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A gynoid (from Greek γυνη, gynē - woman) is a humanoid robot designed to look like a human female, as compared to an android modeled after a male^{[citation needed]}. The term is not common, however, with android being used to refer to both "genders" of robot. The portmanteau fembot (female robot) has also been used.

Gynoids have also been used as a metaphor in feminist discourse, as part of cyborg feminism, representing female physical strength and freedom from the expectation to reproduce. "Fembot" is sometimes used as an insult towards feminist women.^[1]

In fiction

Artificial women have been a common trope in fiction and mythology since the writings of the ancient Greeks. This has continued with modern fiction, particularly in the genre of science fiction. In science fiction, female-appearing robots are often produced for use as domestic servants and sexual slaves, as seen in the film Westworld, the Paul McAuley novel Fairyland (1995), and the Lester del Ray short story "Helen O'Loy" (1938).^[2] The term gynoid was created by Gwyneth Jones in her 1985 novel Divine Endurance to describe a robot slave character in a futuristic China, that is judged by her beauty.^[3]

The treatment of gynoids in fiction has been seen as a metaphor for both misogony and racism, as in the film Blade Runner, in which all three of the important female characters are gynoids, two of which use their sexuality to attempt to manipulate or kill the protagonist Rick Deckard, often using sexualised imagery, such as when Pris attempts to strangle him between her thighs. Daniel Dinello writes that the violence with which the gynoids is treated represents Deckard's hatred of women. The third gynoid, Rachel, acts as a submissive female, even after Deckard "virtually rapes her".^[2] Thomas Foster writes, about the novel Dead Girls by Richard Calder, that the technological bodies of gynoids depict sexism and racism in an unnatural context, highlighting their negative impact. They also show that stereotypes and societal attitudes will not necessarily be altered through technological progress.^[4]

The Bionic Woman television series coined the word fembot. These fembots were a line of powerful life-like gynoids with the faces of protagonist Jaime Sommers's best friends.^[5] They fought in two multi-part episodes of the series: "Kill Oscar" and "Fembots in Las Vegas", and despite the feminine prefix, there were also male versions, including some designed to impersonate particular individuals for the purpose of infiltration. While not truly artificially intelligent, the fembots still had extremely sophisticated programming that allowed them to pass for human in most situations. The term "fembot" was also used in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (referring to a robot duplicate of the title character, a.k.a. the Buffybot) and Futurama. Japanese anime and manga both have a long tradition of female robot characters.^{[citation needed]}

The perfect woman

A long tradition exists in fiction, of men attempting to create the stereotypical "ideal woman", and fictional gynoids have been seen as an extension of this theme.^[6] Examples include Pygmalion, one of the earliest conceptualizations of constructions similar to gynoids in literary history, from Ovid's account of Pygmalion.^[6] In this myth a female statue is sculpted that is so beautiful that the creator falls in love with it, and after praying to Venus, the goddess takes pity on him and converts the statue into a real woman with whom Pygmalion has children. The first gynoid in film, the Maria impersonator in Fritz Lang's Metropolis is also an example.^[6] In Metropolis a femininely shaped robot is given skin so that she is not known to be a robot and successfully impersonates the imprisoned Maria and works convincingly as an exotic dancer. Such gynoids are designed according to patriachal stereotypes of a perfect women, being "sexy, dumb, and obedient", and show the sexist beliefs of their creators.^[2] Fictional gynoids are often unique products made to fit a particular man's desire, as seen in the novel Tomorrow's Eve and films The Benumbed Woman, Stepford Wives and Mannequin,^[7] and the creator's are often male "mad scientists" such as the characters Rotwany in Metropolis, Tyrell in Blade Runner, and the husbands in Stepford Wives.^[8] Gynoids have been described as the "ultimate geek fantasy: a metal-and-plastic woman of your own".^[1]

Sex objects

Patricia Melzer writes that gynoids are "irresistibly linked" to men's lust, and are mainly designed as sex-objects, having no use beyond "pleasing men's violent sexual desires".^[9] Female cyborgs have been similarly used in fiction, in which natural bodies are modified to become objects of fantasy.^[6] The gynoid character Eve from Eve of Destruction has been described as "a literal sex bomb", with her subservience to patriachal authority and a bomb in place of reproductive organs.^[7]

Sex with gynoids has been compared to necrophilia.^[10] http://www.Synthoids.com is an entire site dedicated to the fetish of the Gynoid love affair.

