Tanja Kubes

Technical University of Munich, Gender Studies, Technische Universität Berlin

Papers

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About

Tanja Kubes is a feminist scholar and sociologist whose work sits at the provocative intersection of gender studies, technology, and human-robot interaction. She is best known for her pioneering theoretical contributions to the emerging field of sex robotics, approaching this contentious subject through the lens of new materialist feminism rather than defaulting to conventional moral condemnation or uncritical enthusiasm. Her most influential work, "New Materialist Perspectives on Sex Robots" (2019), which has garnered 61 citations, challenges the dominant feminist narrative that frames sex robots purely as instruments of patriarchal oppression. Instead, Kubes argues for a more nuanced analysis that acknowledges both dystopian risks and genuine utopian possibilities. Her complementary piece on bypassing the uncanny valley further develops this framework, urging scholars to move beyond mimicry of pornographic stereotypes toward more imaginative and liberatory design philosophies. Beyond sex robotics, Kubes extends her relational thinking into broader questions of multi-species ontology, exploring how humans, technologies, and other entities co-constitute one another in dynamic assemblages. Her body of work has positioned her as a distinctive and intellectually courageous voice in feminist technology studies, encouraging scholars to engage critically but openly with deeply uncomfortable questions about desire, embodiment, and the future of intimacy.