Rachael Eyre's Blog, page 6
September 12, 2018
Free Promo: The Artificial Wife
Beginning tomorrow and running over the next few days, you can get my latest novel The Artificial Wife for free!
Summer and Elle meet, bond and fall in love. Unfortunately they are artificial humans, or arties, and owned by insufferable academic Robert. What's an AI in love to do?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Artificial-W...The Artificial Wife
Summer and Elle meet, bond and fall in love. Unfortunately they are artificial humans, or arties, and owned by insufferable academic Robert. What's an AI in love to do?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Artificial-W...The Artificial Wife
May 3, 2018
The Taming of the Shrew and The Artificial Wife
It's no secret I loathe The Taming of the Shrew with a passion. It causes me anguish that the man who created Viola and Emilia also penned this misogynistic tosh.
Why are people so desperate to defend this one? We can all agree The Merchant of Venice is nakedly, abhorrently anti Semitic; no modern production would dare to play it straight, and quite rightly too. So why do we clutch at straws when it comes to this other wildly anachronistic, contentious play? Why do we insist that the inexperienced Shakespeare wrote a gross out comedy designed solely to put bums on seats, that no one would ever have taken it seriously? Why do academics waffle the Christopher Sly framing device (which most audiences have never seen) clearly positions the play as satire?
Shakespeare didn't invent the concept of shrew taming. It had been a staple of folklore for centuries, designed to bully wives into submission. These stories follow the same basic pattern as Shrew: a gold digger marries an unruly woman, "tames" her via physical and psychological violence, and ends up living happily ever after with her. Psychologists can suggest any number of reasons for this transformation, not least Stockholm Syndrome, but as far as the original stories are concerned, the ends justify the means. For - as the women listening to such tales were undoubtedly reminded - being a shrew or "scold" was punishable by law. If a woman was judged to have disturbed the peace with her behaviour, she was subjected to cruel and unusual punishments such as the ducking stool, the pillory or (most horribly) the scold's bridle, where a woman's head was encased in a cage and her tongue held still.
I have seen people perform the most extraordinary gymnastics to justify what Petruchio does to poor, beleaguered Katherina. "She deserves it," some - yes, even women - declare. Although I have never smashed a lute over somebody's head, I can still recognise someone who is deeply unhappy and fighting back in the only way she can. Katherina has the misfortune to be an intelligent, outspoken, non gender conforming woman in a society that values none of these things. To quote her most moving line, "My tongue will tell the anger of my heart/Or else my heart, concealing it, will break."
Let's analyse Petruchio's methods. Although he doesn't hurt her physically (she tells him he would be no gentleman if he did), he carts out practically every other item in the domestic abuser's toolkit. He humiliates her, starves her, deprives her of sleep, destroys everything she likes, won't give her new clothes and isolates her. Let's not forget the hideous gaslighting episode, where he forces her to say that the sun is the moon and an old man is a young girl - just because he says it is. This is a tragedy played out in millions of households, but because the word "comedy" is tacked onto it, we're encouraged to view it as a farce.
It's true British culture has an inglorious history of finding domestic violence funny. Look at the enduring popularity of Punch and Judy, a puppet show for children, where the "hero" clobbers his wife with a stick and murders his baby. I'll probably get called an overly sensitive SJW, but I always hated the show and found it sinister, even as a child. Andy Capp, the protagonist of a long running strip cartoon, regularly beat up his wife Flo - in fact this was the punchline of many of the strips. Petruchio is merely the forerunner of such characters.
It seems even Shakespeare's contemporaries found the play's sexism unpalatable. John Fletcher wrote The Tamer Tamed, a sequel to Shrew, where Petruchio's second wife Maria gives him a taste of his own medicine. She refuses to have sex with him until he behaves himself, and encourages her friends to do the same with their spouses. The defeated Petruchio ends up faking his own death to wring some sympathy from her, but Maria remains dauntless, reflecting "how far below a man, how far from reason" her late husband was. The corpse is so offended, he sits up in his coffin to protest! Tellingly, this is nowhere near as well known as Shrew - probably because it doesn't have the Shakespeare signature, but also because the idea of women rebelling against their husbands would be too controversial. Or something.
