Robosexuals...

[Reply #40 on:]

You got me.  I think Random-Person speaks/writes english as a third or fourth language.

[Reply #41 on:]

Well, if you're going to use the fact that he was attracted to a woman disguised as a man as proof of heterosexuality, then I would bring your attention to the episode: "Put Your Head on my Shoulders." Wherein he was attracted to a man who was disguised (And I use the term very loosely considering the 5 o'clock shadow) as a woman. So if being attracted to a woman dressed as a man means heterosexuality, then being attracted to a man dressed in drag (Again poorly) must also indicate some homosexual tendencies. So, as I have said, though I don't remember if I said it here: "At the very least he's batting for both teams. I especially like the quote about "Desperasexual" Or however that was spelled.

[Reply #42 on:]

The point about that is that Zapp is an idiot and fell for the poor disguise. Do try to keep up.

[Reply #43 on:]

I can't believe this ROBOSEXUAL/INFINITY episode- WOW! I finally feel 'validated'. Being a ROBOSEXUAL makes me QUEER, but, I am a HETEROBOSEXUAL, so, technically I'm not GAY. However, ROBOTS have no 'gender', only 'form'. I am a FemBOT, and I prefer MaleBOTS because the parts FIT. :] But I'm still QUEER for ROBOTS, and PROUD OF IT!

ps: "Wombyn", as in WOMB. The "B" is silent.

[Reply #44 on:]

^ Methinks this person is weird.

[Reply #45 on:]

They are called 'manbots' for the record:

http://theinfosphere.org/Manbot

And don't kid yourself, Futurama was almost the creator of this trope:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RidiculouslyHumanRobots

[Reply #46 on:]

^ Methinks this person is weird.

I'm with you on this one; I have no idea what he/she/it is babbling about.

[Reply #47 on:]

What I don't understand about this concept, particularly in this week's episode was: How does one (in this case I'm really only talking about Amy and Bender) consumate? I mean, doesn't Bender weight a lot? Wouldn't he crush her? And what does he use anyway? I don't know the subject isn't foreign since it's Futurama but lack of explanation confused me.

[Reply #48 on:]

I believe they are both familiar with the love-making process i.e., Left, down, rotate 62 degrees, engage rotor.

[Reply #49 on:]

I can't believe this ROBOSEXUAL/INFINITY episode- WOW! I finally feel 'validated'. Being a ROBOSEXUAL makes me QUEER, but, I am a HETEROBOSEXUAL, so, technically I'm not GAY. However, ROBOTS have no 'gender', only 'form'. I am a FemBOT, and I prefer MaleBOTS because the parts FIT. :] But I'm still QUEER for ROBOTS, and PROUD OF IT!

ps: "Wombyn", as in WOMB. The "B" is silent.

1) It's woman with an "a".
2) I assume you're saying you're a woman and you like male robots. That's fine. But you're coming off as an immense wierdo mainly for the way in which you're saying it.
3) Just because there was previously no cartoon accepting your quirks are natural and healthy doesn't mean that you can't find validation. There are plenty of weirdos about.

4) You're not a fembot, you're an organic being. You're a hairy, oily goo wrapped in a t-shirt. Loving robots is one thing, thinking you *are* a robot is a mental deficiency. Seek professional psychiatric help immediately.

[Reply #50 on:]

Really good friendships can envelope different levels of intimacy so as to be misconstrued by other people despite their platonic nature. The individuals are highly comfortable with eachother to a point where the line is blurred but it can still exist.

[Reply #51 on:]

Tnuk is being sexist. Feministas spell Womyn with a Y so they don't have to have "man" in it. Personally I think its dumb but if they have to spell it more differenter to feel like equals then whatever.

Look I don't make up the rules. I just spout them arbitrarily.

[Reply #52 on:]

besides, everyone knows that for robot compatibility, gender is less important than whether you are metric or not.

[Reply #53 on:]

Tnuk is being sexist. Feministas spell Womyn with a Y so they don't have to have "man" in it.

I'm not being sexist, you shrew. The spelling of woman is what it is. Spelling words wrongly doesn't "empower" people, it just means that they've got shit for brains.

[Reply #54 on:]

besides, everyone knows that for robot compatibility, gender is less important than whether you are metric or not.

So uhm, measuresexual or something?

[Reply #55 on:]

Intentionally misspelling a word so that it doesn't have "man" in it seems a little sexist in itself, really...

[Reply #56 on:]

The word 'man' originally developed from a meaning of a person or a human (notice a familiar part of 'human'?), while the more appropriate term for an adult human male in Old English for instance was 'wer'.

