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The Voice of the ‘Sex Robot’: From Peep-Show Bucket to Willing Victim—The Terrorism of Women’s Speech

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Man-Made Women

Part of the book series: Social and Cultural Studies of Robots and AI ((SOCUSRA))

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Abstract

This chapter will explore the voice of the ‘sex robot’ and argue that, while presented under the guise of narratives of love, technological advancement and art, the voice of the sex robot encapsulates a pornographic illustration of woman as willing sexual victim. I propose that the voice of the sex robot is a physical manifestation of a culture of onslaught upon women’s voices, and a pattern, during the past century, of appropriation and reframing of women’s speech by art, literature, technology, sex industries and psychoanalysis. Women’s voices are sexually objectified to sexually harass women, to enforce audible expressions of sexual pleasure and to interfere with the public presence of women’s political speech.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Kathleen Richardson’s clarity about the fictional status of the robot is instructive.

  2. 2.

    In an odd sex-tech vagina dentata conflation, the device is called: SenseX Bluetooth.

  3. 3.

    It had to be you is also the opening title music of When Harry Met Sally which I discuss later.

  4. 4.

    It is a sex industry marketing success that several female artists have bought sex dolls (or been sponsored) and made artworks and photography featuring them which are then exhibited, published and discussed across a wide range of public platforms including the social media of the manufacturers.

  5. 5.

    The story line of Silent George appears to be an elaboration of a song written in 1950 by Henry Glover and Sally Nix and performed by Wynonie Harris and Lucky Millinder. Other musicians have also made versions.

  6. 6.

    They also propose that there is a masochistic identification by the male listener with the woman-as-victim.

  7. 7.

    Numerous films centre a woman’s scream as the dramatic climax or truth teller.

  8. 8.

    There are some in which man and women are audible; a few are solo male voice sounds; there is one like a horror soundtrack with a woman’s screaming, a ‘diabolical’ voice and crashing sounds.

  9. 9.

    Not unlike the methods of sexological research and the justice system dealing with MVAWG.

  10. 10.

    https://twitter.com/AbyssCreations/status/1397266653541330947.

  11. 11.

    Kappeler uses the term ‘cultural folktale’ to describe the patriarchal story that keeps being repeated.

  12. 12.

    Bina48 is a speaking robotic head modelled on Bina Aspen, wife of transhumanist Martine Rothblatt. The head is designed not only to speak like Bina Aspen but as a repository for her consciousness in the future.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Art, Ulster University, Belfast, UK

    Shirley MacWilliam

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  1. Shirley MacWilliam
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Computing, Engineering, and Media, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

    Kathleen Richardson

  2. Brussels, Belgium

    Charlotta Odlind

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MacWilliam, S. (2022). The Voice of the ‘Sex Robot’: From Peep-Show Bucket to Willing Victim—The Terrorism of Women’s Speech. In: Richardson, K., Odlind, C. (eds) Man-Made Women. Social and Cultural Studies of Robots and AI. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19381-1_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19381-1_8

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-19380-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-19381-1

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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