As a geeky, Shakespeare loving teen, I detested the play and the light it cast my idol in. The most disagreeable sequences - the echoing kiss, the sleep deprivation and destruction of property, Petruchio's ghastly speech where he gloats about his "reign" - lodged in my mind. I swore one day I would write such scenes from the woman's perspective. It wouldn't be slapstick but played in all its horror. The perpetrator wouldn't be a charismatic outlaw (as Petruchio is *still* played) but a contemptible misogynist. And it wouldn't end with the man triumphant and the woman lovestruck.
In The Artificial Wife, my Petruchio, Robert Percival, believes he can train a robot to fulfil his unhinged fantasy. He uses the tactics discussed above, reasoning that they work on animals, so why shouldn't they work on artificial intelligences? He believes he is in complete control of Summer and Elle, the two robots he has acquired.
He couldn't be more wrong.
Why are people so desperate to defend this one? We can all agree The Merchant of Venice is nakedly, abhorrently anti Semitic; no modern production would dare to play it straight, and quite rightly too. So why do we clutch at straws when it comes to this other wildly anachronistic, contentious play? Why do we insist that the inexperienced Shakespeare wrote a gross out comedy designed solely to put bums on seats, that no one would ever have taken it seriously? Why do academics waffle the Christopher Sly framing device (which most audiences have never seen) clearly positions the play as satire?
Shakespeare didn't invent the concept of shrew taming. It had been a staple of folklore for centuries, designed to bully wives into submission. These stories follow the same basic pattern as Shrew: a gold digger marries an unruly woman, "tames" her via physical and psychological violence, and ends up living happily ever after with her. Psychologists can suggest any number of reasons for this transformation, not least Stockholm Syndrome, but as far as the original stories are concerned, the ends justify the means. For - as the women listening to such tales were undoubtedly reminded - being a shrew or "scold" was punishable by law. If a woman was judged to have disturbed the peace with her behaviour, she was subjected to cruel and unusual punishments such as the ducking stool, the pillory or (most horribly) the scold's bridle, where a woman's head was encased in a cage and her tongue held still.
I have seen people perform the most extraordinary gymnastics to justify what Petruchio does to poor, beleaguered Katherina. "She deserves it," some - yes, even women - declare. Although I have never smashed a lute over somebody's head, I can still recognise someone who is deeply unhappy and fighting back in the only way she can. Katherina has the misfortune to be an intelligent, outspoken, non gender conforming woman in a society that values none of these things. To quote her most moving line, "My tongue will tell the anger of my heart/Or else my heart, concealing it, will break."
Let's analyse Petruchio's methods. Although he doesn't hurt her physically (she tells him he would be no gentleman if he did), he carts out practically every other item in the domestic abuser's toolkit. He humiliates her, starves her, deprives her of sleep, destroys everything she likes, won't give her new clothes and isolates her. Let's not forget the hideous gaslighting episode, where he forces her to say that the sun is the moon and an old man is a young girl - just because he says it is. This is a tragedy played out in millions of households, but because the word "comedy" is tacked onto it, we're encouraged to view it as a farce.
It's true British culture has an inglorious history of finding domestic violence funny. Look at the enduring popularity of Punch and Judy, a puppet show for children, where the "hero" clobbers his wife with a stick and murders his baby. I'll probably get called an overly sensitive SJW, but I always hated the show and found it sinister, even as a child. Andy Capp, the protagonist of a long running strip cartoon, regularly beat up his wife Flo - in fact this was the punchline of many of the strips. Petruchio is merely the forerunner of such characters.
It seems even Shakespeare's contemporaries found the play's sexism unpalatable. John Fletcher wrote The Tamer Tamed, a sequel to Shrew, where Petruchio's second wife Maria gives him a taste of his own medicine. She refuses to have sex with him until he behaves himself, and encourages her friends to do the same with their spouses. The defeated Petruchio ends up faking his own death to wring some sympathy from her, but Maria remains dauntless, reflecting "how far below a man, how far from reason" her late husband was. The corpse is so offended, he sits up in his coffin to protest! Tellingly, this is nowhere near as well known as Shrew - probably because it doesn't have the Shakespeare signature, but also because the idea of women rebelling against their husbands would be too controversial. Or something.
