Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace and Care Laborer. 2024

Like many others performing care tasks in the workplace, this robot carries the weight of dismissive language of those devaluing its crucial role of maintaining others’ humanity. Luckily it also has been programmed to translate toxic words into their affirming and value conferring counterparts. The dismissive words were mostly taken from real world examples gathered via interviews from human contributors, as spoken by colleagues to women and non-binary tech workers. The bridal aesthetics reference both the gendered expectation of who is considered by default responsible for care in the workplace, and the tradition of haute couture shows culminating in a wedding dress.

It was shown in “The Workwear of Tomorrow” a robot fashion show curated by Natalie Friedman, Phd

“The theme of this robot fashion show is Challenging Gender Roles through Robot Workwear. Robots can wear clothes to better fit into new contexts and adapt to new tasks. We must be thoughtful about how we dress robots, as we are now setting a precedent for the future of robot dress. While human bodies are gendered, robots are inherently not. With a new form embodying a social actor, we have the opportunity to challenge previous assumptions about gender through dressing robots. This call for artists creates an opportunity to consider gender when dressing a robot and challenge norms. These artists have considered many types of labor—physical labor, industrial labor, domestic labor, and emotional labor. Each piece in the exhibition reflects a unique perspective on the roles and gendered expectations placed on individuals in various contexts, all while promoting sustainable practices in art and design.”