WEBLIOGRAPHY

Q: Judy Waczman argues that Donna Haraway’s figure of the cyborg has taken on ‘a life of its own’ in popular culture, science fiction and academic writing. In what ways has it been taken up by feminists?

1. ‘Decoding Perversity: Queering Cyberspace’ Parallel Gallery and Journal, Steffensen.J [ONLINE] at http://www.va.com.au/parallel/x1/journal/jyanni_steffensen/robot.html

This resource considers how the female cyborg has been depicted in a range of recent pop culture. The article focuses on the question of what place the female body occupy in cyberspace? In answering this question, the article considers work by Zoe Sophia in Zoe Sophia, Virtual corporeality: a feminist view, Australian Feminist Studies, vol. 15, 1992, pp 11-23. In particular, Sophia states that in science fiction films and computer games, the female cyborg is always, if not often, created as an ideal specimen for a male audience. The female cyborg is represented as an object of sexual lust as opposed to subjects of intelligence or knowledge. It is in this sense that the article suggests that feminists would perceive cyborgs in pop culture to be asserting traditional gender roles as opposed to breaking free from them as Harraway suggests. The article considers how pop culture represents female cyborgs as emotionless. The female cyborg lacks the stereotypical emotions commonly linked with females. Instead, they are ruthless and senseless. By considering this representation of cyborgs, it is arguable that the female cyborg transcends the stereotypical gender view that women are overemotional and that their compassion impedes them from gaining power. This article is useful in considering feminist views in relation to the way the female cyborg has been portrayed in pop culture. It does not address how feminists would perceive Donna Harraway’s concept of the cyborg, a concept which is distinct from how cyborgs are represented in pop culture.

2. ‘ Somatechnics or Monstrosity Unbound’ SCAN Journal of media arts culture, Sullivan.N [ONLINE] at http://scan.net.au/scan/journal/display.php?journal_id=83

This resource specifically focuses on Harraway’s idea that technology ( cyborgs) allow humans to break out of the many dichotomies of difference that exist in society. The article starts by firstly considering the philosophical idea of the world existing in dualism. Sullivan considers the work of Simone De Beauvoir in Beauvoir, S. (1975) The Second Sex, Harmondsworth: Penguin. In particular , the article considers her assertion that the very biology of the female and the female role in reproduction is what is central to the subordinate status attained by women in society. Sullivan considers the view that in order to overcome inequality, there is a need to overcome the natural reproductive role that women hold. The article considers the use of Assisted Reproductive technology and questions whether the introduction of such technology has advanced women beyond their biological reproductive role. This resource is particularly good because it also considers the anti-technology feminist views of Gena Corea, Renae Klein, Maria Mies, Janice Raymond who are all associated with the Feminist International Network of Resistance to Reproductive and Genetic Engineering. The basic argument from the anti-technology feminists is that women who succumb to assisted reproductive technology are not challenging gender roles but instead are going to extremes to try to endorse the female role in reproduction.

3. ‘Futuristic Freak Show has lost its asexual appeal’ The Sydney Morning Herald, July 21, 2005, Hopkins.S, accessed [ONLINE] at http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/futuristic-freak-show-has-lost-its-asexual-appeal/2005/07/20/1121539032467.html

This article is particularly good as it considers Harraway’s concept of the cyborg and refers to it directly. Hopkins considers varying feminist views towards Harraway’s assertion that we are all cyborgs. She suggests that the major concerns feminists have with the increased use of technology is based on the questions of How technology is designed and how it is distributed, or who gets to use it. The answer to these questions reveals inequality between sexes as technology is predominantly controlled by men. In her article she states that the “culture of cyberspace is line the men’s change room at a football match- not the most female friendly environment”. Hopkins considers how this view sits with the increase in computer literate women and recent movements of cyberfeminism: A school of feminism which views technology as a liberating rather than oppressive thing.

4. Kirkup.G, Woodward.K, Janes.L ‘ The Gendered Cyborg’ Routledge 2000 accessed [ONLINE] at http://books.google.com.au/books?id=7FaUVl6H4SYC&pg=PA148&lpg=PA148&dq=Cyborgs+and+Feminism&source=web&ots=3Q3dUiNp6v&sig=ki-s_4wlPPKMhXNXG3aHIt_QEYs&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPR6,M1
This is an online reader which contains work from many different authors and is split into several different chapters. I focussed on Chapter 1, Representing Gender through technoscience. It contains a good summary of Donna Harraway’s work and her assertion that with the increase of machines/technology, humanness decreases allowing for the gap of human difference to be closed. This is the view that cyborgs disrupt notions of otherness. On pages 5- 8 of part one, Kirkup considers the characters of female cyborgs in recent pop culture, philosophy and games. In particular, the character of Rachel in the film Blade Runner is used as an example of a cyborg character who contradicts the myth of a natural female identity. Gonzalez J, on page 8 suggests that the way in which cyborgs are represented in pop culture is a re-enforcement of gender stereotypes. The article considers the 1990’s comic cyborg, “Kiddy” and includes pictures of this a character to illustrate how female cyborgs have a soft sexual female outer body with a contrasting powerful machine under it. Gonzalez suggests that the female cyborg is a sexual slave.

5. ‘Public Policies and Reproductive Technology: A Feminist Critique’ McCormack.M, University of Toronto Press, Canadian Public Policy , 1988 Vol 14 (4) accessed [ONLINE] at http://ideas.repec.org/a/cpp/issued/v14y1988i4p361-375.html

This article is a formal critique of the increased use of assisted reproductive technology. It considers the risks associated with ART and emphasises the idea that technology does not liberate women and instead encourages women to take risks. The article uses examples of many recent cases where assisted reproductive technology has had complications and resulted in severe health risks for women. The article suggests that women should not rely on technology because it has uncertain qualities and is essentially created and driven by human beings. While many argue that technology has liberated women in the domestic housework domain with the increase of dishwashers and washing machines, it is not necessarily the case that assisted reproductive technology will have the same effect. The article considers the view that the assisted reproductive technology distorts society’s view and values of family. It allows women to exploit their biological reproductive functions. An example of this is evidenced in the increasing rate of abortions. The article suggests that instead of liberating women, technology has created too much choice and as a result has distorted core social values.