As a geeky, Shakespeare loving teen, I detested the play and the light it cast my idol in. The most disagreeable sequences - the echoing kiss, the sleep deprivation and destruction of property, Petruchio's ghastly speech where he gloats about his "reign" - lodged in my mind. I swore one day I would write such scenes from the woman's perspective. It wouldn't be slapstick but played in all its horror. The perpetrator wouldn't be a charismatic outlaw (as Petruchio is *still* played) but a contemptible misogynist. And it wouldn't end with the man triumphant and the woman lovestruck.
In The Artificial Wife, my Petruchio, Robert Percival, believes he can train a robot to fulfil his unhinged fantasy. He uses the tactics discussed above, reasoning that they work on animals, so why shouldn't they work on artificial intelligences? He believes he is in complete control of Summer and Elle, the two robots he has acquired.
He couldn't be more wrong.
April 24, 2018
Everything About The Artificial Wife You Probably Didn't Ask ...
Here's some trivia about The Artificial Wife, my latest book:
* It was inspired by the real life case of Thomas Day, an 18th century author who bought two little girls and tried to mould one of them into the woman of his dreams. Needless to say, he failed. Read Wendy Moore's cracking How to Create the Perfect Wife for further details.
* I started writing in June 2017 and finished in February 2018 - practically unheard of for me. What can I say? I was hooked on the story.
* Another incentive was that Salman Rushdie was also writing a book about robots. "I'm damned if he'll get his book out before mine!" I declared the moment I heard.
* It's set within the same universe as Love and Robotics, but with relatively few instances of overlap. The only character who prominently features in both books is the odious bent copper Captain Lucy; he is a major figure in Elle's backstory.
* It's set about a year before the trial scenes of Love and Robotics (Robert mentions Josh marrying Claire in passing), so it's approximately 2164.
* This means that the Robotics Code as previously established is still in effect. It goes without saying that over time Summer and Elle break every last rule.
* Princess Azita, the fairy tale that becomes so important to Summer and Elle, is of course a feminist lesbian retelling of the Scheherazade legend. I was so frustrated by her ending up with that murderous git of a Sultan, I rewrote it.
* The novel changed titles a few times before it became The Artificial Wife; in the story itself, it's the title of Robert's ridiculous treatise (though he claims it's metaphorical). Elle was called Colette originally.
* I did write a detailed plan, but as usual I went off piste and all sorts of weird stuff occurred. There are two major plot twists I hadn't initially anticipated, but now it feels like it couldn't have happened any other way.
* It was going to be written in third person, but ultimately I decided that having the main four characters take turns to narrate worked better. I hated writing Robert's sections and deliberately spent as little time in his psyche as possible.
* Found by Amber Run became the book's unofficial theme song.
* It was inspired by the real life case of Thomas Day, an 18th century author who bought two little girls and tried to mould one of them into the woman of his dreams. Needless to say, he failed. Read Wendy Moore's cracking How to Create the Perfect Wife for further details.
* I started writing in June 2017 and finished in February 2018 - practically unheard of for me. What can I say? I was hooked on the story.
* Another incentive was that Salman Rushdie was also writing a book about robots. "I'm damned if he'll get his book out before mine!" I declared the moment I heard.
* It's set within the same universe as Love and Robotics, but with relatively few instances of overlap. The only character who prominently features in both books is the odious bent copper Captain Lucy; he is a major figure in Elle's backstory.
* It's set about a year before the trial scenes of Love and Robotics (Robert mentions Josh marrying Claire in passing), so it's approximately 2164.
* This means that the Robotics Code as previously established is still in effect. It goes without saying that over time Summer and Elle break every last rule.
* Princess Azita, the fairy tale that becomes so important to Summer and Elle, is of course a feminist lesbian retelling of the Scheherazade legend. I was so frustrated by her ending up with that murderous git of a Sultan, I rewrote it.
* The novel changed titles a few times before it became The Artificial Wife; in the story itself, it's the title of Robert's ridiculous treatise (though he claims it's metaphorical). Elle was called Colette originally.
