Mechanophilia

Maria from the film Metropolis, on display at the Robot Hall of Fame

Mechanophilia (or Mechaphilia)[1] is a paraphilia involving a sexual attraction to machines such as bicycles,[2] motor vehicles,[3] helicopters[4] and aeroplanes.[5]

This is treated as a crime in some nations, such as the United Kingdom,[2] with perpetrators being placed on a sex-offenders' register after prosecution.[6] Motorcycles are often portrayed as sexualized fetish objects to those who desire them.[7]

Art, culture and design

Mechanophilia has been used to describe important works of the early modernists, including in the Eccentric Manifesto (1922),[8] written by Leonid Trauberg, Sergei Yutkevich, Grigori Kozintsev and others[9][10]  members of the Factory of the Eccentric Actor, a modernist avant-garde movement that spanned Russian futurism and constructivism.

The term has entered into the realms of science fiction and popular fiction.[11]

Scientifically, in Biophilia  The Human Bond with Other Species by Edward O. Wilson, Wilson is quoted describing mechanophilia, the love of machines, as "a special case of biophilia",[12] whereas psychologists such as Erich Fromm would see it as a form of necrophilia.[13]

Designers such as Francis Picabia and Filippo Tommaso Marinetti have been said to have exploited the sexual attraction of automobiles.[14]

Culturally, critics have described it as an "all pervading" within contemporary Western society and that is seems to overwhelm our society and all too often our better judgement".[15] Although not all such uses are sexual in intent, the terms are also used for specifically erotogenic fixation on machinery[16] and taken to its extreme in hard core pornography as Fucking Machines.[17] This mainly involves women being sexually penetrated by machines for male consumption,[18] which are seen as being the limits of current sexual biopolitics.[19]

Arse Elektronika, an annual conference organized by the Austrian arts-and-philosophy collective monochrom, has propagated a DIY/feminist approach to sex machines.[20]

Authors have drawn a connection between mechanophilia and masculine militarisation, citing the works of animator Yasuo Ōtsuka and Studio Ghibli.[21]

In 2008, an American named Edward Smith admitted to 'having sex' with 1000 cars.[22][23]

In 2013, a British man was caught for having sex with his Land Rover in public.[24]

Documentaries

See also

References

  1. Ceilán, Cynthia (2008). Weirdly Beloved  Tales of Strange Bedfellows, Odd Couplings, and Love Gone Bad. Guilford, Connecticut: Lyons Press. ISBN 978-1-59921-403-0.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Alleyne, Richard (26 October 2007). "Man Who Had Sex with Bike in Court". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  3. Staff (21 May 2008). "Man Admits Having Sex with 1,000 Cars  A Man Who Claims To Have Had Sex with 1,000 Cars Has Defended His 'Romantic' Feelings Towards Vehicles". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  4. Browne, Ray Broadus (c. 1981). Objects of Special Devotion  Fetishism in Popular Culture. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press. ISBN 978-0-87972-191-6.
  5. Hickey, Eric W. (2005). Sex Crimes and Paraphilia. Prentice Hall. p. 91. ISBN 0-13-170350-1.
  6. Thompson, Steven L. (January 2000). "The Arts of the Motorcycle: Biology, Culture, and Aesthetics in Technological Choice". Technology and Culture. Volume 41, Number 1. pp. 99115.
  7. "Eccentric Manifesto". Koti.mbnet.fi. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
  8. Mishra, Michael (2008). A Shostakovich Companion. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. p. 446. ISBN 978-0-313-30503-0.
  9. Kolocotroni, Vassiliki; Goldman, Jane; Taxidou, Olga (1998). Modernism  An Anthology of Sources and Documents. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-45073-5.
  10. Broderick, Damien (2009). Unleashing the Strange  Twenty-First Century Science Fiction Literature, part of the I. O. Evans Studies in the Philosophy & Criticism of Literature, Number 47. San Bernardino, California: Borgo Press. ISBN 978-1-4344-5723-3.
  11. Castricano, Jodey (2008). Animal Subjects  An Ethical Reader in a Posthuman World, part of Cultural Studies, 8. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. ISBN 978-0-88920-512-3.
  12. Miller, Alan (1999). Environmental Problem Solving  Psychosocial Barriers to Adaptive Change, part of the Springer Series on Environmental Management. New York City: Springer. ISBN 978-0-387-98499-5.
  13. McDonagh, Deana; et al. (2004). Design and Emotion  The Experience of Everyday Things. London: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-30363-7.
  14. Heller, Steven; Meggs, Philip B. (2001). Texts on Type  Critical Writings on Typography. Allworth Press. ISBN 978-1-58115-082-7.
  15. Roberts, Mark S. (Autumn 1996). "Wired  Schreber as Machine, Technophobe, and Virtualist". TDR  The Drama Review. Vol. 40. No. 3. pp. 3146. ISSN 1054-2043. OCLC 485115324.
  16. Berger, Arthur Asa (1997). The Postmodern Presence  Readings on Postmodernism in American Culture and Society. Walnut Creek, California; London: AltaMira Press. ISBN 978-0-7619-8980-6.
  17. Bonik, M.; Schaale, A. (2005). The Naked Truth  Internet Eroticism. Institute of Network Culture. ISBN 978-90-78146-03-2
  18. Loza, Susana (October 2001). "Sampling (Hetero)sexuality  Diva-ness and Discipline in Electronic Dance Music". Popular Music. Cambridge University Press. Volume 20. Number 3. pp. 349357. ISSN 0261-1430. OCLC 486294262.
  19. "Arse Elektronika". Monochrom.at. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
  20. Lamarre, Thomas (2009). The Anime Machine  A Media Theory of Animation. Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-5154-2.
  21. "Man admits having sex with 1,000 cars". The Daily Telegraph. 2008-05-21. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  22. "Man had sex with 1000 cars". GoWeirdFacts. 2014-02-02.
  23. "Having sex with Land Rover". GoWeirdFacts. 2013-09-13.

Further reading