Oct 27
Identifying as a Fembot
Posted by editor at 12:00 pm in decline of civilization

First, does anyone remember an Austin Powers movie with Fembots? Because I think that’s really where I first heard the term. The term is, however, being repurposed here on the Today Show in a non-story about ”fembots” . And, glory of glories, the story manages to conflate all of the following under the term “fembot”:

  • women who don’t eat cupcakes;
  • women who don’t have feelings;
  • women who have careers;
  • women who are confident; and
  • women who are child free.

Yes, fembots. All of them. I’m sure you know a fembot or two.

Via Feministing

Identifying as a Fembot has 6 Comments

RSS 2.0 | Comment | Trackback
  1. hafidha sofia wrote:
    October 27th, 2007 at 12:15 pm

    “Women who don’t have feelings” ??? What woman doesn’t have feelings? This kind of thing makes my head hurt.

  2. Ms. Theologian wrote:
    October 27th, 2007 at 1:45 pm

    I can’t bear to watch it again, but as I recall, women who concentrate on their careers and don’t have children and don’t care for a co-worker’s birthday cupcakes are equated with women without feelings, essentially sociopaths. It’s sort of pathologizing feminism.

  3. Scott Wells wrote:
    October 27th, 2007 at 2:09 pm

    The Fembots come from the Bionic Woman.
    Real feminists don’t have men manipulate them (or something like that.) And I’d let Jaime have at the Today crowd.

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=cefHBbOIR0w

  4. Ms. Theologian wrote:
    October 27th, 2007 at 2:16 pm

    Oh! You’re absolutely right.

    I think I’m going to start making those little noises at work that occur when Jaime uses her bionic powers.

  5. Scott Wells wrote:
    October 28th, 2007 at 7:12 am

    I went and saw the video. What a confused hatchet-job against women.

    1. You’d never get a away saying the same things about men (thought that might be changing).
    2. The solution for a confident women’s “crisis” is that she can buy things for herself.

    But we know these shows are for making obedient consumers, right? What dreck.

  6. Ms. Theologian wrote:
    October 28th, 2007 at 10:41 am

    I’ve noticed a definite trend in advertising to equate empowerment with women and consuming. There’s a VISA commercial I see when streaming either NBC nightly news or the Daily Show where a woman simply goes about her day, which consists entirely of making purchases (gas, coffee, groceries, gym membership, and makeup).

Leave a Comment