* I did write a detailed plan, but as usual I went off piste and all sorts of weird stuff occurred. There are two major plot twists I hadn't initially anticipated, but now it feels like it couldn't have happened any other way.
* It was going to be written in third person, but ultimately I decided that having the main four characters take turns to narrate worked better. I hated writing Robert's sections and deliberately spent as little time in his psyche as possible.
* Found by Amber Run became the book's unofficial theme song.
April 22, 2018
Frankenbro
I've been busy on the book front recently. Give me a day or two to proofread/polish, and my short story Frankenbro will be on the shelves!
As well as being an update of Frankenstein, it's an examination of toxic bro culture and how university isn't always the best time of your life.
"There's definitely something weird about Alex and Seb's corridor mate at Radcliffe University. Victor Frankenstein barely speaks, his room stinks and he keeps brains in jars.
Needless to say, this behaviour doesn't go unnoticed. Dan Mainwaring, alpha dudebro, will find out what Victor's up to if it's the last thing he does ...
Frankenbro takes Mary Shelley's classic tale and transports it to a modern day campus."
As well as being an update of Frankenstein, it's an examination of toxic bro culture and how university isn't always the best time of your life.
"There's definitely something weird about Alex and Seb's corridor mate at Radcliffe University. Victor Frankenstein barely speaks, his room stinks and he keeps brains in jars.
Needless to say, this behaviour doesn't go unnoticed. Dan Mainwaring, alpha dudebro, will find out what Victor's up to if it's the last thing he does ...
Frankenbro takes Mary Shelley's classic tale and transports it to a modern day campus."
April 5, 2018
Publication of The Artificial Wife
I'm delighted to announce that my new novel The Artificial Wife has been published on Amazon! A sci fi lesbian romance, it's set in the same world as Love and Robotics.
Summer has been coached to be the perfect wife. When she is sold to the self centred, bullying Robert, she thinks her life is over.
Former prostitute Elle has lost everything in a short space of time. Robert seems to offer her a way out.
Two robot women from drastically different worlds, brought together by the same man. In these unlikely circumstances, true love can grow.
Summer has been coached to be the perfect wife. When she is sold to the self centred, bullying Robert, she thinks her life is over.
Former prostitute Elle has lost everything in a short space of time. Robert seems to offer her a way out.
Two robot women from drastically different worlds, brought together by the same man. In these unlikely circumstances, true love can grow.
March 20, 2018
Making the Perfect Wife
The notion of the ideal woman has been around since time immemorial. According to legend, Eve was only Adam's third wife. Having ditched the feisty, feminist Lilith, he nagged God for a replacement, but recoiled at the woman He fashioned out of clay. He wasn't happy until model number 3, taken from his spare rib - perhaps a comment on the egotism of such desires?
Equally old, and probably as influential, is the story of Pygmalion. It stars yet another dissatisfied man, who is disgusted by the frivolity and loose morals of the women around him. He decides to sculpt a statue of the perfect woman - and, not at all creepily or fetishistically - falls in love with his own creation. He gets his wish, though I must say I prefer versions where Galatea ends up cold, aloof and passionless. Just like him, in other words.
With myths like these swirling in the collective psyche, it's no surprise that the concept of a man with a robot spouse has charged imaginations. Why endure the flighty, illogical behaviour of ordinary women if you can design one to your exact specifications? Someone who will love you unconditionally and live to serve you?
The plot line can pop up in the oddest places. Sonic's nemesis Robotnik builds himself a wife called Omletta, since "a match made in heaven is nothing compared to a match made in the lab!" (Wife building is apparently one of the mandatory classes at Mad Scientist School). Robots made semi regular appearances on Buffy, but by far the most disturbing arc was that of Warren, a chauvinistic nerd who could create robots indistinguishable from real women. In his first episode he'd dumped April, a perky but homicidal gynoid who was literally made to love him. He'd found a human girlfriend and wanted to forget her, but the lovelorn bot pursued him and hurt anyone who stood in her way. Two of her features point up the preoccupations of men like Warren: she has a bank full of sex positions, but also a pain implant in case she disobeys him. Yuck.