Gender stereotypes

Fiction about gynoids or female cyborgs reinforce "essentialist ideas of feminity", according to Magret Grebowicz.^[11] Such essentialist ideas may present as sexual or gender stereotypes. Among the few non-eroticized fictional gynoids include Rosie the Robot Maid from The Jetsons.^{[citation needed]} However, she still has some sterotypically feminine qualities, such as a matronly shape and a predisposition to cry.^[12]

The stereotypical role of wifedom has also been explored through use of gynoids. In The Stepford Wives, husbands are shown as desiring to restrict the independence of their wives, and obedient and stereotypical spouses are preferred. The husbands' technological method of obtaining this "perfect wife" is through the murder of their human wives and replacement with gynoid substitutes that are compliant and housework obsessed, resulting in a "picture-postcard" perfect suburban society. This has been seen as an allegory of male chauvinism of the period, by representing marriage as a master-slave relationship, and an attempt at raising feminist consciousness during the era of second wave feminism.^[8]

In a parody of the fembots from The Bionic Woman, attractive fembots in fuzzy see-through night-gowns were used as a lure for the fictional agent Austin Powers in the movie Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery. The film's sequels had cameo appearances of characters revealed as fembots. Judith Halberstam writes that these gynoids inform the viewer that femaleness does not indicate naturalness, and their exaggerated femininity and sexuality is used in a similar way to the title character's exagerated masculinity, lampooning stereotypes.^[13]

In real life

Female-appearing robots have also appeared in real-life, with early constructions being crude. The first gynoid was produced by Sex Objects Ltd, a British company, for use as a "sex-aid". It was called simply "36C", from her chest measurement, and had a 16-bit microprocessor and voice synthesiser that allowed primitive responses to speech and push button inputs.^[14] Later examples include:

Project Aiko was an attempt at producing a realistic-looking "female" android. It speaks Japanese and English and has been produced for a price of 13000 euro.^[15]
EveR-1, ^[16]
Actroid, designed by Hiroshi Ishiguro to be "a perfect secretary who smiles and flutters her eyelids".^[17]
HRP-4C^[18]
Meinü robot^[19]^[20]

Functions

Posited functions of gynoids include performing jobs traditionally seen as women's work, such as housework, secretarial work and teaching small children.

Gynoids may be "eroticized", and some examples such as Aiko include sensitivity sensors in their breasts and genitals to facilitate sexual response.^[21] The fetishization of gynoids in real life has been attributed to male desires for a custom-made passive women, and has been compared to life-size sex dolls.^[22]

References

^ ^a ^b http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2008-12/return-bodacious-bots
^ ^a ^b ^c Dinello, Daniel (2005). Technophobia!: Science Fiction Visions of Posthuman Technology. University of Texas Press. p. 77. ISBN 9780292709867. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ Tatsumi, Takayuki (2006). Full Metal Apache: Transactions between Cyberpunk Japan and Avant-Pop America. Durham NC: Duke University Press. p. 213, Notes. ISBN 0822337746.
^ Foster, Thomas (2005). The souls of cyberfolk: posthumanism as vernacular theory. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9780816634064. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ Browne, Ray B., Forbidden Fruits: Taboos and Tabooism in Culture, Popular Press, 1984, 9780879722555
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Melzer, p. 202
^ ^a ^b Stratton, p.230
^ ^a ^b Dinello, Daniel (2005). Technophobia!: Science Fiction Visions of Posthuman Technology. University of Texas Press. p. 78. ISBN 9780292709867. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ Melzer, p. 204
^ Michele, Aaron (1999). The body's perilous pleasures: dangerous desires and contemporary culture. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 108–124. ISBN 9780748609611. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ Grebowicz, Margret (2007). SciFi in the mind's eye: reading science through science fiction. Open Court. p. xviii. ISBN 9780812696301. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
^ Rudman, Laurie A. (2008). The Social Psychology of Gender: How Power and Intimacy Shape Gender Relations. Guilford Press. p. 178. ISBN 9781593858254. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
^ Halberstam, Judith (2005). In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives. NYU Press. p. 144. ISBN 9780814735855. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ Yazdani, Masoud (1984). Artificial intelligence: human effects. E. Horwood. pp. 276–277. ISBN 9780853125778. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
^ http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081211/project_aiko_081211/20081211?hub=TopStories
^ http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/gca?SEARCHID=1&FULLTEXT=Ever-1&FIRSTINDEX=0&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&gca=312%2F5779%2F1449d&sendit.x=44&sendit.y=9&sendit=Get+all+checked+abstract(s)
^ http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2006-08/fembot-mystique
^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7946780.stm
^ http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-08/04/content_657625.htm
^ http://english.sina.com/p/1/2006/0808/85533.html
^ http://www.projectaiko.com/faq.html
^ "The automaton becomes both a philosophical toy and sexual fetish", "I extend the meaning of gynoid to include non-mechanical models of women such life-size dolls" Stratton, p.21

