), 134, 135, 136
“The Lonely” episode (The Twilight Zone), 51
Lost in Space (television series), 42
Love and Sex with Robots (Levy), 46, 110
Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (Trichter), 19
“Love Machine” (Hunt), 13, 171–73
Lundström, Lars, 125
Lupton, Ellen, 72
M3gan (Model 3 Generative Android) (M3gan), 170–71, 171
MacDorman, Karl, 149–50
Machines like Me (McEwan), 56
magical realism, 137–38
Magic Avatars feature (Lensa), 173
“Maid Dusting a Portrait” (Renou), 122, 123
MakeHuman software, 5
mannequins, 6
The Man with Two Brains (film), 156
Marjorie Prime (Harrison): film, 20, 111–13; Jon, 108–9, 111–12; play, 20, 108–11; Prime, Marjorie, 108–13; Prime, Walter, 108–13; Tess, 109, 111–13; “Thoughts on the Primes,” 109, 113
Marshall, Kerry James, 13, 164
Martin, Steve, 156
Marvin, Carolyn, 149
masculinity, 38, 150, 162, 172–73
masking: concealing and revealing, 5, 72; of femininity, 16, 74–75; of grotesque identity, 72–73, 92; by human women, 16, 75, 92; of underlying intent, 3–6, 16, 18, 72, 74–75, 92–94. See also skin, synthetic
Mattel (toy manufacturer), 35, 141–43; Charmin’ Chatty, 144–45; Fashionistas doll line, 146. See also Barbie
McEwan, Ian, 56
McMullen, Matt, 32, 33, 36, 46
Melbourne Fringe Festival, 65
memory, 108–9, 112–13; artificial, programmed, 42, 61, 67, 80, 85, 89, 107, 110, 111, 143, 147; as copy of first remembrance, 113
memory, artificial: wiping of, 67
men: as constructors of artificial females, 19; control as attraction for, 33–34, 57, 69; distance and safety provided by artificial women, 82; perfect woman stereotypes, 15–17
#MeToo movement, 5, 21, 128, 163
Metropolis (Lang): Maria’s evil double in, 18, 82, 87, 87–88, 90–91, 136, 162; sci-fi city in, 89
MIRALab (University of Geneva), 97
mirrors and glass, artificial women reflected and seen through, 72–73, 76, 79, 81; as traps, 85
Misbehaving: Media Machines Act Out (Kumao), 175
Miss Science (New York Museum of Science and Industry), 175
MIT Media Lab, 5, 97, 100, 117n1, 177; Personal Robots Group, 100, 177
Mixon, Laura J., 167
Modern Mechanix magazine, 11–12
Momoi, Kaori, 90
Moore, C. L. (Catherine Lucille), 165–66
More Work for Mother (Cowan), 130
Moss, Carrie-Anne, 107
Moss, Elizabeth, 46
mothers: as cyborgs, 130; lost, 164–65; maternal and murderous, 13; virtual, 15, 22
mothers, robotic, 13, 130–34; in I Am Mother, 132, 132–34; Mother (Alien), 149
Musée Mécanique (San Francisco), 30
Museum of Modern Art (New York), 106
Myerson, Sasha, 168
My Fair Ladies: Female Robots, Androids, and Other Artificial Eves (Wosk), 8
My Golem (Weitz), 14, 167–68; My Golem as a Wildland Firefighter, 167; Prayer for Burnt Forests, 167, 168
Nabokov, Vladimir, 41
Nagoya brothel (Japan), 52, 53
naïve, artificial women as, 43, 58, 81, 92
Native American Washoe land, 167
Nayyar, Kunal, 153
Never Let Me Go (Ishiguro), 168
“New Woman,” 17, 18, 121; for the digital age, 158
New York Hall of Science (Queens), 8
Nichols, Mike, 5
nineteenth century: anxieties about industrialization and steam-powered mechanization, 7, 18, 121, 162–63; clockwork automatons, 3, 8, 27; imitations in decorative arts, 6–7; New Woman, 17–18, 121; prostitutes mocked as robots, 52; prototypes of sex dolls, 27–29, 29; stories of automated clockwork female servants, 120