Of course the best known instance in popular culture is The Stepford Wives, a treatment so iconic that many people don't realise it's meant to be a twist. Heroine Miranda is appalled by her impossibly glamorous, domestically minded neighbours, and works hard to uncover the conspiracy at the town's heart. The 'Stepford look' - 1950s print dresses - was achieved by accident; the original plan was to have the wives dressed like Playboy Bunnies. Quite aside from making it look like a cheap sexploitation movie, it would have robbed the franchise of its most powerful metaphor. What could be more terrifying than turning the clock back and reducing women to smiling, uncomplaining drudgery?
Equally old, and probably as influential, is the story of Pygmalion. It stars yet another dissatisfied man, who is disgusted by the frivolity and loose morals of the women around him. He decides to sculpt a statue of the perfect woman - and, not at all creepily or fetishistically - falls in love with his own creation. He gets his wish, though I must say I prefer versions where Galatea ends up cold, aloof and passionless. Just like him, in other words.
With myths like these swirling in the collective psyche, it's no surprise that the concept of a man with a robot spouse has charged imaginations. Why endure the flighty, illogical behaviour of ordinary women if you can design one to your exact specifications? Someone who will love you unconditionally and live to serve you?
The plot line can pop up in the oddest places. Sonic's nemesis Robotnik builds himself a wife called Omletta, since "a match made in heaven is nothing compared to a match made in the lab!" (Wife building is apparently one of the mandatory classes at Mad Scientist School). Robots made semi regular appearances on Buffy, but by far the most disturbing arc was that of Warren, a chauvinistic nerd who could create robots indistinguishable from real women. In his first episode he'd dumped April, a perky but homicidal gynoid who was literally made to love him. He'd found a human girlfriend and wanted to forget her, but the lovelorn bot pursued him and hurt anyone who stood in her way. Two of her features point up the preoccupations of men like Warren: she has a bank full of sex positions, but also a pain implant in case she disobeys him. Yuck.
Of course the best known instance in popular culture is The Stepford Wives, a treatment so iconic that many people don't realise it's meant to be a twist. Heroine Miranda is appalled by her impossibly glamorous, domestically minded neighbours, and works hard to uncover the conspiracy at the town's heart. The 'Stepford look' - 1950s print dresses - was achieved by accident; the original plan was to have the wives dressed like Playboy Bunnies. Quite aside from making it look like a cheap sexploitation movie, it would have robbed the franchise of its most powerful metaphor. What could be more terrifying than turning the clock back and reducing women to smiling, uncomplaining drudgery?
March 18, 2018
Love and Robotics: Free Promo
#TheArtificialWife will be released soon. From Monday 19th March to Friday 23rd March you'll be able to download #LoveAndRobotics - the first novel set in this universe - for free.
The Centre for Experimental Robotics has just unveiled Josh, its most advanced artificial human yet. Josh is supposed to serve as the company's mouthpiece and restore the country's faith in robotics - but he doesn't really want to play ball.
His first task is to get Alfred Wilding, the founder's brother, on side. Alfred is famously robophobic, difficult and won't speak to the press. Yet somehow a relationship blossoms between Josh and Alfred - friendship, then possibly more. How can their love survive in a hostile world?Love and Robotics
The Centre for Experimental Robotics has just unveiled Josh, its most advanced artificial human yet. Josh is supposed to serve as the company's mouthpiece and restore the country's faith in robotics - but he doesn't really want to play ball.
His first task is to get Alfred Wilding, the founder's brother, on side. Alfred is famously robophobic, difficult and won't speak to the press. Yet somehow a relationship blossoms between Josh and Alfred - friendship, then possibly more. How can their love survive in a hostile world?Love and Robotics
March 15, 2018
How To Write Women
Women are enigmatic, as everyone knows. Writers throughout the ages have sought to capture their elusive allure, be it Shakespeare or Martin Amis. Why not walk in the footsteps of genii and employ these evergreen conventions?
Dress To Impress
A women's outfit speaks volumes about her personality and backstory. She isn't wearing those tailored jeans because they were the last clean thing before laundry day. Each accessory, however minor, is a code the protagonist has to crack.
