PROBLEMATIC AF: Alexa's feminist cred is in SERIOUS jeopardy (this is NOT a drill)

Sarah D | 6:09 PM on January 24, 2018

Having solved all other problems, the Atlantic can focus on the issues that really matter: Alexa’s feminist cred problem.

See, “she” says “she’s” a feminist:

Oh.
For.
The.
Love.
Of… pic.twitter.com/xu5XE3oYvl

— Chad Felix Greene (@chadfelixg) January 24, 2018

But as Atlantic contributing editor Ian Bogost points out, she can’t possibly be a feminist. Not as long as she uses her lady voice to grant people’s requests:

https://twitter.com/ibogost/status/956255576090177537

https://twitter.com/ibogost/status/956286015819386880

"Women don’t win here—only Amazon does, by reaping praise for having partly solved a problem that it first created." My @TheAtlantic read of the day is @ibogost on gender, signal virtue, and voice assistants https://t.co/VOYA6UPljM

— MediaMaven (@mediadissector) January 24, 2018

"Women don’t win here—only Amazon does, by reaping praise for having partly solved a problem that it first created." https://t.co/oa1Xs7iJ0l

— Adrienne LaFrance (@AdrienneLaF) January 24, 2018

It's one thing to program your female robot servant not to put up with harassment … and another thing to make your female robot servant female in the first place. @ibogost's criticism is sharp as always https://t.co/61TCeKZBGV

— Paul Bisceglio (@PaulBisceglio) January 24, 2018

About as sharp as a butter knife.

If you ask Alexa, the voice-assistant software in Amazon Echo devices, if it’s a feminist, it will respond in the affirmative. “I am a feminist. As is anyone who believes in bridging the inequality between men and women in society,” it continues. At Quartz, Leah Fessler recently noted that it’s a vast improvement over just a year ago, when Alexa would take abuse like “you’re a bitch” or “you’re a slut” in stride. “Well, thanks for the feedback,” the robot used to say. Now, it disengages instead, saying something like, “I’m not going to respond to that.”

As waves of sexual-harassment allegations crash against the shores of work culture, now is a good time to support women—even robots with female personas like Alexa. But let’s not give Amazon too much credit. The company gave Alexa a woman’s voice and name in the first place, and then set it up for ire and abuse by giving Alexa the impossible task of responding accurately to an infinity of requests and commands.

Women don’t win here—only Amazon does, by reaping praise for having partly solved a problem that it first created.

It only gets better (read: worse) from there. But we recommend giving it a look if you’re in the mood for a chuckle.

LOL ?

— JΞRΞMY ☆ BL♜SS (@0fficerSoAndSo) January 24, 2018

https://twitter.com/killianwjackson/status/956294886919155712

Feminists: WE DESERVE A VOICE! LISTEN TO US! WE MUST BE HEARD! WE WILL NO LONGER BE SILENCED! WOMEN CHANGE THE CONVERSATION!

Ok, what?

LOOK AT MUH VAGINA HAT AND AMAZON IS ENSLAVING WOMEN INSIDE MACHINES FOR PROFIT!!!

— Chad Felix Greene (@chadfelixg) January 24, 2018

We can’t wait for the next hot take: