The Cyborg Mermaid (or: How Technè Can Help the Misfits Fit In)

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

About the autistic author marker

Metadata sources used for this reference

OpenAlex Crossref BibTeX OpenCitations
Learn more about the sources used

Mussies, M. & Maliepaard, E. (2017). The Cyborg Mermaid (or: How Technè Can Help the Misfits Fit In). Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 1(1), 4. https://doi.org/10.3390/mti1010004

Publication date: 24 Feb 2017 Added to AutiHub: 26 Oct 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
2
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 2 (50.0%)
  1. Martine Mussies *
  2. Emiel Maliepaard

Abstract

In feminist studies, the figure of the mermaid has long been regarded as flawed, disabled and less-than-human. Her theoretical counterpart in that respect would be the cyborg, an image used to show that with the aid of robotics, humankind could be larger than life. What would happen if we could combine those two images and apply them to create “super love” more-than-human relationships? This article explores the possibilities of technology for “mermaids”, people who normally fall outside the norm, to satisfy human desires in a new way. Two case studies will be presented, first we will look at people who identify as having ASD (Autism Spectre Disorders) and second we explore the use of technology for people who have BDSM-oriented desires (related to Bondage and Discipline (B&D), Dominance and Submission (D&S), and Sadism and Masochism (S&M)). We briefly discuss the added value of practice theory for exploring how people are altered by technè.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 27 Oct 2026 01:01.