Hats and scarves are a must, to accentuate her flowing tresses (see below). Jewellery too - it highlights her femininity, and if she has a habit of toying with her necklace or bangles, it's adorable. Dresses and skirts are preferable, although trousers are a convenient way to signify how unaware she is of her remarkable beauty.
And if she wears a cashmere sweater in a striking colour - say, pea green or mauve - you will fall in love with her instantly.
The Body Beautiful
If the average body is a temple, your female lead's is the Taj Mahal. She is ideally average height, so the protagonist doesn't throw his back out draping an arm around her, and his masculinity is unthreatened. If she is unusually tall, use descriptors such as "Amazonian" and "statuesque," but make it clear she is still considered attractive despite this unfortunate departure from the norm.
Her figure is extremely important, and must always be displayed to its best advantage. Skinny women are passé - in order to make her appeal to your typical female reader, make her voluptuous, curvaceous and buxom. In other words, a size 10.
Her breasts are also a crucial piece of characterisation. There is nothing erotic about non existent breasts, you're writing about a fully grown woman, but nor do you wish to alienate with outsize dirigibles. Give her "average but perfectly formed" breasts that she thinks about often, to reinforce that you really walk in the shoes of your characters. Her sweaters cling to them, your protagonist brings them to life with his skilful caresses. They must be glimpsed in a mirror at least once.
Her Crowning Glory
Selecting your heroine's hair colour and type is one of the most critical choices you will ever make. How else can you bring a female character to life?
Blondes have fallen out of favour, although it still betokens a wide eyed ingenue or (if dyed) a woman of negotiable virtue. If you want to show that a female character has intelligence and depth, make her a brunette. Red hair has enjoyed a surge in popularity in recent years, although it's best reserved for wacky first loves who play the banjo.
Her hair should be almost another character, telegraphing her moods. It billows behind her, falls into her eyes, gets tangled during the passionate lovemaking in Chapters 7, 8 and 9. If she has a hair cut, this should be treated as a matter of great moment. How will the protagonist even recognise her without her sun kissed locks?
Personality
You should show occasional flashes of character and interests - she's a struggling artist, she loves cats, she's teaching herself Spanish - but ultimately she is there to love, support and nurture the hero. When she isn't hounding him or breaking his heart.
***
Better still, ask a woman.
Dress To Impress
A women's outfit speaks volumes about her personality and backstory. She isn't wearing those tailored jeans because they were the last clean thing before laundry day. Each accessory, however minor, is a code the protagonist has to crack.
Hats and scarves are a must, to accentuate her flowing tresses (see below). Jewellery too - it highlights her femininity, and if she has a habit of toying with her necklace or bangles, it's adorable. Dresses and skirts are preferable, although trousers are a convenient way to signify how unaware she is of her remarkable beauty.
And if she wears a cashmere sweater in a striking colour - say, pea green or mauve - you will fall in love with her instantly.
The Body Beautiful
If the average body is a temple, your female lead's is the Taj Mahal. She is ideally average height, so the protagonist doesn't throw his back out draping an arm around her, and his masculinity is unthreatened. If she is unusually tall, use descriptors such as "Amazonian" and "statuesque," but make it clear she is still considered attractive despite this unfortunate departure from the norm.
Her figure is extremely important, and must always be displayed to its best advantage. Skinny women are passé - in order to make her appeal to your typical female reader, make her voluptuous, curvaceous and buxom. In other words, a size 10.
Her breasts are also a crucial piece of characterisation. There is nothing erotic about non existent breasts, you're writing about a fully grown woman, but nor do you wish to alienate with outsize dirigibles. Give her "average but perfectly formed" breasts that she thinks about often, to reinforce that you really walk in the shoes of your characters. Her sweaters cling to them, your protagonist brings them to life with his skilful caresses. They must be glimpsed in a mirror at least once.
Her Crowning Glory
Selecting your heroine's hair colour and type is one of the most critical choices you will ever make. How else can you bring a female character to life?
Blondes have fallen out of favour, although it still betokens a wide eyed ingenue or (if dyed) a woman of negotiable virtue. If you want to show that a female character has intelligence and depth, make her a brunette. Red hair has enjoyed a surge in popularity in recent years, although it's best reserved for wacky first loves who play the banjo.