The word 'woman' comes from Old English 'wif', which meant a woman (notice the similarities in 'wer' and 'wif') and 'mann'.  'Wif' later became a married woman and thus became 'wife'.  The combination of 'wif' and 'mann' (i.e. a human being) became 'woman' in modern English.

The argument that 'woman' is "subset" of 'man' is ridiculous.

[Reply #57 on:]

Tnuk is being sexist. Feministas spell Womyn with a Y so they don't have to have "man" in it.

I'm not being sexist, you shrew. The spelling of woman is what it is. Spelling words wrongly doesn't "empower" people, it just means that they've got shit for brains.

This is right out of the movie "P.C.U."

James Andrews: "See those women over there?"
Tom Lawrence:   "Yeah"
James Andrews: "Wrong.  Those aren't women... those are Womynists."

[Reply #58 on:]

I can't believe this ROBOSEXUAL/INFINITY episode- WOW! I finally feel 'validated'. Being a ROBOSEXUAL makes me QUEER, but, I am a HETEROBOSEXUAL, so, technically I'm not GAY. However, ROBOTS have no 'gender', only 'form'. I am a FemBOT, and I prefer MaleBOTS because the parts FIT. :] But I'm still QUEER for ROBOTS, and PROUD OF IT!

ps: "Wombyn", as in WOMB. The "B" is silent.

whoa, deja vu.

[Reply #59 on:]

Look, nobody is arguing about whether Zapp is retarded. (IE being fooled by diguises) But being aroused despite the gender of the costume is the point. And the fact that he was aroused by lee lemon proves it better than anything. Someone said he was attracted to the same things that he saw in Leela, but think of this. If someone is attracted to a woman, then would it be non-gay for him also to be aroused by that woman's twin brother? No, it would still be gay, despite the fact that there are similarities. So, in conclusion, Zapp is clearly bi, and overcompensating.

[Reply #60 on:]

I don't think he's bi; he's not attracted to dudes, he's just an idiot.  Here's some dialog from War Is the H Word:

[having just encountered Leela, who is pretending to be a male soldier]
Captain Zapp Brannigan: That young man fills me with hope. Plus some other emotions which are weird and deeply confusing.

[Reply #61 on:]

I'm not being sexist, you shrew. The spelling of woman is what it is. Spelling words wrongly doesn't "empower" people, it just means that they've got shit for brains.

You mean the two sexes aren't "womyn" and "myn"?

So, in conclusion, Zapp is clearly bi, and overcompensating.

It is quite obvious that Zapp is neither straight, gay, or bi. Rather, he is a repressed asexual, who as a result of growing up in an intolerant, sexually chauvinistic and blatantly misandrist society, feels obliged to not only engage in stereotypically "masculine" activities, such as captaining warships and fighting in space battles (something he might actually be good at if he really cared), but also to present an "alluring" or "sensual" front to the members of his species. Note who he chooses for his first officer: a non-human, someone who he can accept not being sexually attracted to. He feels guilty that he doesn't want to have sex with anybody, whether they be male or female, as a result puts on his unwittingly over-the-top façade in order that no one ever discover his terrible secret.

Oppressed by the intolerance of his race, which insists that he must be attracted to someone, Zapp buries himself in denial. He exaggerates in his role as captain, he promotes himself as a brilliant war hero so that the issue of his dysfunctional, culturally unacceptable orientation is never brought up. And yet, he is still unwittingly a victim of the popular mindset, still feeling that deep down inside, there is something drastically wrong with him, something he must be ashamed of. So he hits on women. Occasionally, he hits on men, although he disguises these attempts as "mistakes" -- a clear sign of his confusion and borderline schizophrenia concerning the matter.

Finally, he come across Leela. Curiously enough, Leela doesn't look entirely human, so Zapp feels slightly less guilty about not wanting to have sex with her. As a result of this, he attempts to seduce her, thinking that it won't be as awkward when he's not being continually distracted by thoughts of how he ought to be finding her exceedingly sexy, but doesn't. But he fails. Does anyone seriously think that he would break down in tears simply because a woman didn't want to have sex? Does anyone truly presume that he knew enough to manipulate Leela into bed in this manner? No, of course not. Leela's refusal isn't just her turning down a hopefully endurable night with the Zapper-- it's an outright reaffirmation of his flawed and maladjusted mindset.

Of course, they do end up having sex. Having been taken advantage of by the male-hating influences of his youth, he believes that now, should he say so, Leela will stay with him forever. She has to; he wouldn't be a "real" man if she didn't. He'd be a failure. Again. Why is this so hard for him? All he wants is for things to go the way society taught him things should go. Why was he cursed with this handicap? So he goes overboard on the masculinity again. He goes back to hitting on women and men, trying badly and failing. Whenever coming across Leela, even when only catching a brief whiff of her pheromones, he tries to win her back, convincing himself that only one more coax ought to swirl her into his waiting arms. He never truly wanted "Lee Lemon," he wanted the woman who "Lee Lemon" reminded him of. Hence his relief upon finding out that he was really Leela, meaning he wouldn't have to seduce somebody again.

And so the cycle continues ever onward, Zapp fighting bravely to overcome an aspect of himself that he need only introspect upon himself and accept. He's putting up a brave face and rather unbearable front to the world, but he's battling it out: pretending to be turned on when he knows he should be and making lousy innuendo when he thinks it makes sense. He's terrible at it, but rather that than let it be known what he truly is. He's a brave man... Someone whose suffering none of us can ever sincerely comprehend.

[Reply #62 on:]

I've been suspecting something like this for quite some time, but I couldn't find the words to adequately describe what I was thinking. Thank you Xanthor!

[Reply #63 on:]

So, in conclusion, Zapp is clearly bi, and overcompensating.

Your conclusion is bad, and you should feel bad. Zapp is quite obviously a hetrosexual male, who happens to be an idiot, and desperate to have sex with whatever he thinks is a woman. Zapp's fooled by crappy disguises all the time. Lee Lemon, the transsexual, Ensign Hu Man, the list keeps growing.

If Zapp were gay, there'd be a whole different persona there, and I don't think that the writers would bother to have him compensate.

Were he bi or omnizexual, he'd simply be a raging sexaholic and constantly be getting his dick jammed into people and things.

Will people just accept that not everybody is some kind of repressed homosexual, and that there are straight characters who occasionally do "gayish" things because of the Rule of Funny, which is of course one of the sacred concepts of Comedy.

In conclusion: Anybody who thinks Zapp is gay, bi, or anything other than straight is IMO a dunderhead and a nincompoop, possibly a nitwit, of the lowest order.

[Reply #64 on:]

I think the joke with Zapp liking Lee Lemon was that Zapp liked Leela no matter what she looked like. =D

[Reply #65 on:]

Anybody who thinks Zapp is gay, bi, or anything other than straight is IMO a dunderhead and a nincompoop, possibly a nitwit, of the lowest order.

Or maybe they were simply incorrect.

[Reply #66 on:]

So, in conclusion, Zapp is clearly bi, and overcompensating.

Your conclusion is bad, and you should feel bad. Zapp is quite obviously a hetrosexual male, who happens to be an idiot, and desperate to have sex with whatever he thinks is a woman. Zapp's fooled by crappy disguises all the time. Lee Lemon, the transsexual, Ensign Hu Man, the list keeps growing.

If Zapp were gay, there'd be a whole different persona there, and I don't think that the writers would bother to have him compensate.

Were he bi or omnizexual, he'd simply be a raging sexaholic and constantly be getting his dick jammed into people and things.

Will people just accept that not everybody is some kind of repressed homosexual, and that there are straight characters who occasionally do "gayish" things because of the Rule of Funny, which is of course one of the sacred concepts of Comedy.

In conclusion: Anybody who thinks Zapp is gay, bi, or anything other than straight is IMO a dunderhead and a nincompoop, possibly a nitwit, of the lowest order.

I love this post. I'm sick of this strange concept of labelling cartoon characters as gay that's cropped up. Eric Cartman gets it a lot on South Park forums, SpongeBob SquarePants gets it all the time (although it's understandable how people might think it with him), I can't cope with it going on with Futurama too.

[Reply #67 on:]

Yeah, but in Cartman's case it's pretty obvious he's a repressed homosexual who uses bullying to disguise feelings for other boys that he can't quite understand. Spongebob is just camp and extroverted. Easy to confuse with gay but very different.

Zapp? He's a loser. That's all there is to it.

[Reply #68 on:]

In conclusion: Anybody who thinks Zapp is gay, bi, or anything other than straight is IMO a dunderhead and a nincompoop, possibly a nitwit, of the lowest order.

I am not a nitwit.

[Reply #69 on:]

Awesome use of that smiley! Also... SpongeBob has a child with Patrick... the end.

