The term “sex robots” may raise some eyebrows, but Nancy S. Jecker, professor of bioethics and humanities at the University of Washington, is not having it.

Jecker published a paper in the Journal of Medical Ethics encouraging the manufacturers developing sex robots for young, straight men to expand their market. The existing technology could be adapted to provide companionship and even sexual gratification to those 65 and over, she argues in the paper, “Nothing to be Ashamed Of: Sex Robots for Older Adults with Disabilities.”

The current generation of sex robots is designed for and marketed to young, straight, white men, which is blatantly sexist, racist and ageist, Jecker said.

The Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business reached out to Jecker to learn more about her research and what drew her attention to the idea of using robots for the most intimate of experiences.

Jecker first started thinking about robots while researching her most recent book, “Ending Midlife Bias, New Values for Old Age” (Oxford University Press, 2020). She wrote a chapter about robots that support older adults with daily living tasks such as getting out of bed, eating, dressing and bathing.

“CareBots” led her to robots that provide companionship, “FriendBots.” For older adults, particularly those who are isolated and lonely, FriendBots can mitigate the unhealthy aspects of isolation.

That led to viewing robot technology for more intimate functions.

The technology exists, she said. She cites a New Jersey company that promotes its sex robots to young, healthy customers. She blames ageism and the natural tendency of tech executives – typically male, white and middle aged – to develop products in their own image.

Marketing to older customers is a natural opportunity, she said.

“I’m calling on industry to market themselves to an older clientele, a clientele that has age-related impairment of sexual function,” she said.

Jecker’s research focuses on aging and aging populations and she has the résumé to back it up.

She holds adjunct professorships in UW’s School of Law, Department of Global Health and Department of Philosophy. She is a visiting professor at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa and the Chinese University of Hong Kong Centre for Bioethics and recently served on the board of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities.

She’s published more than 200 articles and four books focuses on aging and aging populations.

Ageism is at the heart of her work and her work to promote sex robots with seniors in mind.

Senior sexuality is an overlooked topic. The New England Journal of Medicine published the first serious research focuses on seniors living in their own homes 2007, she noted.

“There is a tendency to think of older adults as needing protection rather than having sexual needs and desires,” she said.

Jecker counters titters with seriousness. Sexual contact is about more than physical gratification, she said. Adults benefit from the personal and emotional connections they make through contact. It is at the core of human identity.

“Those who focus on the pleasure principal shortchange the argument and miss it,” she said.

For Jecker, the key takeaway is not for physicians to begin writing prescriptions for sex robots for their older patients. Her paper on sex robots for seniors attracted attention and a few mostly serious headlines.

She welcomes the idea that it could spark conversations that legitimize the need for intimacy at all ages.

“We’re an aging society and ageism is a serious problem,” she said. “A great outcome would be for people’s eyes to open up and be aware.”

 An abstract and link to the full text of “Nothing to be Ashamed Of: Sex Robots for Older Adults with Disabilities” is posted at bit.ly/JeckerPaper.