Is a cyborg queer? Discuss critical thinking in the intersections between sexuality and technology.
Reference Summary
1. Marti, Stefan. “On Elizabeth Reid: Cultural Formations. Chapter Three: Identity and Cyborg Body.” MIT Media Lab. 26 Apr 1998. 11 Mar 2011. < http://web.media.mit.edu/~stefanm/vsociety/ElizabethReid.html>
This article is describing the identity of people on the Internet and also the cyborg sexuality. Actually, people do not have a constant identity on the Internet. It is because people not only can say whatever they want, they can also be whoever they want. On the Internet, both gender and race are hard to be detected. We cannot distinguish the gender and race purely by words. Therefore, people can may an identity which is different from their real life on the Internet.
Moreover, this article also talked about some important cultural factors in the Western society which are gender, race and class. The male-female cross gendering has been a great issue in the Western society. It is because of three reasons. First, female is getting some kind of privileges on the Internet. Second, when a male playing a female role on the Internet, he will be regards as “lying”. The third reason is that many people would feel uncomfortable when talking to a people whose gender is unclear.
Cyborg Sexuality is also an important issue as virtual sex is the most expressive of all virtual interaction. The line between virtual action and actual desires can become blurred. This arise the question that cyborg and actual identity are distinct, or are the same.
2. Munkittrick, Kyle. “On the importance of being a Cyborg Feminist.” H+ Community. 21 Jul 2009. 11 Mar 2011. < http://hplusmagazine.com/2009/07/21/importance-being-cyborg-feminist/>
This article is written by Kyle Munkittrick in 2009. It is based on Haraway’s essay “ A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist- Ferminism in the Late Twentieth Century”. This passage has talked about the transhumanism’s relationship with postmodern philosophy and critical theory and also the cyberfeminism. In the passage, it mentions that cyborg is capable to take the West’s concept of historical and intellectual progress and transmuted into a postmodern socialist-feminist counter-force.
Cyberferminism is focus on the ways in which science and technology interact with gender roles and their and their mutual constructions in the society. The rise of cyberfeminism has given people the tools and understanding to better utilize technology for feminist goals, technology currently dose more to reinforce gender roles than to undermine them. The article has used an example to illustrate the point that is the transgenders and intersexuals. Both communities are heavily dependant upon and subject to the medical, technoscience, and legal instiutions that form our society in the ways that uniquely highlight how transhumanism is interlinked with cyberfememinism.
3. M. Maheu, Marlene. “The Future of Cyber-Sex and Relationship Fidelity: Cyborg Theory.” Self Help Magazine. 11 Mar 2011. < http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/article/node/1337>
This article is written by Marlene M. Maheu, Ph.D. At the beginning of the article, it has already pointed out the situation I the contemporary society, the technology is becoming more and more advanced and more people become familiar with the Internet, as a result, the interactions between humans and technology will become more and more complex. The Cyborg theory has examined this phenomenon from the perspective of sociology. It is a powerful tool for human to consider future of relationships and sexuality in a wider society.
In fact, there are a lot of examples of cyborg around us, for example, man surviving with a pacemaker, or a woman surviving with a respirator. These kinds of people are being cyborgs due to health reason. However, Marlene pointed out that some people are having problematic interactions between humans and computers in Cyborgasms. He has taken a young woman who named Rebecca as an example. Rebecca is considered as a cyborg because her sex life is undeniably tied to and dependent upon AOL chat rooms. All her sexual activities involving partners are online. This is definitely not a good scenario. Rebecca has plugged herself into the computer. She is lacking of normal social life. In this case, technology has greatly affected her social and sexual life.
4. Carter, Kelsey. “Fine for a Robot: A Look at Sex and Technology in Cinema.” Eye Candy. 11 Mar 2011. < http://eyecandy.ucsc.edu/articles/carter/>
We can know more about the intersections between sexuality and technology through films. David Cronenbery, a famous director, is notorious for sexualizing technology’s functions. His films have everything to do with the impact of machinery on the body—humans whose bodies merge with VCRs (as in Videodrome, 1983) or with gaming devices (as in eXistenZ, 1999). Through his films, we can self-examine our life. Did all of us likely accustom to being “plugged in” for the majority of their day, be it to mobile phones, media players, or the Internet? We have increasingly embodied relationship to technology has produced in us a disturbing detachment from the “real world.” In addition to bringing forth the disreputable reality of sexually active minors, the term ‘sexting’ which means “sex” and “texting” has pathologizes the link between humans and their devices. As many people would believe that this is a new phenomenon, the coupling of sex and technology has been a new issue that deserves our concern.
In this article, it has also mention the example of Avatar (2009) which is a film talking about cyborg. This film has lead to a deep thinking of cyborg sexuality. The sex scene in the film has aroused a lot of discussion among the public. Will it become the reality in the future? As we all know, sex is something happen between two human beings. Traditionally, it is about the continuing of life. Will technology allow cyborg to achieve this in the future? If yes, I believe that it must provoke a huge moral problem.
5. “The Thin Line Separating Science & Intimacy” Onward, Forward, Toward…. 8 Nov 2008. 11 Mar 2011.
This article is talking about a cyborg who named Kevin Warwick. He has a 100-electrode array implanted in his forearm that allowed a computer to tap into the neuro-electric signals coursing through his arm. And his wife also had two electrodes inserted into her arm, and the Warwicks connected their nervous systems from separate rooms over a computer network. He claimed that he has a very profound feeling on that. He felt that he is having no distance between himself and his wife. The author then liked this to human sexuality. He believed that human sexuality is not only not only the merging of the physical and sensual side of male and female but also the holy state matrimony between man and woman. These actions help us to draw the line between the natural and ‘creationist’ aspect of humanity and the ‘evolving’ of technology to as a superseding force to mesh the physical and Spiritual together as a substitute to the authentic intimacy.
Moreover, the author has also raised the question of how to further define the line between science & nature. He used the example of life-support machine to illustrate the point. The line is still blurred as in the Christian’s point of view, “pull the plug” is seen as murder. However, the fact is that patient cannot stay alive without the plug. Can we consider him/her still alive? A normal human would not use an iron lung to breath. It is a question that deserves our profound thinking.
No comments:
Post a Comment