No Woman Born (Moore), 165–66, 178–79n8; Deirdre, 165–66, 178–79n9; Maltzer, 165–66
Ocean of Images (Museum of Modern Art), 106
Olympia (Coppélia), 3
Olympia (The Tales of Hoffmann), 12, 12, 77–78
The One I Love (film), 21, 45, 46–47, 47, 170
operating systems, 26, 40, 78, 156–58, 157, 162
Operation Bombshell (“Love Machine”), 171
Osaka University, Japan, 97, 98
Oshii, Mamoru, 86
Otonaroid (female robot), 97
Ovid, 25
Ozick, Cynthia, 15, 134, 165, 167
Pale Fire (Nabokov), 41
Parisian clockwork female automatons, 3, 27–28, 28
Parsons, Chris, 176
patriarchal capitalist system, 148–49
PC Limited, 4–5
pedophilia, 55–56
Pedwell, Carolyn, 100
Peiss, Kathy, 95n8
The Perfect Wife (Delaney), 114–16
perfect woman: Barbie as, 146, 150; doubles to replace lost loved ones, 108; Harmony (robotic head) app, 33–34; men's stereotypes of, 15–17; no annoying habits, 40; Pygmalion myth, 25; robotic caregivers as, 20, 26; satire of, 17; Solana (robotic head), 33–34; virtual assistants as, 150–51. See also caregiver robots; robo-prostitutes; sex dolls; virtual assistants
personal assistants. See virtual assistants
Phalibois (doll manufacturer), 27, 29
Phoenix, Joaquin, 157
plastics: advances in, 14; as industrial material, 5; silicone, 14, 30; TPE (thermoplastic elastomer), 14, 30
plastic surgery, 174
Plato's cave allegory, 85–86
Playboy, 6
Playwrights Horizons, 108, 110
Pogue, David, 151
politeness, 151
Pollock, Jackson, 80
“Postfuturism” (Sobchack), 74
posthumanism, 4
La Poupée images (Bellmer), 19, 50–51, 67
Powell, Michael, 77
Prayer for Burnt Forests (Weitz), 167, 168
Pressburger, Emeric, 77
Pris (Blade Runner), 58, 59, 138
prosthetic legs, 14, 175–77, 176
Puttermesser and Xanthippe (Ozick), 15, 134–37, 167
“Puttermesser: Her Work History, Her Ancestry, Her Afterlife” (Ozick), 134
Pygmalion myth, 114, 135; Galatea, 13, 25
Quibi (streaming video platform), 49
race issues, 6, 21, 27, 146, 154, 164, 169
Raffaëlli, Jean-François, 27, 28
Rausch, Daniel, 150
“(Re)reading Queerly: Science Fiction, Feminism, and the Defamiliarization of Gender” (Hollinger), 178–79n8
RealDoll, 9, 31, 31–39, 36, 53; choice of voices, 36–37; in Lars and the Real Girl, 57; modular versions, 33, 51; RealDoll X app, 34–35. See also sex dolls
RealGirl app, 34
Real Humans (Lundström), 125
Real Love Sex Dolls, 54
rebellion and resistance: by artificial females, 5–6, 20–22, 58–64, 80, 92–94, 107–8, 116, 163, 174; to commodification, 7; by human women, 21, 50, 163, 174–75; impossibility of for sex dolls, 25, 172; to reality, 67; by virtual voice assistants, 5, 20–21
recurring themes, 4, 19, 37, 68–69, 84, 92, 125–29, 137–38
Reiner, Carl, 156
Renou, Louis, 122
Repliee Q1 (female robot), 8
Repliee Q2 (female robot), 8, 9, 97
Replika app, 105
Richardson, Kathleen, 55
Robbins, Tim, 113
robo-prostitutes, 21, 52–69; in Blade Runner films, 58–59, 59, 138; in brothels, 19, 52–54; controversies about, 54–56, 60–61; in films, television, and a play, 57–68; in The Good Girl, 65–68, 66; in Humans, 59–60; real prostitutes mocked as robotic, 52; in Westworld, 61–64, 62. See also sex dolls
robotics, 74, 96–97; doubles to replace lost loved ones, 104–7, 109–10; gendered roles given to artificial humans, 15–16, 21, 22, 68–69, 97; learning empathy, 113; women in, 23, 68–69, 177
Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare), 62
Rosie the Robot (The Jetsons), 122–23, 124
Ross, Katharine, 124
Rothblatt, Martine, 105–6
Rothery, Gavin, 108
Ruberg, Bo, 26–27
Rush, Richard, 176
sailors, 26–27
Samantha (AI female robot), 56
Samantha (Her), 26, 40, 78, 156–58
Sanders, Rupert, 86
“The Sandman” (Hoffman), 3, 81–82, 92, 116, 126; Nathanael, 81–82, 92; Olimpia, 3
Sanford, Tim, 110
Santos, Sergi, 56
Sayonara (film), 101–4, 103, 110, 162; Leona, 103, 103–4, 110; Sano, 103–4; Satoshi, 103; Tanya, 101–4, 103
Sayonara (Hirata), 101
Schrader, Maria, 127
science fiction, feminist 4, 6, 74, 82, 162, 171, 178–79n8
science fiction by female writers. See Atwood, Margaret; Beukes, Lauren; Butler, Octavia; Campbell, M. L.; Collyer, Emilie; Fuller, Alice W.; Heller, Cody; Hoffman, Alice; Hunt, Samantha; Mixon, Laura J.; Moore, C. L. (Catherine Lucille); Ozick, Cynthia; Shelley, Mary
Scorsese, Martin, 161–62
Scott, Ridley, 58, 75, 100, 115
Seaborn, Katie, 152
self-awareness and self-discovery, artificial female, 43–45, 58, 85, 138; in Air Doll, 73–74; and assemblage, 175; in Ghost in the Shell, 114–15; identity permutations, 93–94; Samantha in Her, 158; in Under the Skin, 76–78, 173; in Westworld, 90–94. See also agency
self-sacrifices of artificial females, 3, 42, 44, 117, 126, 130, 131–32
servants, mechanical female: in Humans, 124–30; maid-of-all-work, 121; nineteenth-century concerns about, 120–22; twentieth-century, 122–24; virtual assistants as, 148–49, 151
“Sexbots: Why Women Should Panic” (Yiannopoulos), 46
sex dolls: anxieties about, 49; control of as attraction for men, 33–34, 57, 69; control of conversations by, 37–40; controversies about, 14, 15, 22, 35–37, 45, 49, 52, 55, 169; customization of, 31–32; and dehumanization, 55, 168–69; "Dutch wives," 26, 27; Emma, 34–35; fear of humans being replaced by, 15, 45–52, 125; in film and television series, 19, 40–45, 48–52; Harmony AI app, 32–33, 36; LumiDolls, 53–54, 56; objectification of women as concern, 15, 21, 50, 55–56, 129, 168–69; as porn robots, 55; Realbotix sex app, 32, 35; RealDoll X app, 34–35; RealGirl app, 34; robo-prostitutes, 21, 52–69; Roxxxy Doll, 8, 35–36, 45; and sailors, 26–27; talking, 8–9, 17, 22, 33, 54, 144; underage, and pedophilia, 55–56. See also RealDoll; robo-prostitutes; sex robots
Sex Dolls at Sea (Ruberg), 26–27
sex robots, 17–18, 35, 68; abstracted, 56; avatars, 32–34; controlled conversations, 37–40; fear of lethality, 68; lack of consent, 38–39, 69; personality types and traits, 32, 34, 38. See also The Good Girl (Collyer); “Love Machine” (Hunt); robo-prostitutes; sex dolls
Sexy Sally voice, 15
Shelley, Mary. See Frankenstein (Shelley)
Shirow, Masamune, 86
Shook, Leslie, 155
Shuntaro Tanikawa, 104
simulations, 3, 5–6, 14, 18, 56, 64, 78, 96, 105, 107–8, 125, 161, 172, 177; superior to real humans, 125; trompe l’oeil, 5, 72
Sinatra, Nancy, 174
Singer, Isaac Bashevis, 167
Siri (Apple), 15, 19, 22, 41, 56, 148, 150, 162; in The Big Bang Theory, 152, 153; responses to sexual harassment, 153, 154; voice options for, 151
Sirius XM, 105