Cited references
51
With a DOI
19
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
32
1 / 51 (2.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
30 / 51 (58.8%)
References with detected author names
21 / 51 (41.2%)
Without detected author names
30
Without a structured title
30
Without a stable identifier
32
References with raw author names still to review
30
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
31
From DOI or external metadata
31
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
40
1 / 31 (3.2%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 30 / 31 (96.8%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
1 / 31 (3.2%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 1 / 1 (100.0%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 1 / 28 (3.6%).
  1. Peter-Paul Verbeek (2008). Cyborg intentionality: Rethinking the phenomenology of human–technology relations . Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 7(3), 387-395. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/s11097-008-9099-x OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1973462894
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  2. (n.d.). Poe, E. A. The Man That Was Used Up. Available online: http://librivox.org/the-works-of-edgar-allan-poe-raven-edition-volume-4-by-edgar-allan-poe/ .
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  3. Bruno Latour (2005). Reassembling the Social . Oxford University PressOxford.
    Type: Book DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199256044.001.0001 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4388174267
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  4. Gavin Brown (2008). Ceramics, clothing and other bodies: affective geographies of homoerotic cruising encounters . Social & Cultural Geography, 9(8), 915-932. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/14649360802441457 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1991534523
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  5. (n.d.). Clynes, M. E., and Kline, N. S. Cyborgs and Space. Available online: http://web.mit.edu/digitalapollo/Documents/Chapter1/cyborgs.pdf .
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  6. Tanya Bezreh , Thomas S. Weinberg , Timothy Edgar (2012). BDSM Disclosure and Stigma Management: Identifying Opportunities for Sex Education . American Journal of Sexuality Education, 7(1), 37-61. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/15546128.2012.650984 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2055800372
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  7. Joseph Michael Valente (2011). Cyborgization: Deaf Education for Young Children in the Cochlear Implantation Era . Qualitative Inquiry, 17(7), 639-652. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1177/1077800411414006 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2042527512
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  8. Buikema, R., and Van der Tuin, I. (2007). Gender in Media, Kunst en Cultuur, Coutinho.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  9. Theodore R. Schatzki (2002). The Site of the Social . Penn State University Press.
    Type: Book DOI: 10.5325/j.ctv1rnpjpt 10.1515/9780271023717
    OpenCitations
  10. Jonathan Murdoch (1997). Inhuman/Nonhuman/Human: Actor-Network Theory and the Prospects for a Nondualistic and Symmetrical Perspective on Nature and Society . Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 15(6), 731-756. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1068/d150731 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2044684906
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  11. Haraway, D. (1991). Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature, Routledge.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  12. Nigel Thrift (2008). Non-Representational Theory . Routledge.
    Type: Book DOI: 10.4324/9780203946565 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4302416401
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  13. Theodore R. Schatzki (2000). Wittgenstein and the social context of an individual life . History of the Human Sciences, 13(1), 93-107. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1177/09526950022120629 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2054503393
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  14. Lawrence Grossberg (1992). Cultural Studies . Routledge.
    Type: Book DOI: 10.4324/9780203988503 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4252813308
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  15. Andreas Reckwitz (2002). Toward a Theory of Social Practices . European Journal of Social Theory, 5(2), 243-263. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1177/13684310222225432 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2120969145
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  16. Kakoudaki, D. (2014). Anatomy of a Robot: Literature, Cinema, and the Cultural Work of Artificial People, Rutgers University Press.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  17. Joshua S. Bourdage , Kibeom Lee , Michael C. Ashton , Alissa Perry (2007). Big Five and HEXACO model personality correlates of sexuality . Personality and Individual Differences, 43(6), 1506-1516. Elsevier BV.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2007.04.008 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2089698170
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  19. (n.d.). Kincheloe, P. J. Do Androids Dream of Electric Speech? The Construction of Cochlear Implant Identity on American Television and the “New Deaf Cyborg”. Available online: http://journal.media culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/ viewArticle/254.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  20. Nigel Thrift (1996). Spatial Formations . SAGE Publications Ltd.
    Type: Book DOI: 10.4135/9781446222362 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4229524864
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  21. Fawna M. J. Stockwell , Diana J. Walker , John W. Eshleman (2010). Measures of Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Mainstream and BDSM Sexual Terms Using the IRAP and Questionnaire With BDSM/Fetish and Student Participants . The Psychological Record, 60(2), 307-324. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/bf03395709 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2111170701
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  22. Levy, D. (2007). Love and Sex with Robots, Harper Perennial.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  23. (n.d.). NOS In de Toekomst Beschouwen We Seksrobots als Persoonlijkheden. Available online: http://nos.nl/op3/artikel/2128895-in-de-toekomst-beschouwen-we-seksrobots-als-persoonlijkheden.html .
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  24. Pierre Bourdieu (1977). Outline of a Theory of Practice . Cambridge University Press.
    Type: Book DOI: 10.1017/cbo9780511812507 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4301056702
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  25. Keely Kolmes , Wendy Stock , Charles Moser (2006). Investigating Bias in Psychotherapy with BDSM Clients . Journal of Homosexuality, 50(2-3), 301-324. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1300/j082v50n02_15 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2128042057
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  26. Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The Location of Culture, Routledge.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  27. Andreas A.J. Wismeijer , Marcel A.L.M. van Assen (2013). Psychological Characteristics of BDSM Practitioners . The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 10(8), 1943-1952. Oxford University Press (OUP).
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1111/jsm.12192 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2149564920
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  28. (n.d.). De Martelaere, P. Een Verlangen naar Ontroostbaarheid. Available online: http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/mart003verl01_01/mart003verl01_01.pdf .
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  29. Andersen, H. C. The Little Mermaid. (1836) English Translation: H. P. Paull (1872). Available online: http://hca.gilead.org.il/li_merma.html .
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  30. Theodore R. Schatzki (2002). The Site of the Social . Penn State University Press eBooks. Penn State University Press.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1515/9780271023717 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4236720173
    Crossref OpenAlex
  31. Devlieger, P., Miranda-Galarza, B., and Brown, S. E. (2016). Rethinking Disability: World Perspectives in Culture and Society, Garant Uitgevers.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  32. (n.d.). Keller, H. The World I Live in. Available online: https://archive.org/details/worldilivein00kellgoog .
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  33. Short, S. (2006). Misfit Sisters: Screen Horror as Female Rites of Passage, Palgrave Macmillan.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  34. Van Gennep, A. (1977). The Rites of Passage. Routledge Library Editions Anthropology and Ethnography, Psychology Press.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  35. (n.d.). Yates, A. Can Disabled Athletes Outcompete Able-Bodied Athletes?. Available online: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/sep/08/can-disabled-athletes-outcompete-able-bodied-athletes .
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  36. (n.d.). Van der Palen, T. A. Cyborg Autobiography: Autism & the Posthuman. Available online: https://universiteitutrecht.academia.edu/TeunievanderPalen .
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  37. (n.d.). Ebben, H. In Constant Encounter with One’s Environment: Presenting Counter-Metaphors in the Study of the Discourse of Autism and Negotiations of Space in Literature and Visual Culture. Available online: http://theses.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/123456789/624/18–08–31%20Ebben%20Thesis.pdf?sequence=1 .
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  38. Bleuler, E. (1911). Dementia Praecox, Oder Gruppe der Schizophrenien, Leipzig.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  39. (n.d.). Kanner, L. Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact. Available online: https://simonsfoundation.s3.amazonaws.com/share/071207-leo-kanner-autistic-affective-contact.pdf .
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  40. (n.d.). Asperger, H. Die “Autistischen Psychopathen” im Kindesalter. Available online: http://www.autismus-biberach.com/Asperger_Hans-_Autistischen_Psychopathen.pdf .
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  41. Menken, A., and Ashman, H. (2013). Part of Your World, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  42. (n.d.). Fleischmann, C. Carly’s Voice. Available online: http://carlysvoice.com/home/ .
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  43. Fleischmann, A., and Fleischmann, C. (2012). Carly’s Voice: Breaking through Autism, Touchstone.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  44. (n.d.). Grandin, T. Calming Effects of Deep Touch Pressure in Patients with Autistic Disorder, College Students, and Animals. Available online: http://www.grandin.com/inc/squeeze.html .
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  45. Haymore (2002). Sadomasochism: The Pleasure of Pain . Undergrad. J. Psychol., 15, 50.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  46. Masters, W., Johnson, V., and Kolodny, R. (1995). Human Sexuality, Little, Brown, and Company. [2nd ed.].
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  47. Renaud (1999). Exploring the frequency, diversity, and context of university students’ positive and negative sexual cognitions . Can. J. Hum. Sex., 8, 17.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  48. Gosselin, C., and Wilson, G. D. (1980). Sexual Variations: Fetishisism, Sadomasochism, and Transvestism, Simon & Schuster.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  49. Schatzki, T. R. (2008). Social Practices: A Wittgensteinian Approach to Human Activity and the Social, Cambridge University Press. [4th ed.].
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  50. (n.d.). McCain, C. Let’s Get Digital. Available online: https://www . 1843magazine.com/design/the-daily/lets-get-digital.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  51. Deleuze, G., and Guattari, F. (1972). Capitalisme et Schizoprénie 1: L’Anti-Oedipe, Editions du Minuit.
    Type: Other
    Crossref