The Obsession of Artificial Bodies

Abstract

The heroes and heroines of this chapter are: mannequins, dolls, androids, cyborgs from literature and science fiction. I showed the gender context of those phenomena, as I am convinced that the aesthetic paragons of male and female physiques with their erotic overtones enact certain models of social relationships, and thus impose roles to be performed due to gender. Stories, novels, films—these are the areas of analysis of this chapter. Analysing various literary, film, art works, I ask about the attitude of people to technology: its potential, limitations, entanglement in new forms of discrimination and oppression.