Comment:

Ah yes, the madonna/whore complex, first identified by Sigmund Freud, right up there with his Oedipus complex and penis envy. As with most things Freud observed, most agree that it was less an inherent feature of human consciousness and more an expression of the Western culture in which he found himself (in much the same way that people have argued Lord of the Flies is less a depiction of the inherent barbarism of man and more a depiction of British schoolchildren specifically).

Where do these complexes go, though, in a world so far removed from Freud's? Which elements of Lee's interaction with Zoa are driven by the inherent structures of brains and which are driven by the culture in which they were raised? Is it even meaningful to distinguish between the two?

In much the same way that Lee is well aware that Zoa cannot bear children, Lee is aware that Zoa's mouthsleeve is self-disinfecting and that no germs would be passed along from other clients. Emotions tend not to line up with reality, though, and I can understand being more likely to want to put your mouth on something that you've just seen be sanitized.

Men have valued virginal exclusivity since the dawn of patriarchy, for reasons it would be hard to argue are not biological. Even today, virginity and the losing thereof is fraught with psychological weight, even in LGBTQ+ communities that should, in theory, know better. That's the trouble with both instinct and training, with both nature and nurture - knowing the source of your feelings doesn't make the feeling go away.

Lee wants to kiss Zoa on the mouth, and feels that kissing on the mouth is important.

That's all we know, that's all we really can know.

We'll see whether or not it's actually important soon enough.

Transcript:

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0362– 2167/07/07/11:15- sidewalk
Zoa: You want to buy me a present.
LC: I… I want to be helpful to you, Zoa.
LC: I like what you are and I like how you talk and I want the universe to have you in it for as long as possible.
LC: I mean, I tried to pay you a kilocred to shake my hand, I think we can both agree that I don’t actually need my hand shook that badly.
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Zoa: But you won’t just pay me to suck your dick, the thing I’ve been actively advertising at you for forty-one hours and twelve minutes now. You’ll do everything but that.
LC: …yeah.
Zoa: Is that because you don’t want your dick sucked, or because you have some emotional need to get me to do it for free?
LC: I… I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.
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Zoa: Hey, no feelin’ bad on my account, Lee. I’m just a pretty little madonna/whore/tool thing. I do everything from cuddling to managing your school schedule to getting my ass kicked. I may attempt to engender sympathy, but the one thing I’m not supposed to do is make you feel bad. It is against both my design document and my terms of service.
LC: Can… can I buy something from you, then?
Zoa: Name it.
LC: …can I kiss you?
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Zoa: Do you want to kiss me now because you just had a weird breastfeeding mommy-and/or-sexy emotional moment with me under this tree, or because you just watched me wash out my mouthsleeve with soap and warm water so you can finally pretend to yourself that it’s never had a stranger’s dick in it?
LC: ...I’m capable of pretending two things.
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