skin, synthetic, 1, 2, 72; agency and peeling away of, 77–78, 84–85, 116; artificial women exposed by tears in, 49–50; Frubber, 3; holographs and transparency, 40–42, 41, 89–90; horror of exposure and dismemberment, 77–78, 114–15; SHE's rubber skin, 11, 13; as site of violence, 85, 92, 95n7; Thermosuit skin in Ghost in the Shell, 88–89; and vulnerability, 74–76, 88–89. See also body; masking
Skin: Surface, Substance, and Design exhibit, 72
Smart Home (Amazon), 150
The Smart Wife (Strengers and Kennedy), 148–49, 151–52
Smithsonian Design Museum, 72
Sobchack, Vivian, 74
socially assistive robots (SARS), 23, 97, 99, 117n1, 177
Socrates, 135
SoftBank Robotics, 117n1
Solana (robotic head), 33–34
Sophia (real-life robot), 2–3
Spacek, Sissy, 156
Star Trek, 149
Steel Angel Kurumi 2 (television anime), 42
Steiner, Jules, 141
STEM professions for females, 177
The Stepford Wives (films), 17, 25, 170; 2004 film, 26, 40, 126
The Stepford Wives (Levin), 3, 17, 123–24; Eberhart, Joanna, 124
stereotypes, 6, 8, 14–17, 22–23, 37, 46, 66–69, 128, 177; empathy as stereotypical female trait, 14–15, 162; men's, of perfect woman, 15–17; reinforced by children’s dolls, 143–45; reinforced by virtual assistants, 149–54, 162. See also empathy; gender; perfect woman
Strengers, Yolande, 148–49, 151–52
Sturzaker, Tahlia, 132
superheroes, women, 53
surrealism, 67–68
"Susie the Can-Can Dancer," 30
Suzanne (LumiDolls sex doll), 53–54
SVITs (smart voice interactive technologies), 150
Swank, Hilary, 134
Tales of Hoffmann (Hoffman): Hoffman, 77–78; Olympia, 12, 12, 77–78. See also Pygmalion myth
The Tales of Hoffmann (film), 12, 12
The Tales of Hoffmann (Offenbach), 3, 12
talking dolls and robots. See caregiver robots; head, talking female; robo-prostitutes; sex dolls; virtual assistants; specific works
Talking Lady (Datsun Maxima cars), 154
Talky Tina doll (Twilight Zone), 141, 170
technology: changing, 1, 5, 9, 30, 39, 41, 74, 79, 86–88; computer-generated imagery (CGI), 5, 86, 89, 113; decorative arts, nineteenth century, 6–7, 18, 125; fears of runaway, 2, 137; in film and television series, 86–88; male anxieties about, 136, 162; satire of, 174
Technology Business Research, 101
The Testaments (Atwood), 33
Thalmann, Nadia, 97
Theodore (Her) 78, 107, 156–58, 157
“These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” (Sinatra), 174
“Thoughts on the Primes” (Harrison), 109, 113
Tibbets, Paul W., Jr., 172
tikkun olam, Jewish tradition of, 167
Tillie the Telerobotic Doll (Leeson), 13, 24n11
Toy Fair (New York, 2017), 147
TPE (thermoplastic elastomers), 14, 30
trains, runaway, 121
Transcendence (film), 119n16
transparency, 3–4. See also holograms
Trichter, Judd, 19
Trout, Christopher, 33
TrueCompanion, 35
Trump, Donald, 32
Turk, Victoria, 16
Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots (Devlin), 56
The Twilight Zone series, 51, 68, 101; “Living Doll” episode, 141, 142, 170
uncanny, the, 3, 49, 81–82, 126
“The Uncanny” (Freud), 3, 81–82
"uncanny valley" effect, 3, 33, 82, 107, 110
“The Uncanny Valley” (Mori), 3
Under the Skin (film), 1, 49, 72–78, 73, 77, 116; self-awareness in, 76–78, 173
UNESCO report on digital skills gap, 153
Ungirls (Beukes), 22, 168–69; Abrams, Natalie (Cookier Cutter), 168–69; Guedes, Annie, 169
University of Geneva (Switzerland), 97
Untitled (Use Only as Directed) (Kruger), 19, 20
Ursache, Marius, 105, 118–19n13