Carpenter, J., Davis, J., Erwin‐Stewart, N. Lee. T., Bransford, J. & Vye, N. (2009). Gender representation in humanoid robots for domestic use.[International Journal of Social Robotics (special issue)]. The Netherlands: Springer.
Jordana, Ludmilla (1989) Sexual Visions: Images of Gender in Science and Medicine between the Eighteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0-299-12290-5
Leman, Joy (1991) "Wise Scientists and Female Androids: Class and Gender in Science Fiction." In, Corner, John, editor. Popular Television in Britain. London: BFI Publishing. ISBN 0-85170-269-4
Jon Stratton, The desirable body: cultural fetishism and the erotics of consumption, University of Illinois Press, 2001, ISBN 9780252069512.
Patricia Melzer, Alien Constructions: Science Fiction and Feminist Thought, University of Texas Press, 2006, ISBN 9780292713079.
Stratton, Jon (2001). The desirable body: cultural fetishism and the erotics of consumption. US: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252069512. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

[popscibots-1] ttp://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2008-12/return-bodacious-bots

[technophob77-2] Dinello, Daniel (2005). Technophobia!: Science Fiction Visions of Posthuman Technology. University of Texas Press. p. 77. ISBN 9780292709867. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

[3] Tatsumi, Takayuki (2006). Full Metal Apache: Transactions between Cyberpunk Japan and Avant-Pop America. Durham NC: Duke University Press. p. 213, Notes. ISBN 0822337746.

[4] Foster, Thomas (2005). The souls of cyberfolk: posthumanism as vernacular theory. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9780816634064. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

[5] Browne, Ray B., Forbidden Fruits: Taboos and Tabooism in Culture, Popular Press, 1984, 9780879722555

[melzer202-6] Melzer, p. 202

[desirbody230-7] Stratton, p.230

[technophob78-8] Dinello, Daniel (2005). Technophobia!: Science Fiction Visions of Posthuman Technology. University of Texas Press. p. 78. ISBN 9780292709867. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

[9] Melzer, p. 204

[10] Michele, Aaron (1999). The body's perilous pleasures: dangerous desires and contemporary culture. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 108–124. ISBN 9780748609611. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

[11] Grebowicz, Margret (2007). SciFi in the mind's eye: reading science through science fiction. Open Court. p. xviii. ISBN 9780812696301. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

[12] Rudman, Laurie A. (2008). The Social Psychology of Gender: How Power and Intimacy Shape Gender Relations. Guilford Press. p. 178. ISBN 9781593858254. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

[13] Halberstam, Judith (2005). In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives. NYU Press. p. 144. ISBN 9780814735855. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

[14] Yazdani, Masoud (1984). Artificial intelligence: human effects. E. Horwood. pp. 276–277. ISBN 9780853125778. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

[15] ttp://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081211/project_aiko_081211/20081211?hub=TopStories

[16] ttp://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/gca?SEARCHID=1&FULLTEXT=Ever-1&FIRSTINDEX=0&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&gca=312%2F5779%2F1449d&sendit.x=44&sendit.y=9&sendit=Get+all+checked+abstract(s)

[17] ttp://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2006-08/fembot-mystique

[18] ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7946780.stm

[19] ttp://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-08/04/content_657625.htm

[20] ttp://english.sina.com/p/1/2006/0808/85533.html

[21] ttp://www.projectaiko.com/faq.html

[desirbody21-22] "The automaton becomes both a philosophical toy and sexual fetish", "I extend the meaning of gynoid to include non-mechanical models of women such life-size dolls" Stratton, p.21

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@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 Patricia Melzer writes that gynoids are "irresistibly linked" to men's lust, and are mainly designed as sex-objects, having no use beyond "pleasing men's violent sexual desires".<ref>Melzer, p. 204</ref> Female cyborgs have been similarly used in fiction, in which natural bodies are modified to become objects of fantasy.<ref name=melzer202/> The gynoid character Eve from ''[[Eve of Destruction]]'' has been described as "a literal sex bomb", with her subservience to patriachal authority and a bomb in place of reproductive organs.<ref name=desirbody230>Stratton, p.230</ref>
-Sex with gynoids has been compared to necrophilia.<ref>{{cite book |title= The body's perilous pleasures: dangerous desires and contemporary culture|last= Michele |first= Aaron|authorlink= |coauthors= |year= 1999|publisher= Edinburgh University Press|pages=108-124 |isbn=9780748609611}}</ref> <ref>www.Synthoids.com</ref> is an entire site dedicated to the fetish of the Gynoid love affair.
+Sex with gynoids has been compared to necrophilia.<ref>{{cite book |title= The body's perilous pleasures: dangerous desires and contemporary culture|last= Michele |first= Aaron|authorlink= |coauthors= |year= 1999|publisher= Edinburgh University Press|pages=108-124 |isbn=9780748609611}}</ref> http://www.Synthoids.com is an entire site dedicated to the fetish of the Gynoid love affair.
 ===Gender stereotypes===