Sunday, March 19, 2017

Ex-Machina and sexism

I remember the movie Ex-Machina and how it depicted a guy's fantasy woman being created into a very lifelike robot. She was capable of feeling emotions, feelings, and physical pleasure. So I asked a guy if he would date a woman like that. He would know that she is man-made but won't be able to tell in any other way and he said, "Yes". I was a little surprised because the answer was a very loud and clear no for me if I were ever asked the question.

This got me thinking why when it came to emulating what we desire sexually and romantically as a machine, the natural choice for the movie makers was a woman. This is what makes me think that the objectification of women is deeper than the 'result of years of brainwashing by advertising'. Maybe when men think about what they desire, it's just a combination of a set of attributes and responses. As long as it's strictly in the desire realm, it's an object that they are desiring. If I could get inside the mind of a guy who is the average of the mind of all guys on earth, in a moment when it's at the peak of sexual desire, I would like to check what's being perceived as the cause of this desire and how much humanity is attributed to it. Maybe it's worthwhile to do the same for women too. and not just the average, we would also want the whole range and the standard deviation too. But I think there is a fundamental difference between how we think about what./who we desire.