“The Vamp and the Machine: Technology and Sexuality in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis” (Huyssen), 136, 162
Vichy (doll manufacturer), 29, 163
Vikander, Alicia, 2, 2, 5, 78, 79, 82, 86
Villiers de l’Isle- Adam, Auguste, 18
Vint, Sherryl, 6
virtual assistants, 14, 41; aircraft warning systems, female-voiced, 15, 22, 154–58; AVA dictionary, 152; caregiving by, 150; controversies about, 22; Cortana (Microsoft), 148, 159n8; data sets used to train, 152; gender stereotypes reinforced by, 150–53, 162; Hello Barbie Hologram, 147; as perfect women, 150–51; as servants, 148–49, 151; sexualization of, 152, 153; as socialization tool, 154; stereotypes reinforced by, 149–54, 162; voice options, 151, 155, 159n8; voice studies of, 155–56, 160n15. See also Alexa (Amazon); Siri (Apple)
Virtually Human: The Promise-and the Peril-of Digital Immortality (Rothblatt), 106
Visible Woman Assembly Kit, 176
vision, 1, 168; ambiguities of, 80–86; eye, image of, 1, 75–76, 78, 90–91, 125, 132; precariousness of, 72
Vlahos, James, 147
voice-recognition software, 35, 141, 143, 145
voices: accented, 36–37; agency of, 64; cultural ambivalence about giving to females, 15; sexualizing of, 149; talking female, 10, 14, 15, 35, 49, 154, 156; talking sex dolls, 8–9, 17, 22, 33, 54, 144; voice-overs, 35, 43, 48, 65, 142, 143, 157, 158; women given voices, 19. See also head, talking female
voices, virtual, 14, 15, 22, 78; aircraft warning systems, female-voiced, 15, 22, 154–58; offstage, 66, 68; operating systems, 26, 40, 78, 156–58, 157, 162; telecommunications operators, 149; of virtual assistants, 148–54
WASP flyers [Women Airforce Service Pilots], 156
Watts, Alan, 158
Wayne (“Love Machine”), 171–72
Weizenbaum, Joseph, 149
“We’re Sexist toward Robots” (Turk), 16
West, Mark, 153
Westworld (television series), 57, 72, 76, 85; consciousness in, 90, 92–93; Dolores, 85, 90–94, 91; Logan, 85, 92; Maeve, 61–64, 62, 90; opened eyes as central in, 91, 93; Westworld (film), 61; William, 85, 92
When Old Technologies Were New (Marvin), 149
“A Wife Manufactured to Order” (Fuller), 17–18, 19
women, human: as air traffic controllers, 155; bicycles for, 121, 163; body molds made from, 32, 89, 97; fears of being replaced by robotic female servants, 35, 125–26, 168, 170; identity of as socially constructed, 19; masking by, 16, 75, 92; men's sexual fears of, 1, 18, 136, 162; military equipment named after, 172; objectification of, 15, 21, 50, 55–56, 81, 129, 168–69; in robotics and STEM fields, 23, 68–69, 177. See also doubles of human beings
Women and the Machine: Representations from the Spinning Wheel to the Electronic Age (Wosk), 8, 9–10
Wonder Woman, 53–54
Wonder Woman (film), 53
Wood, Evan Rachel, 91
World Economic Forum, 100
The World That We Knew (Hoffman), 134, 137–38
World War II, 137, 155; female naming of bombs and planes, 172–73
Wosk, Julie, Works:: Bag Lady 2, 7; Breaking Frame: Technology and the Visual Arts in the Nineteenth Century, 6, 163; My Fair Ladies: Female Robots, Androids, and Other Artificial Eves, 8; Women and the Machine: Representations from the Spinning Wheel to the Electronic Age, 8, 9–10
Xenogenesis trilogy (Butler), 164
Yiannopoulos, Milo, 46
Young Sheldon (television series), 159n10
Zyrobotics, 177
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