Her hair should be almost another character, telegraphing her moods. It billows behind her, falls into her eyes, gets tangled during the passionate lovemaking in Chapters 7, 8 and 9. If she has a hair cut, this should be treated as a matter of great moment. How will the protagonist even recognise her without her sun kissed locks?
Personality
You should show occasional flashes of character and interests - she's a struggling artist, she loves cats, she's teaching herself Spanish - but ultimately she is there to love, support and nurture the hero. When she isn't hounding him or breaking his heart.
***
Better still, ask a woman.
March 12, 2018
The Artificial Wife and the Men's Rights Movement
When I started to write The Artificial Wife, I asked myself, "What kind of person would buy or build themselves a robot partner?" Love and Robotics had gone with the best case scenario - a human befriending and eventually falling for an AI. This time I examined the dark flipside: people who deliberately procure powerless partners they can treat however they wish. Naturally, this led me to the Men's Rights movement.
There are numerous men's issues that can and should be addressed. The ruinous effects of toxic masculinity. Male rape and domestic violence. Scholastic underachievement, mental health problems and suicide. The trouble is, Men's Rights Activists, despite their name, are not remotely interested in these topics.
The best known website, A Voice For Men, makes this abundantly clear in their mission statement. It harangues women in general and feminists in particular, with no mention of how men can look after themselves and each other. As far as these men are concerned, a woman's role is to provide sustenance and sex on tap. At the same time they believe a vast feminist cabal is secretly in charge of society. The paranoia and doublethink is extraordinary.
Contrary to racist and classist assumptions, the majority of MRAs are white middle class heterosexual men - in other words, beneficiaries of the male privilege they are at great pains to deny. A metaphor commonly employed by them is the 'Red Pill' from The Matrix - that now they've discovered Men's Rights, they see the world as it truly is. (Yes, the favourite analogy of a misogynistic hate group was created by two trans women. Irony!)
It'd be tempting to dismiss this as a purely modern phenomenon, flourishing on the internet (or "manosphere" as their hinterland is known). In fact men's rights movements have existed since the interwar years, to (in the founder's phrase), "combat all excesses of women's emancipation." They claimed that women's autonomy threatened social and legal institutions and would destroy the natural, patriarchal order of things. All the internet has done is give members the means to promote their ideas to a wider audience.
In The Artificial Wife, Robert befriends a hidden community of robot owners on the Storm (their version of the web), and turns to them for advice regarding his own experiment. Some of their views are too extreme even for him; others he adopts without a second thought. Although some are your stereotypical scuzzy basement dweller, others are in the upper echelons of society. Not all monsters come with horns and tails.
There are numerous men's issues that can and should be addressed. The ruinous effects of toxic masculinity. Male rape and domestic violence. Scholastic underachievement, mental health problems and suicide. The trouble is, Men's Rights Activists, despite their name, are not remotely interested in these topics.
The best known website, A Voice For Men, makes this abundantly clear in their mission statement. It harangues women in general and feminists in particular, with no mention of how men can look after themselves and each other. As far as these men are concerned, a woman's role is to provide sustenance and sex on tap. At the same time they believe a vast feminist cabal is secretly in charge of society. The paranoia and doublethink is extraordinary.
Contrary to racist and classist assumptions, the majority of MRAs are white middle class heterosexual men - in other words, beneficiaries of the male privilege they are at great pains to deny. A metaphor commonly employed by them is the 'Red Pill' from The Matrix - that now they've discovered Men's Rights, they see the world as it truly is. (Yes, the favourite analogy of a misogynistic hate group was created by two trans women. Irony!)
It'd be tempting to dismiss this as a purely modern phenomenon, flourishing on the internet (or "manosphere" as their hinterland is known). In fact men's rights movements have existed since the interwar years, to (in the founder's phrase), "combat all excesses of women's emancipation." They claimed that women's autonomy threatened social and legal institutions and would destroy the natural, patriarchal order of things. All the internet has done is give members the means to promote their ideas to a wider audience.
