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Robotics Researcher Starts Campaign To Ban Development of Sexbots

Earthquake Retrofit writes: A robotics ethicist from the UK's De Montfort University has started a campaign to ban the development and use of sex robots. "She believes that they reinforce traditional stereotypes of women and the view that a relationship need be nothing more than physical." The campaign was spurred by news that some companies claim to be fairly far along in development of such technology. One company even plans to start selling them later this year. The campaign's goals and concerns include "We propose that the development of sex robots will further reduce human empathy that can only be developed by an experience of mutual relationship," and, "We challenge the view that the development of adults and child sex robots will have a positive benefit to society, but instead further reinforce power relations of inequality and violence."

5 of 536 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Bigotry Shmigotry by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Exactly. Compare sales of fleshlights to sales of vibrators / dildos. Women are far more likely currently to be buying machines for sexual purposes. Why would the sexbot market be any different?

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  2. Re:Rather by silas_moeckel · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Men have the right to sex, everybody has a right to have their needs met. The bigger picture is limiting men's access to sex. You have an entire culture that's based upon artificial scarcity of female sexual partners. Slut shaming is at it's root an attempt to keep other women in line. Monogamy is written into law as far as divorces etc etc etc. Willing prostitution is generally illegal (and been correlated to large reductions in rape and general male violence where is available and reasonably affordable). Social stigma that is associated with open marriages poly relationships etc etc seem to primarily come from women. Divorce is still heavily tilted towards women due to 60+ year old assumptions.

    At the end of the day a healthy relationship means everybody's needs are getting met, too many men an active sex life is a need. So that has to happen within the relationship one way or another for the relationship to continue and be healthy.

    So I would say men do have a right to sex and women do deny men sex. That right is not to any particular women. Too many times I've heard feminists go on about how it's unfair for a man to pressure/coerce etc etc a woman to have sex especially in relationships. Few couples have the same sex drive at all times. To say that men have no right to press to have their needs met in a relationship is abusive to the core. At the end of the day if your partner is unwilling or unable to meet your needs you have to figure out how to solve the problem, in general that can't happen without negotiations and each side giving. Yes that means some women may have more sex than they want, that's not male oppression rather the effect of societal pressure that's primary from women.

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  3. Re:Bigotry Shmigotry by king+neckbeard · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Actually, a number of prostitutes have said that they are mostly therapists. Granted, a lot of it probably depends on what their clientele is, and I doubt that "crack whores" play typically play that kind of role.

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  4. Re:Likewise by cayenne8 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    She believes that they reinforce traditional stereotypes of women and the view that a relationship need be nothing more than physical."

    I knew it had to be a chick raising these objections as soon as I read the reasoning.

    Broadly speaking (no pun intended), females relate sex to emotional and relationship feelings and thoughts. While men do derive pleasure from combining "love" and sex, it isn't always necessary. Sex just by itself for physical pleasure is great and one doesn't always even need to know or remember her name.

    Again, very broadly speaking, this isn't something in the female mentality, or at least it has not been....till recently I do see changes in female attitudes towards this..but I don't think it is still nearly as prevalent as with mens thinking and easy ability to separate emotion from the physical act.

    It is often been said that one sure cure to world over population would be to perfect some sort of artificial sex, be it virtual or some type of robot, that is so real feeling.......and basically you'd have a ton of men who would have their physical needs fulfilled, without having to put up with the nagging, and emotional baggage that comes with women (not to mention potential unwanted kids). I fear female popularity would drop a good bit. Not saying it is a good or bad thing, but I could see it potentially happen.

    I mean, there's an old joke that kinda sums it up....

    "Why did God give women tits?"

    "So men would talk to them...."

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  5. Re:Bigotry Shmigotry by Beezlebub33 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...If you look at something like escort service and prostitution it's massively dominated by male customers who pay for women to pretend to be their girlfriends/lovers or even dressing up RealDolls.

    You bring up an interesting point: would a sexbot replace a girlfriend, or would it be more likely to replace a prostitute. I would guess prostitute. I would have a girlfriend (insert joke here) because I want a relationship with another human being, with mutually agreed-upon sex, with some conflicting issues regarding frequency and style. I would want a prostitute because I want sex when and how I want it without a relationship. A sexbot fills the second far more than the first. So, the end effect would be a decrease in prostitution / escorts and their knock on effects. This would seem to be a win for women, not a loss.

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