A reflective essay on the racialisation of sex robots and its implications in a neoliberal world. Written in 2017 by Kirin Heng for a graduate course. 

As if trying to live out the myth of Pygmalion in the age of digital technology, human beings have invented a machine to attempt to provide themselves with something many are lacking in life: a sexual, ‘romantic’ relationship. Amongst the purposes of providing company to dementia patients in elderly homes, cleaning up after us, and acting as a housekeeper, the robot, made humanoid in appearance, also finds use as a sex doll. Technology has made possible the making of robots such as “Actroid DER2” whose creators boast has “realistic silicone skin” (Parsons). This trend culminates this very year in the “Second International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots” hosted by Goldsmiths University on the 19th and 20th of December, organizing discussions concerning the close-approaching future in which sex with robots may become a norm, with Goldsmiths Professor Dr. Kate Devlin prophesying, “'I think robots could become our lovers in the future… Does love have to be reciprocated in order to be valid?'” and robotics expert Joe Snell predicting that it could even become an “addiction” (Parsons). 

All these new robots are likely to be female, since male sex dolls are only now being developed, such that male sex robots are likely not to be made for a while (Vice). Since making sex robots humanoid in appearance, in order to make them serve their purpose of simulating human sex, would inevitably entail assigning them a human race, this may have implications on the furthering of racial stereotypes. Much of the global market supply would most probably be provided by Japan and China, which are now in the lead in the production of robots, and thus are likely to be manufactured with Asian features like the ones manufactures so far have (see Actroid DER2, Android Geminoid F and Jia Jia pictured above) (The Young Turks, Parsons, Logan, Furness). Once sold to Western markets, predominantly to white men (not to ignore the fact that there may be a varied consumer demographic), the idealization of the sex robot as an Asian woman by the West might simulate white sexual imperialism. 

You might say, “Why the fuss? It is just a robot. Why impose troublesome human issues such as racism onto an object?” Such a dismissal as this only furthers the nature-culture divide, or in this case, the human-machine divide, thereby ignoring the fact that we are running the risk of assigning the role of non-human to a specific race (Puig de la Bellacasa 98). It is in such an issue that Puig de la Bellacasa seems to sound a warning of “how particular new human-machine associations might further train us to dismiss relations of care”—in this case, issues of caring about human racial dichotomies (Puig de la Bellacasa 94). Ramifications of assigning robots a race which has a history of being Other-ed, of being objectified as the submissive, hypersexual Other, might result in a further entrenchment of such hierarchized binaries. It is for such reasons that robot makers must think carefully, with “care”, of their responsibility in racializing robots. 

Indeed, mainstream cultural imaginations seem to already be making the very mistakes robot makers should avoid. A disturbing number of mainstream Western film and television series cast servile robot characters with Asian actresses, most often East Asian in ethnicity. Take, for instance, character Anita, in British television series Humans (adapted from the Swedish series Äkta människor which features a similarly-cast character), played by Gemma Chan, a British actress of Chinese ethnicity. A servant-robot, she is used for sex by her married owner Joe Hawkins (“Episode 4”). Even in the futuristic timeline of film Cloud Atlas, the narrative of objectified female Other is repeated. East Asian actresses were cast as the race of robots called ‘syths’, who perform servile and sexualized roles, while the men who dominate them as their masters are white (Cloud Atlas).  Take another example in film Ex Machina, the prominent character of Kyoko, a robot played by Japanese-British actress Sonoya Mizuno. In contrast to robot Ava (played by Swedish actress Alicia Vikander), who is fluent in English and harbors feelings of rebellion against their creator, the mute Kyoko does his bidding, has been “programmed not to understand English” and entertains her master as a stripper-dancer (Ex Machina, Chang).

The typecasting of sex robots as Asian continues the history of Asian comfort women to American soldiers, the phenomena of the proliferation of pornography featuring rape of Asian women, mail-order brides from Asian countries to Western countries, the “Asian fetish syndrome”, and the still-booming Western-men-frequented sex industries in Thailand and Cambodia (A&M). These wounds of sexual colonialism, will never heal but fester and rot, if racial prejudices and stereotypes were to be translated into the making of Asian-looking comfort robots.  

Or perhaps the main issue here is the narcissism and delusion of humans in imposing a humanoid appearance on robots. Perhaps it could be possible to refrain from giving them human trappings. However, judging from the humanoid appearance of early sex robot models, this does not seem likely. There already exist other sex-toy devices, such as the dildo, that do not resemble a sex doll. Instead, what developers seem to be aiming for is an imitation of real human sex.

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Works Cited

“Episode 4.” Humans, written by Joe Barton, directed by Daniel Nettheim, Channel 4, AMC, 2015.

A&M: Awake Your Inner Asian. “Asian American Women: White Sexual Imperialism.” Medium, 28 May. 2016. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.

Chang, Sarah H. “How 'Ex Machina' Abuses Women of Color & Nobody Cares Cause It's Smart.” Web blog post. Multiracial Asian Families. Blogger, 30 May. 2015. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.

Cloud Atlas. Dir. Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer. Perf. Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae. Warner Bros Pictures, 2012.

Ex Machina. Dir. Alex Garland. Perf. Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Sonoya Mizuno. Universal Pictures, 2015.

Furness, Dylan. “Chinese scientists built a ‘robot goddess,’ then made it subservient and insecure.” Yahoo! Tech. 18 Apr. 2016. Web.

Logan, Ross. “World's sexiest robot' steals the spotlight at tech show - but creators say she's not perfect.” Mirror UK. 26 Nov. 2015. Web.

Parsons, Jeff, Kirstie Mccrum, and David Watkinson. “Sex robots could be 'biggest trend of 2016' as more lonely humans seek mechanical companions.” Mirror UK. 6 Jan. 2016. Web.

Puig de la Bellacasa, Maria. 2011. “Matters of Care in Technoscience: Assembling Neglected Things.” Social Studies of Science 41 (1): 85-106.

The Young Turks. “Chinese Build “Robot Goddess” That Does Whatever Men Say.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 21 Apr. 2016. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.

Vice. “Making The World's First Male Sex Doll.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 20 Oct. 2016. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.