Sexy or sexist?
When I was at the excellent conference Arse Elektronika last month, I was lucky enough to meet the artist/musician/geek Matt Ganucheau. He’s known for his electronic music and sound-related art projects, but for Arse Elektronika he created an interactive erotic device known as Moaning Lisa. A hollowed-out mannequin covered in piezo sensors that register pressure, Moaning Lisa could be induced to have an “orgasm” (signaled by the sound of a million women moaning) if you touched her sensors in the right order for the right length of time. Each time you played with her, her software would change which sensors and timings were required to create the orgasm. Despite her sex-doll appearance, I liked Moaning Lisa because she taught a simple (feminist) lesson: every woman’s body is different, and creating sexual pleasure for her is not magical but instead just involves learning how to deal with a series of sensors. When I wrote about Moaning Lisa, I managed to outrage a number of feminists who couldn’t get past the idea that she’s a sex doll.
