Sometimes, I like to travel with my time machine and examine how various things functioned in the past. The concept of dating is one of them. Most of the movies produced in the ‘90s and early ‘00s depict a linear path for it: exchanging numbers, going out on a date, and the night did not necessarily have to end with sex. In the current century, the concept of dating has drastically changed. With the introduction of technology, almost everything has taken another direction. People have lost the sense of dating, and most of them rely on hook-ups. I once read on a dating app profile: “Looking for Mr. Right! Until then, Mr. Right Now is welcome, too.” People are becoming every day and more asocial. Men specifically have become porn and masturbation addicts. And when the moment comes that they have to participate in sexual intercourse, they fail to satisfy their partner. A study shows that porn contributes to erectile dysfunction, making it a mind-body binary. These men want to achieve the perfection that professional pornography depicts, but it never works out that way. Initially, most of them get anxiety or self-esteem issues that cause them physiological problems. But not everybody has to face the music!
It seems like there is a solution to that, too, apart from pills: a sex robot! Unlike manufactured blow-up dolls that emerged at the beginning of the 1900s, sex robots provide more realness to their “partner”: they can communicate because they are Artificially Intelligent. Men go for sex robots because they can enjoy intimacy and comfort if they have social issues. And when it comes to erectile dysfunction, they do not have to feel humiliated, because the sex robot is never going to judge them! Once again, it is all literally wired between the body, the mind, but also technological elements. Yet, is this helpful for the living ones? Technological devices alone have created distance between us, let go robots who are being used to replace feelings, emotions, touch, warmth, pure communication… an entire human being! Are we losing the sense of humanity that we are about to leave everything on the “hand” of robots?
Due to the fact that most of these manufactured sex robots are created as females, a gender-based issue has been created. When promoting these robots on his show, Jay Leno claimed that the best thing about them is that “you can shut her up with a button”, pointing out the existing stereotype among men that women never stop talking or complaining. Through a feminist lens, Leno directly oppressed the female gender by presenting them as senseless, obedient objects that can be easily controlled. The power of the media must never be underestimated, and such a declaration creates a dual path of influence to the audience: the one path that encourages the audience to purchase these robots and avoid actual human beings and interacting with them; the other one where women are objectified as a mere piece of silicone and weakened to the point that you can cut them off through a switch. Today, pop culture has transmitted to the audience many new artificial developments that we enjoy: artificial teeth in movie stars, artificial breast implants in that famous singer, or artificial lips in the new cover girl. The question is: should we accept Artificial Intelligence, too? (The article’s title is based on the Tin Man’s famous quote from The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy searches for his heart, and he tells her: “It’s empty! The tinsmith forgot to give me a heart.”)
Amazing review! Each puff of vape juice is refreshing and satisfying.