The Boy-O-Matic

Last week, Will told me that he wanted to build a machine that would get him out of bed in the morning, get him dressed and make him breakfast. He wanted to call it the Boy-O-Matic. Probably because of the gendered name, it make me think about these types of machines in movies and the fact that they are always for men (usually eccentric bachelor- or widower-type men). There's the famous breakfast machine for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Wallace & Gromit's alarm clock/dressing/breakfast machine, one in Calvin and Hobbes, Back to the Future and several I've never seen in Flubber, Brazil, Honey I Shrunk The Kids, The Great Mouse Detective, and Waiting. As often as not, we see them malfunction (and never really quite function). I guess the joy is all in the tinkering.
But I tried to think about any female character who wanted, created or used something like this, and I couldn't come up with anyone. The closest thing I could think of was Cher in Clueless with her computer software to design and select her outfits for her. So I'm wondering why getting ready in the morning is seen as such an arduous task by the male half of the population. And why women, who do these things not only for themselves, but also for family, don't express the same need to get out of the rut and assign the task to someone or something else.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I have a machine to do dishes for me and ones to wash and dry my laundry. And a battery-operated swing to rock my baby for me when my arms start to give out. Does that count? :)

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