Donna Haraway's figure of the cyborg has been an important figure in contemporary feminist discourse – a new subset of feminism has even been created in regards to the ideas of cyberspace, technology, and the cyborg in relation to gender and feminism, known as cyber feminism. While Haraway herself did not coin the term cyber feminism, it is from her influence in regards to the cyborg and its ideas of blurring of gender boundaries and the deconstruction and reconstruction of one's identity while incorporating technology into one's own humanity, that such schools of thought have arisen. The references found demonstrate this view that Haraway's cyborg is relevant to feminism, as well as the ways in which this figure of the cyborg and of humans interacting with technology has become so influential amongst feminists, through not only direct discussion about Haraway, but also through discussion of cyber feminism and other concepts.
Castle, A., Cyber Feminism
Castle's blog entry discusses the origins of the term “cyber feminism”, and the meaning it has come to gain in feminist discourse. Technology and cyberspace are seen as feminist areas, according to Castle's entry, as it can unite women from all around the world in chat groups and forums to discuss feminism. As cyberspace allows for an anonymous identity, all women can be cyber feminists, and as a result, there is no one dominant school of feminists in the cyber feminist movement. The article does not mention Haraway or her writings, but it shows the extent of her influence on other feminists' and academics' ideas and discourse. While it is a short article compared to others on this topic, it does give a logical overview of the cyber feminism movement, and provides links to other, more in-depth, articles on the subject.
Wilding, F., Where is Feminism in Cyberfeminism?
Wilding's article once again is an article that does not necessarily discuss Haraway, but does deal with issues and concepts pertaining to her influence, such as cyber feminism. Wilding both praises and critiques cyber feminists and cyber grrls – a sort of riot grrl in a cyberspace setting. The utopian ideal of cyberspace as allowing all people to be seen how they want – free of gender, ethnicity, age, or social standing – is criticised by Wilding, who argues that there is a long standing social framework that is not automatically obliterated by the internet. This article brings up good points of analysis in regards to critiquing cyber feminist ideals, but also praises young feminists in cyberspace, and offers potential solutions for these criticisms through way of these cyber grrls and feminists.
Braidotti, R., Cyberfeminism with a difference
Braidotti's article discusses not only the concepts of Haraway's cyborg, and of cyber feminism, but also those of postmodernism and post-humanism, and how these identities are constructed in a technological environment. Braidotti looks in-depth at the feminization and masculinization of technologies, and how they are portrayed in the media, particularly in science-fiction, as well as the gender stereotypes prevalent in virtual reality programs, and video games. This article provides great insight into the gender gap that exists even through the blurring of gender boundaries that technology, cyberspace, and Haraway's cyborg figure have introduced, and the reader can understand why this idea of the cyborg and of humans at one with technology is such a strong feminist issue. While Braidotti's article only mentions Haraway a number of times, it can be seen to be an important article in regards to the ways in which feminists have taken up Haraway's ideas in their own ways.
Phillips, K., Haraway's Cyborg and Feminism
Phillips' article directly deals with the question of how Haraway's cyborg relates to feminism. Phillips addresses concepts including dominance and submission, fear of technology, cyberspace and cyborgs as a tool to reconstruct gender, blurring of boundaries, and the mind/body split in a feminist context to relate the two ideas of Haraway's cyborg and feminism together. She argues that cyberspace and the cyborg have been adopted by feminists to “blur the boundaries” between genders, even removing them completely. However, Phillips also touches on critiques of this boundary-blurring theory, including that of technology being socially viewed as gendered, such as, in an example she gives, the labelling of mobile phones are male or female based on their colour, size, and overall purpose (entertainment or business). Overall, Phillips' article would be an important one to include in an essay on this question, as it directly relates to the idea of how Haraway's cyborg has been taken up by feminists. While it may not take a completely in-depth approach, it does touch on quite a few different points, as well as critiques of these ideas.
Kunzru, H., You Are Cyborg
Kunzru's article, although over a decade old, is still highly relevant and useful to this topic. Kunzru deals with the reasons why feminists have so embraced Haraway's idea of the cyborg, and the idea of cyberfeminism. Haraway's cyborg – with its construction, as opposed to being of nature – allows for a reconstruction of oneself, of one's identity, sexuality, and especially one's gender. Kunzru interviews Haraway, and the majority of the article is made up with these interview excerpts, interspersed with Kunzru's own analysis and critique. This gives the article credibility – for who better to discuss the cyborg in relation to feminism, and the cyberfeminism movement, than Donna Haraway herself? A critique that could be made about this article is that the second half of it tends to deal more with the logistics of science and biology in relation to cyborgs, rather than the social, political, and feminist connections this figure of the cyborg has.
In conclusion, these articles all reinforce the argument that Haraway's figure of the cyborg has been taken up in some way by feminists. While Haraway may not always be directly discussed or credited by the authors of these articles, and her figure of the cyborg may not be mentioned at all, the ideas and concepts that have stemmed from her initial text are evolving and growing strong. The concept of cyber feminism is the main way in which feminists have taken up Haraway's ideas, and while she may not be credited in these articles on cyber feminism, if it had not been for Haraway's Cyborg Manifesto the idea of cyber feminism – feminists utilising cyberspace and technology to reconstruct their identities, amongst many other things – may well not be as it is today.
References:
Braidotti, R. 1996, Cyberfeminism with a difference. Available from: http://www.let.uu.nl/womens_studies/rosi/cyberfem.htm [August 22 2008]
Castle, A. 2008, Cyber Feminism. January 28 2008. Women's and Gender Studies Blog. Available from: http://feminism-gender.blogspot.com/2008/01/cyber-feminism.html [August 20 2008]
Kunzru, H. 1997, You Are Cyborg, Wired. Available from: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.02/ffharaway.html?topic=&topic_set= [August 22 2008]
Phillips, K. 2007, Haraway's Cyborg and Feminism, Associated Content. Available from: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/226769/haraways_cyborg_and_feminism.html?cat=47 [August 20 2008]
Wilding, F. 2006, Where is Feminism in Cyberfeminism?, NeMe. Available from:
1 comment:
The advent of cyberfeminism! That put a great spin on the topic! I'd come across the Wilding article when I was researching for this topic, but I just couldn't figure out a smooth way to include it. I like what you've done =)
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