In Sex Dolls at Sea, Dr. Ruberg explores the origin story of the sex doll, investigating its cultural implications and considering who has been marginalized and who has been privileged in the historical narrative.
Interrogating the sailor sex doll origin story, Dr. Ruberg finds beneath the surface a web of issues relating to gender, sexuality, race, and colonialism. What has been lost in the history of the sex doll and other sex tech, Dr. Ruberg tells us, are the stories of the sex workers, women, queer people, and people of colour whose lives have been bound up with these technologies.
We invite you to join us to celebrate the launch of Dr. Ruberg’s new book and learn a little more about Sex Dolls at Sea.
Event Details:
Date: March 15, 2023
Time: 6-8:00 pm,
reception – reading by the author – book signing
Place: The Centre for Culture and Technology (The Coach House)
39 Queen’s Park Crescent East Toronto, ON
M5S 2C3
Register Here
Copies of Dr. Ruberg’s new book will be available for sale and signing at the event.
This event is co-hosted by the Centre for Culture and Technology and the Knowledge Media Design Institute.
Bo Ruberg, Ph.D. is an associate professor in the Department of Film & Media Studies and an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine. They are the author of Sex Dolls at Sea: Imagined Histories of Sexual Technologies (MIT Press, 2022), The Queer Games Avant-Garde: How LGBTQ Game Makers Are Reimagining the Medium of Video Games (Duke University Press 2020), and Video Games Have Always Been Queer (New York University Press, 2019). Dr. Ruberg is also the incoming co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, the premier peer-reviewed journal in the field of media studies. They are also the co-editor of two edited volumes, Live Streaming Culture (MIT Press, 2023) and Queer Game Studies (University of Minnesota Press, 2017), as well as numerous journal special issues.
Please note the following Accessibility considerations at the Centre for Culture and Technology:
- There is a small step to enter the building.
- The washroom is located on second floor, stair access only.
- The closest accessible washroom is located at Kelly Library, a 5 minute walk from the Centre.