# The New Movement to Ban Sex Robots. Wait. Sexbots are a thing now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 16, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511 "2015-09-16T21:42:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/21 "2015-09-17T14:34:35Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > That this is framed as a women’s right issue is, frankly, bizarre. The movement central argument is that sex robots somehow demean and objectify real life women while conveniently forgetting women are the biggest customers of current sex robots (motorized dildos). I’m not sure about the rest of you guys but the thought of a woman taking her cooch to poundtown through the help of a detached battery operated penis isn’t making me feel objectified nor demeaned. > > I’m pretty sure women, in the faraway year of 2045 when realistic sexbots might be feasible, would leap at the chance of jumping on android Ryan Gosling Jr’s carbon fiber bones. Protest movements aside, I don’t think the reaction of most people to mobile sex dolls is that it demeans real life women, so much as that it is creepy. A dildo doesn’t create the same reaction. “Uncanny valley” has more to do with most people’s reactions than women’s rights. I predict that the sexbot market will be miniscule until robots are able to, basically, pass as humans. Otherwise, it looks too much like having sex with a corpse to be erotic for most folks (while a dildo, exactly because there is no pretense that a human is attached to it, doesn’t provoke the ‘eww, sex with a severed penis’ reaction). ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/22 "2015-09-17T14:47:08Z")
I recall this came up during the Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Fans wanted a hook up between John Connor and Cameron. [This was the promo photo for the show.](http://p1.pichost.me/i/26/1489447.jpg) obviously a hot actress. But still, it was a killer robot no different than Arnold’s robot. I never got the shippers that wanted a John/Cameron hookup. Sex with a Terminator? I’ll pass. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Angry\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/23 "2015-09-17T14:50:42Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > 1.) Why _Shudder_? I don’t know about shudder, but seeing that thing just turn its head gave me an ‘AAAH! Kill it with fire!’ reaction. It looks like a prop from a horror movie, rather than something I’d want to put my penis into. But, if people are happy enough with them to shell out the $$$ for them, then fine. Let them have at it. They’re expensive and elaborate sex toys, nothing more. If anyone treats these as anything approaching a replacement for a real woman, then they have issues that won’t be solved by banning these. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/24 "2015-09-17T14:58:31Z")
If they can make one look like Eddie Vedder, I’m going to start saving up my money. I’m not going to call him Rocky. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/25 "2015-09-17T15:01:20Z")
> [@The\_Angry\_Badger](#): > > I don’t know about shudder, but seeing that thing just turn its head gave me an ‘AAAH! Kill it with fire!’ reaction. It looks like a prop from a horror movie, rather than something I’d want to put my penis into. > > But, if people are happy enough with them to shell out the $$$ for them, then fine. Let them have at it. They’re expensive and elaborate sex toys, nothing more. If anyone treats these as anything approaching a replacement for a real woman, then they have issues that won’t be solved by banning these. Agree - it’s the uncanny valley reaction. The - thing - is supposed to be human, but just … isn’t. This is why I think it will be a niche fetish product, and not any sort of significant sexual game-changer. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/26 "2015-09-17T16:04:45Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > I’m wondering how these arguments will affect dildo sales. Don’t be silly. Women’s sex toys are “empowering” and “liberating”, men’s are “objectifying” and “demeaning” (not to mention “sad” and “creepy”). Besides, if women need sex toys to get off then it’s men’s fault for not being aware, sensitive, and responsive to their needs, whereas if men need sex toys… see “sad” and “creepy” again. I think that’s it. Would anyone care to check my math? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/27 "2015-09-17T16:16:06Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Jesus, they need another 20 or 30 years to get past the Uncanny Valley effect. Only a creep-o would have sex with one of _those_ sexbots. There’s more than one reason a bedroom has a light switch… ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/28 "2015-09-17T17:38:09Z")
> [@Find\_Friends](#): > > You rang? I would flee in sheer terror from a Lurch sexbot. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/29 "2015-09-17T17:43:54Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > I’m not seeing that there will be any impact. There is currently a problem with male sexbots where the batteries only last three minutes and no one has been able to determine why. They are programming them to think about baseball. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/30 "2015-09-17T17:51:14Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Robots will soon serve as companions and friends to many lonely people. That may create a social dependence that could be a problem if they don’t seek out human companionship. We could see a entire generation of socially repressed people. Basically the internet times a thousand. They say this every damn time someone invents something. We’re not that far past the age when kids were told to stop reading so much because it was antisocial. Just leave people alone to do what they want. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/31 "2015-09-17T18:25:05Z")
Shouldn’t that be un_cunny_ valley? ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/32 "2015-09-17T18:27:29Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Shouldn’t that be un_cunny_ valley? Isn’t the whole point that it’s _not_? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/33 "2015-09-18T00:10:04Z")
