technology. In other words: What distinguishes or should distinguish these artificial/artistic creations from natural humans is not only their outer perfection, but also their having overcome «human, all too human» weaknesses. This is what they have in common with cyborgs.

However, what identifies these kinds of artificial creatures as perfect humans of a ‹second nature› is not only their human shape, but also their gender—which by the way, as will be shown, is not seldom in a specific relation of tension with that of their creators or their manufacturers, who in turn represent the side of the humans who as a godlike artist or ingenious engineer follow in the footsteps of God the Creator.

The future Eve

The protagonist in the science fiction novel «The Future Eve,» the inventor Edison, proudly prophesies his «future Eve»—an incarnation of the ‹eternally female› created by means of the highest skill and most modern technology: «But this copy will outlive the original and always look young and alive. It is artificial

flesh that will never age….» [19] His artificial woman may be modeled after a living woman and is for this reason a ‹copy›—however she is a ‹copy› that in several respects is supposed to be superior to the ‹original.› Above all in that she triumphs over the impermanent nature of human life and human beauty. In addition, Hadaly—this is the name of Edison's «future Eve»—is also highly intelligent and has refined manners, traits that make her all the more desirable. Unlike humans of the same sex, because she for her part has no active desire or other further demands on men, she exhibits a certain emotional coldness that even her admirers find uncanny. At this point the perfection of the artificial woman—quite similar to the animated doll Olimpia in E. T. A. Hoffmanns «Der Sandmann,» [20] reveals itself to be a monstrous trait. For this reason, Edison will ultimately destroy his invention.

Meanwhile, in the age of information and biotechnological producibility, Hadaly appears to embody herself under new circumstances. In the meantime, in the profane reality of postmodern everyday media, the «future Eve» has taken shape in a highly prosaic way. The ‹femmes fatales digitales› who