[Reply #70 on:]

SpongeBob SquarePants is a sea sponge, and is therefore asexual by definition.

I find everyone's inclination to interpret nonexistent sexual motivations and overtones in everything to be quite disturbing.

[Reply #71 on:]

SpongeBob SquarePants is a sea sponge, and is therefore asexual by definition.

I find everyone's inclination to interpret nonexistent sexual motivations and overtones in everything to be quite disturbing.

Yet he has parents of the standard two genders...

...yet he reproduces by budding...

[spooky voice] It's a conuuuuuundruuuum!

[Reply #72 on:]

Of the two standard genders, not sexes. Obviously, he was originally born by budding from a singular parent, but when this parent later went on to divide in two, each half adopted a different set of completely arbitrary socially constructed roles.

[Reply #73 on:]

umm... i thought this was a Futurama forum...  also Xanfor, that was the most eloquently worded explaination for Zap that i have ever heard.  it almost made me cry... and i hate to ruin the statement, but... Zap Brannigan is a cartoon character... i highly doubt that the writers put as much thought as you did into the character... that said, i still like your explanation better...  

[Reply #74 on:]

Zapp is a desperasexual. He'll do it with anyone or anything that can stand being with him.

Cool word, and right on about Zapp!

Bender may be Tri-Sexual?
(Didn't he say in one ep that he'd pretty near 'Try' it with anything?)

[Reply #75 on:]

I think that was Amy.

[Reply #76 on:]

Of the two standard genders, not sexes.

Sexes is the correct term.  "Gender" is actually a grammatical term that is an attribute of certain words.  Languages such as German have their nouns fall into several genders, typically male, female and neuter, and the other words in the sentence that directly modify or connect to that noun need to match that gender to be grammatically correct.

I believe that the use of the word "gender" as applied to people was a Victorian euphemism created to avoid using the word "sex".

This ends the grammar nitpicking lesson.

[Reply #77 on:]

Actually gender and sex have a very particular meaning... at least in social sciences:

"In ordinary speech, it is used interchangeably with "sex" to denote the condition of being male or female. In the social sciences, however, it refers specifically to socially constructed and institutionalized differences such as gender roles." [wikipedia]

[Reply #78 on:]

"The historical meaning of gender is "things we treat differently because of their inherent differences"."

It does not originate from grammar talk.

[Reply #79 on:]

From http://www.skrause.org/webdesign/handson/secondpage.htm

What is noun gender?

To monolingual speakers of English the concept of noun gender may seem somewhat strange. After all, in English nouns are simply nouns; prefaced with either "the" or "a/an" on occasion. In many languges, however, nouns have what is called "gender" For example, in French and other Romance languages nouns can be either masculine or feminine. In German nouns can be one of three different genders: masculine (m), feminine (f) or neuter (n). Although a challenge, mastering German noun gender is important to the learning of German.

Biological vs. Grammatical Gender

While gender can refer to biological sex, it more generally refers to different categories of items. Many masculine items, such as men and boys have masculine gender, and similarly many feminine items, such as women, have feminine gender in German.

der Mann
der Junge
die Frau

However, many nouns, which would logically have either masculine or feminine gender in real life have neuter grammatical gender. For example, the German word for girl -- Mädchen -- has neuter gender. The reason for this is clear, as the word Mädchen is a combination of Magd (maid) and the diminutive suffix -chen (little), so that a girl is a little maid in German. Furthermore, all words ending in -chen are neuter, so Mädchen is neuter. Finally, all nouns have gender in German, even though there is nothing particularly "gendered" about the concept. Why should cheese be masculine and a leg neuter?

Gender is not universal across languages, either. Some words which are feminine in English are neuter or masculine in German, and some words which are masculine in German are feminine in other European languages. Let us consider the following examples:

das Schiff  (n)
the ship -- notice that we often refer to ships as feminine objects in English.

die Sonne (f)
the sun -- note that the "sun" is often masculine in other european languages, such as the Romance languages.

der Mond (m)
the moon -- the sun is feminine, and the moon is masculine in German, which is just the opposite of many European languages; compare with "la luna".

For this reason, one must memorize the gender of each noun when learning that noun. Luckily, the biological gender of an item (person or animal) usually agrees with its grammatical gender. Certain categories of nouns all have the same gender. For example, all nouns made from verb infinitives are neuter; all nouns ending in -heit, keit or -ung are feminine, etc. Finally, in a compound noun, the final part of the compound determines noun gender. So, since Haus is neuter, Rathaus, Kaufhaus, and Krankenhaus are also neuter.