I for one see this dialogue as one that needs to take place. The point so many people are missing is the fact that behind these Orcs, Taurens, Gnomes, and such are real, actual people. Some of them are members of the GLBTQ community, and wish to extend that portion of their lives into that of their online persona. Where's the insanity in that?
Yes, this is a game. Yes, these characters are not real. But the emotional attachment to one's online avatar is quite real, and having a major portion of one's humanity cut off from expression due to an apparent "lack of maturity" by a bunch of random dipsticks just doesn't seem like justice to a lot of people.
You may see discrimination against the GLBT community as a trivial matter (there is differential treatment of same-sex marriage versus hetero marriage, thus discrimination). But being denied one's freedom to reference religion, for instance, would bother a hell of a lot of people, and such a denial would be just as arbitrary and unfair.
True, this debate is occurring within the confines of a private virtual world, but the community still has every right to *try* and make that world one they wish to be a part of.
The article does suck, but it's simply covering a press release from "CoolIT Systems Inc.," albeit poorly. A few clicks into the article produce this forum post which then links to this (relatively) more in-depth coverage regarding the press release.
The only really informational bit:
"CoolIT Systems Inc. today announced that it is showcasing the world's first truly liquid-cooled Xbox 360 in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show from Jan. 4 - 8, 2006."
There are even pointless audio and video versions of the article for those of you who are illiterate. Do I even need to say RTFA?
I think any of us understand that a disturbingly realistic-looking, attractive female android is going to draw snickering comments from the peanut gallery, but the fact draws on some issues that are a bit deeper than if she has any penetratable orifices.
"Consciously, it is easy to see that she is an android, but unconsciously, we react to the android as if she were a woman."
This is probably the most important line of the entire article to me. Not only does it draw reference to the holy grail of the Uncanny Valley concept, but it has massive implications of how our society (and Japan's) views women. Japan's views about women are largely changing for the better in recent decades, but there is still a somewhat pervasive expectation of them to be silent, obedient, and malleable to the desires of the male populace. United States culture *ostensibly* disregarded this notion for the most part 30 years ago (cynicism aside, relative sex equality is what most Americans believe is a good thing), and the rampant mysoginy and sexism of the past is (in daylight) relegated to Slashdot half-jokes about ANY female representation being primarily sexual.
Now, a Japanese scientist has created a pretty android, essentially because he believes appearance is the master force driving acceptance of robotics in society. We are therefore presented with a piece of design saturated with the sexism of its home culture, batting its eyelashes and such (if he had created a male android, would it hit on women or something? Surely not).
And, finally, the creation reaches our computer screens. Most of the resultant discussion is about sex, not robotics. And when robotics IS discussed, it's within the context of sex robots! What, exactly, does this say about our culture? Would realistic female androids truly be a good thing for us? Would it be a good thing for actual women?
For a moment, think seriously.
Slashdot Mirror
I for one see this dialogue as one that needs to take place. The point so many people are missing is the fact that behind these Orcs, Taurens, Gnomes, and such are real, actual people. Some of them are members of the GLBTQ community, and wish to extend that portion of their lives into that of their online persona. Where's the insanity in that?
Yes, this is a game. Yes, these characters are not real. But the emotional attachment to one's online avatar is quite real, and having a major portion of one's humanity cut off from expression due to an apparent "lack of maturity" by a bunch of random dipsticks just doesn't seem like justice to a lot of people.
You may see discrimination against the GLBT community as a trivial matter (there is differential treatment of same-sex marriage versus hetero marriage, thus discrimination). But being denied one's freedom to reference religion, for instance, would bother a hell of a lot of people, and such a denial would be just as arbitrary and unfair.
True, this debate is occurring within the confines of a private virtual world, but the community still has every right to *try* and make that world one they wish to be a part of.
The article does suck, but it's simply covering a press release from "CoolIT Systems Inc.," albeit poorly. A few clicks into the article produce this forum post which then links to this (relatively) more in-depth coverage regarding the press release.
The only really informational bit:
"CoolIT Systems Inc. today announced that it is showcasing the world's first truly liquid-cooled Xbox 360 in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show from Jan. 4 - 8, 2006."
There are even pointless audio and video versions of the article for those of you who are illiterate. Do I even need to say RTFA?
I think any of us understand that a disturbingly realistic-looking, attractive female android is going to draw snickering comments from the peanut gallery, but the fact draws on some issues that are a bit deeper than if she has any penetratable orifices. "Consciously, it is easy to see that she is an android, but unconsciously, we react to the android as if she were a woman." This is probably the most important line of the entire article to me. Not only does it draw reference to the holy grail of the Uncanny Valley concept, but it has massive implications of how our society (and Japan's) views women. Japan's views about women are largely changing for the better in recent decades, but there is still a somewhat pervasive expectation of them to be silent, obedient, and malleable to the desires of the male populace. United States culture *ostensibly* disregarded this notion for the most part 30 years ago (cynicism aside, relative sex equality is what most Americans believe is a good thing), and the rampant mysoginy and sexism of the past is (in daylight) relegated to Slashdot half-jokes about ANY female representation being primarily sexual. Now, a Japanese scientist has created a pretty android, essentially because he believes appearance is the master force driving acceptance of robotics in society. We are therefore presented with a piece of design saturated with the sexism of its home culture, batting its eyelashes and such (if he had created a male android, would it hit on women or something? Surely not). And, finally, the creation reaches our computer screens. Most of the resultant discussion is about sex, not robotics. And when robotics IS discussed, it's within the context of sex robots! What, exactly, does this say about our culture? Would realistic female androids truly be a good thing for us? Would it be a good thing for actual women? For a moment, think seriously.