“The purpose that is usually put onto you (the sex robot) is that people do want to experience specific kinds of intimacy, usually sexual relations, and you (the sex robot) can offer that in ways that, you know, other humans do not necessarily meet.”
We sat down in a discussion with katta spiel on the purpose of sex robots and heteronormativity in our society and the development of sex technologies. katta spiel highlights that often the purpose of something is set through self-determination. What is the purpose of a sex robot? That is set by the user and not necessarily the developer or analyst. Throughout the discussion, we also debated on the representation and diversity in sex robots and our society.
“We learn to be straight in our everyday life. We have institutions that teach us that, you know, straightness is kind of like the norm that we should strive towards and that we assume that most people hold. And actually, it’s kind of the thing where you do not have to come out as straight but you do have to come out as gay. You have to come out as something that usually means you’re not within the norm and the heterosexuality is the norm.”
katta spiel has the opinion on sex robots not being a good example of representation of diversity, as diversity is often created through self-determination and perception. The expert brings up the discussion how gender is not something that someone is necessarily born as but is also something we ourselves identify with, therefore unsuitable for a robot.
We thank katta spiel for participating in the interview and sharing her opinion and knowledge about gender diversity and technology with us. You can find more information about her here: https://katta.mere.st/
#ethics #taboo #diversity #robots #womenintechnology #queerness #genderdiversity #genderidentity