Automated Femininity
2023
This work was awarded the Bourse Ville de Genève BLCG Arts Appliqués 2023
During the XVIII and XIX centuries, the vibrations produced by mechanical devices and industrial processes, result of the recent industrial revolution, became a great worry for the European medical community. Doctors and physicians believed those vibrations could harm the human nervous system, notably for those with nerve sensitivity. Female nerves, and ones of those treated to be effeminate men, were considered delicate and more likely to be sensitive to the stimuli of the external world, including sound and vibratory inputs.
One of the most feared ef-fects of vibrations on the body was the potential induction of masturbation by sexual arousal.
Masturbation was seen by the medical community as a threat to the individual and also as a threat to values that grounded modern societies, such as the nuclear family, the reproduction capacity, and the established heteronormativity. The practice of masturbation was diagnosed as onanism or self-pollution, believed to be one of the most powerful triggers for homosexuality and hysteria in young boys and women of all ages. The pathologization of sexuality and desires is one of the clearest examples of the effect of Foucault’s biopower and the moral bias that drenched the medical field at the time.
One of the most feared ef-fects of vibrations on the body was the potential induction of masturbation by sexual arousal.
Masturbation was seen by the medical community as a threat to the individual and also as a threat to values that grounded modern societies, such as the nuclear family, the reproduction capacity, and the established heteronormativity. The practice of masturbation was diagnosed as onanism or self-pollution, believed to be one of the most powerful triggers for homosexuality and hysteria in young boys and women of all ages. The pathologization of sexuality and desires is one of the clearest examples of the effect of Foucault’s biopower and the moral bias that drenched the medical field at the time.
The railway, bicycle, and sewing machines were objects and practices that became very popular in medical literature for producing vibrations and transmitting them to the human body through vulnerable contact points. They were also symbols of progress and freedom associated with the image of the new woman, granting them mobility and emancipation.
The three seats that compose this exhibition are inspired by three frequently quoted objects from the medical literature.
The sound that activates the vibration under each of them are modified recording of a voice reading the original text from narrative and medical literature in which these three objects are problematized
Equally feared and desired, the connection between femininity and electricity, or mechanized technology, generated an imaginary of women as an electrical force in need of surveillance, almost like a witch or goddess, both lethal and seductive.
The three seats that compose this exhibition are inspired by three frequently quoted objects from the medical literature.
The sound that activates the vibration under each of them are modified recording of a voice reading the original text from narrative and medical literature in which these three objects are problematized
Feminine identities using automated technologies carried a strong sexual connotation, making them seem utterly unpredictable and out of control.
Equally feared and desired, the connection between femininity and electricity, or mechanized technology, generated an imaginary of women as an electrical force in need of surveillance, almost like a witch or goddess, both lethal and seductive.
Image Credits: Pau Saiz Soler, 2023