Her Electric Feel

What is it about women that are half machine? You tell us, all we know is that they’re everywhere. Welcome to our official fembot roundup.

1. Janelle Monae — “Many Moons” video

In this modern take on Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, Monae is cast as Cindy Mayweather: The Alpha Platinum 900, as well as Lady Maestra: Master of the Show Droids in the city of Metropolis’s Annual Android Auction. The implication, as she dances on the stage and models various futuristic outfits, is that she is the finest robot money can buy. When she sings the chorus of the song, “Your freedom’s in your mind, Your freedom’s in a bind,” she seems to be elevating the action and movement of robots above us freethinking, indecisive humans. Check out the similarities between her marionette moves and the dance scene with the manmade woman in the original below.

2. Gaga on the Cover of Rolling Stone

True, guns are a particular kind of machine, but they still hold to the “more than a woman” theme. Thoughts?

3. Robyn’s “Fembot”

“Once you go tech, you’re never ever going back,” the Swedish comeback queen raps in her ode to the power of all things you can turn-on, plug in, inter-access, reboot, and re-fine. Listening to the lyrics of this one, we were struck by the idea that maybe popstars like to compare themself to technology because it has mass appeal and is accessible but still always advancing and improving like a good remix.

4. Christina Aguilera “Bionic”

Christina, the oldest of these robot divas, keys us into another aspect of why women might want to seem like robots — they never age and only improve with time. “I am the future,” she insists, “I’m testing your dimension, can’t keep up with what I create.”

6. Japanese LoveDolls

Okay so we know this is creepy as hell, but taking the whole fembot thing literally does add some insight into why female popstars want to be perceived as uber-computers. If people want to buy sex dolls because they can’t feel, maybe the whole unfeelingness of a robot plays into celebrities fears about being exploited. If Gaga, Aguilera, Robyn, and Monae are perceived as super androids, we won’t think of them as delicate or capable of being hurt. That seems to fit into the whole mega-woman mentality.

What do you think? We know there are more examples of this phenomenon. So send us your best ones, and we’ll add them to this post.