In The Artificial Wife, Robert befriends a hidden community of robot owners on the Storm (their version of the web), and turns to them for advice regarding his own experiment. Some of their views are too extreme even for him; others he adopts without a second thought. Although some are your stereotypical scuzzy basement dweller, others are in the upper echelons of society. Not all monsters come with horns and tails.
February 28, 2018
The Artificial Wife and #MeToo
I'm well aware that by releasing The Artificial Wife now, I'll look as though I'm jumping on the #MeToo bandwagon. In fact, when I started writing the story in June last year, it was the culmination of a personal rebellion.
I've always been a staunch feminist. I first became "woke" when I read The Handmaid's Tale as a teenager - it forced me to see that the world I lived in wasn't and couldn't be fair as long as men and women were at loggerheads.
It was appalling to learn that women had only been granted the vote within living memory, that they had been barred from being awarded degrees, that they were expected to give up work after they married. I'd already perceived that men and women were treated differently; this archaic baggage was presumably why. I felt as though Nature had played a dirty trick on me by making me female, and wondered why people didn't seem to be angry about it. I was furious.
This sense of injustice has remained with me. I've heard harrowing accounts of domestic abuse, where men have believed they own their partners body and soul. Rapes, harassment, catcalling - these are part of daily experience for women. Every girl and woman has a similar tale. Yet all too often it's dismissed, tidied away, ignored.
Two events galvanised me. The most significant, culturally speaking, was that President Trump was inaugurated, despite being a predator *by his own admission.* Never mind numerous women had accused him of sexual assault - this was somehow shrugged off. I don't think I've ever been as sickened and frightened as I was that day. The election result said to the women of the world: "It doesn't matter what men say and do. They can still aspire to be the most powerful person on earth - and you can do nothing to stop it."
Around the same time, I read Wendy Moore's How To Create the Perfect Wife. It introduced me to Thomas Day, the charmer discussed in my last blog. Although we'd like to think that we know better nowadays - that a strange man couldn't waltz in and buy two young girls simply because he was wealthy and privileged - the truth is we honestly don't know. Recent revelations have shown that once a man reaches a certain rank in society, he's untouchable. It's only now we're uncovering decades of abuse, in all walks of life.
I thought about transplanting Day's experiment to the modern day, but it felt too raw and unsubtle. By making his victims artificials, I'm saying: if you're upset by this happening to robots, why aren't you outraged when it happens to girls and women in real life?
I've always been a staunch feminist. I first became "woke" when I read The Handmaid's Tale as a teenager - it forced me to see that the world I lived in wasn't and couldn't be fair as long as men and women were at loggerheads.
It was appalling to learn that women had only been granted the vote within living memory, that they had been barred from being awarded degrees, that they were expected to give up work after they married. I'd already perceived that men and women were treated differently; this archaic baggage was presumably why. I felt as though Nature had played a dirty trick on me by making me female, and wondered why people didn't seem to be angry about it. I was furious.
This sense of injustice has remained with me. I've heard harrowing accounts of domestic abuse, where men have believed they own their partners body and soul. Rapes, harassment, catcalling - these are part of daily experience for women. Every girl and woman has a similar tale. Yet all too often it's dismissed, tidied away, ignored.
Two events galvanised me. The most significant, culturally speaking, was that President Trump was inaugurated, despite being a predator *by his own admission.* Never mind numerous women had accused him of sexual assault - this was somehow shrugged off. I don't think I've ever been as sickened and frightened as I was that day. The election result said to the women of the world: "It doesn't matter what men say and do. They can still aspire to be the most powerful person on earth - and you can do nothing to stop it."
Around the same time, I read Wendy Moore's How To Create the Perfect Wife. It introduced me to Thomas Day, the charmer discussed in my last blog. Although we'd like to think that we know better nowadays - that a strange man couldn't waltz in and buy two young girls simply because he was wealthy and privileged - the truth is we honestly don't know. Recent revelations have shown that once a man reaches a certain rank in society, he's untouchable. It's only now we're uncovering decades of abuse, in all walks of life.
I thought about transplanting Day's experiment to the modern day, but it felt too raw and unsubtle. By making his victims artificials, I'm saying: if you're upset by this happening to robots, why aren't you outraged when it happens to girls and women in real life?