> [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](#): > > Don’t be silly. Women’s sex toys are “empowering” and “liberating”, men’s are “objectifying” and “demeaning” (not to mention “sad” and “creepy”). > > Besides, if women need sex toys to get off then it’s men’s fault for not being aware, sensitive, and responsive to their needs, whereas if men need sex toys… see “sad” and “creepy” again. > > I think that’s it. Would anyone care to check my math? You tried to divide by zero right there. A woman having sex with a fake person is just as sad and creepy as a man. A man using a toy that does not pretend to an actual person is just fine. Couples of all combinations use sex toys together. The point is simply that making sex toys that mimic humans implies humans are valued only for how well they mechanistically satisfy the needs of others. Now, add that all the images of the sexbots are female figures, and you get zero in that denominator. (And on average, human males orgasm more rapidly than do females, just like they, on average, have greater upper body strength. Hence toys.) ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/34 "2015-09-18T01:06:10Z")
Anybody remember the ‘dummy’ used for CPR training? IIRC, it was patterned after an actual woman/girl - complete with boobs. Were there any remarks about ‘untoward’ ‘liberties’ being taken with ‘her’? This is the earliest I remember of a life-like approximation of a human(outside the ‘animatronic’ characters). ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/35 "2015-09-18T01:12:35Z")
> [@j666](#): > > You tried to divide by zero right there. > > A woman having sex with a fake person is just as sad and creepy as a man. A man using a toy that does not pretend to an actual person is just fine. Couples of all combinations use sex toys together. > > … Compare public reaction to the following toys: 1. Dildo 2. ‘Fleshlight’ (you may have trouble finding ‘public’ which even knows what a fleshlight is). They would seem to be identical in both size and use - in fact, the average dildo could be inserted in the average fleshlight. My guess is that people will be squicked out by the fleshlight, but will have neutral to positive reaction to a dildo. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/36 "2015-09-18T01:41:00Z")
> [@j666](#): > > A woman having sex with a fake person is just as sad and creepy as a man. A man using a toy that does not pretend to an actual person is just fine. If things were reversed, we’d hear about how women’s use of sex-dolls indicated that they _cared_ about the whole person, not just their disembodied genitals, whereas men’s creepy fleshlights (or whatever) indicated that they had completely divorced their sexuality from humanity - pure objectification! ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/37 "2015-09-18T01:43:48Z")
Sometimes for amusement, I will pay a visit to Amazon’s sexual wellness shop and read the reviews for SexFlesh sex toys. Those that don’t want to spring for a whole real doll can buy torsos, with or without heads, or just the pelvic region. There are lots of reviews and the best ones are from verified purchasers. They will rate the feel of each orifice in detail as well as its durability and general construction. Some of them will describe modifications they made in detail. They will discuss care and maintenance. It’s hysterical. Some of the less racy excerpts are below. I’m not going to post any links they are too NSFW but it’s easy to find. “I like it when I got it and it felt like real skin. After a week the penis broke off.” “Not very heavy and a little small, but it doesn’t talk” “cleaning the device is much like trying to clean a jellyfish - hard to hold and scrub.” "ONly downside is it becomes cumbersome when trying to use on any other position other than flat on its back. " “I’m glad I paid extra for the one with the head” “I don’t mean this as a criticism, as it’s not loud by any means, but don’t expect to do this in the middle of the night without waking your spouse” “I’d rather use my hand… That’s how bad this is” “On the other end of the toy, there is a drainage hole and I am not sure if it’s supposed to be used or not, but it also feels pretty good.” ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/38 "2015-09-18T02:08:26Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > If things were reversed, … Why do you assume they’re not? > [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Sometimes for amusement, I will pay a visit to Amazon’s sexual wellness shop and read the reviews for SexFlesh sex toys. Those that don’t want to spring for a whole real doll can buy torsos, with or without heads, or just the pelvic region. > … I really wish I hadn’t read that. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/39 "2015-09-18T03:01:29Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Hush! This whole thread has been depressingly low on Futurama references. So here’s more on why [this is a bad thing](https://vimeo.com/12915013). ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511/40 "2015-09-18T03:12:43Z")
Great, **Ann Hedonia** , now I have to visit that page to check out the reviews… > [@Malthus](#): > > “Uncanny valley” has more to do with most people’s reactions than women’s rights. I predict that the sexbot market will be miniscule until robots are able to, basically, pass as humans. Otherwise, it looks too much like having sex with a corpse to be erotic for most folks. Must agree on this part. It’s not just the high price or enlightened attitudes that keeps RealDolls a relatively rare item even among those who can afford them. And the older inflatable doll or full-body pillow toys are viewed mostly as the butt of jokes, not evidence of the violence inherent to the patriarchy. > [@The\_Angry\_Badger](#): > > But, if people are happy enough with them to shell out the $$$ for them, then fine. Let them have at it. They’re expensive and elaborate sex toys, nothing more. If anyone treats these as anything approaching a replacement for a real woman, then they have issues that won’t be solved by banning these. > [@j666](#): > > The point is simply that making sex toys that mimic humans implies humans are valued only for how well they mechanistically satisfy the needs of others. Now, add that all the images of the sexbots are female figures, and you get zero in that denominator. Disagree with the premise that humanoid-shaped sex toys implies looking at the real human as a toy, but that’s something that can be a difference of opinion. Still, not grounds for preventing their existence in the market. And besides it’s not as if male sexbots would not be be, er, coming right behind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-movement-to-ban-sex-robots-wait-sexbots-are-a-thing-now/731511.md?page=3)