The Stepford Wives

[Brugel]

Question inspired by the Stepford Wives: suppose that, in the future, robotics has been sufficiently developed and it has become possible to create robots who are virtually indistinguishable from humans. What percentage of men would be likely to leave their wives or girlfriends for a beautiful, sexually compliant and totally obedient female robot? (You may, if you prefer, consider variations of this question. For example, women leaving husbands for robots or exchanging the pet cat for an electronic moggy, and so on.)

[rjcb23]

100% (!)

[andy hughes]

I honestly woudn't - I have a tendency to behave badly (in minor ways!) and my wife keeps me on the straight and narrow.

[DOB]

Nah. I enjoy having a little row every now and then.

[Brugel]

Thanks. I suspect that the answer is "quite a lot" (presumably that's what the writer of the original book thought too). It seems to me that there is often a difference in the way that the sexes view one another: that women tend to look for a partner who is an equal (or better) in many respects whereas some men definitely don't want this. I'm not saying that all men would prefer a submissive partner but I think quite a few would- and in this respect they're different from women.

[johngammon]

I always thought this was the flaw in The Stepford Wives, since it's clear that men don't really want doormats. You only have to look at how many men leave perfectly wonderful homemaker wives to find a little excitement on the sly. If men could be happy with a robot, they probably wouldn't get married in the first place, just hire a housekeeper/cook and a subscription to their favourite stroke magazine... Also, men would be much keener on having children to carry on their line than they seem in the story.