Webilography: Guiding Question Three

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. I what ways has it been taken on by feminists?

Abstract:

The term “feminist” is an umbrella that covers a multitude of different and often contradictory beliefs and arguments, thus I can only begin to scrape the surface as I explore the various aspects of Haraway’s cyborg [1] which have been embraced and taken up, at least in part, by feminists. In particular I consider the writings of a queer feminist (Esperanza Miyake), a spiritual feminist (Ruth Mantin), a socialist ‘transfeminist’ [2] (Krista Scott), a feminist science fiction writer (Ruth Nestvold), and a post-modern feminist (Alison Caddick).

Key words: cyborg, feminism, Haraway, embodiment, gender

Source One [3]:

This work investigates the compatibility of queer theory with Haraway’s cyborg. Esperanza Miyake relishes in placing her body into a ‘network of power…we are sexy cyborgs released into the screen through words that we click’. She asserts that language is powerful, and can construct realities, however, following all power there will be resistance, and this is where the queer cyborg fits into the scene. Miyake presents the queer cyborg as a near perfect example of Dona Haraways figure, one which insists “on noise, and advocates pollution, rejoicing in the illegitimate fusions’. However, Haraway presents the cyborg as a creature that “has no trunk with bisexuality”. Miyake disagrees strongly with this interpretation and asserts that the queer cyborg has a fluid sexuality, and questions that since bisexuality is an “identitiy that is not an identity, a sign of the certain ambiguity, the stability of the instability”, surely bisexuality can form part of the cyborg culture.

Source Two [4]:

This essay provides the perspective of a spiritual feminist, a woman who sees power in the Goddess, myths and mythology. Up until page 33, the essay is largely irrelevant to the guiding question. She first establishes her context and expresses theories of prominent feminists [5] whom have influenced her. She writes that her challenge is ‘to explore the possibilities which Goddess symbolism and spirituality can offer to feminist strategies, negotiations and alliances’. Though she would like to explore new terrain in cyberspace, and interrogate the relationships between ‘woman’, ‘body’ and ‘nature’, Manin would rather be a Goddess than a cyborg. She feels that the cyborg falls short when it comes to considering ‘questions of identity, identification and unconscious desire’. Historically, “Most manifestations of feminist spirituality seem to presuppose a unified self, the realisation of which is the goal of spiritual journeys”. Manin, however, takes on the part of the cyborg as she questions ‘how can spiritual feminists find new ways to express what they mean by spiritually which recognises the multiple, fluid nature of self’

Source Three [6]:

Krista Scott is the voice of a socialist feminist from the 90’s, and her essay provides both a detailed account of Haraway’s cyborg, and the specific aspects of the cyborg that leave itself open to criticism, in particular Marxist criticism. Overall, Scott expresses an embrace [7] of the cyborg figure, and a call to action [8]. She agrees with Haraway that engaging in “anti-science metaphysics [and] demonology of technology” has the potential to cut feminists off from positive possibilities.

Source Four: [9]

Science-fiction writer, Ruth Nestvold begins her essay by discussing the ‘Pre-Haraway’ fears, making particular references to popular feminist science fiction novels. She states that “criticism of technology has had an established place in feminist theory” and that many writers had a rather simplistic approach in criticising ‘male’ technology, and associating high technology with heirarchy, war and destruction. The birth of Haraways cyborg positively presented technology of the future as a means of freedom from bodily and biological constraints. The reliance of the cyborg on text made allowed identies to be chosen, with biological sex only playing ‘a role if the participants want or allow it to do so’. However, Nestvold suggests that gender, not only a performative character, but is also a ‘basic element in the construction of personal identity’, and in constructing our understanding of others.

Source Five [10]:

Caddick writes from the position of a postmodern feminist, and draws on much of Haraways writings [11] to explore the usefulness of the cyborg figure in relation to medical ethics, and especially reproductive technologies. She positions the cyborg against liberal feminists whom typically dominate reproductive-technology debates. Caddick views the cyborg as a largely impractical tool [12], built on questionable logic and reasoning. Caddick suggests that Haraways textual account of the body as a surface, is lacking, and that one should instead employ ‘contrary forms of being... that co-exist in our personal formation’. These modes of being, embodiment and ‘ties to distinctive forms of social life’ cannot be explained textually. “While she [Haraway] correctly identifies aspects of the new mode of being and convincingly overturns some feminist accounts of the technologies, she far too readily accepts the cyborg nature of our emergent desires”

To conclude, Haraway’s Cyborg has greatly influenced feminism as we know it today. The sources I’ve chosen offer a broad spectrum of attitudes towards both the cyborg, and the path forward for feminism. Most of the feminist writers I looked at have taken on Haraway’s cyborg in some way. The Queer feminist has written herself into the cyborg culture, the Spiritual feminist have become more open to a fluid, multiple figure of self, the socialist feminist has been called to action, and the feminist science fiction writers is taking a less simplistic approach to ‘male’ technology. Providing some balance in answering the guiding question, is Caddick’s critical response to Haraway’s cyborg.

Bibliography:

Source One: Esperanza Miyake, My, is that Cyborg a little bit Queer? (2000) http://www.bridgew.edu/soas/jiws/mar04/miyake.pdf (accessed 20/08/2008)

Source Two: Ruth Manin, Can a goddess travel with a cyborg and a nomad? Feminist Theology in a Post Modern Context, Feminist Theology, 2001, SAGE Publications http://fth.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/9/26/21 (accessed 20/08/2008)

Source Three: Kirsta Scott, The Cyborg, the Scientist, the Feminist and Her Critic, (1997) (http://www.stumptuous.com/cyborg.html (accessed 13/08/2008)

Source Four: Ruth Nestvold, "Male" Technology, Feminist Dystopias and the Promise of Cyberspace (1995) http://www.ruthnestvold.com/cyberspace.htm (accessed 13/08/2008)

Source Five: Alison Caddick, ‘Feminist and Postmodern: Donna Haraway’s Cyborg’ (1992)
http://www.arena.org.au/ARCHIVES/General%20Archive/arena_99-100/haraway.html, (accessed 17/08/2008)

Endnotes:

1.) The Cyborg is a “cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fiction”- Haraway ‘Manifesto’

2.) Sumach Press: Publshers of dynamic feminist writing with a critical perspective, Fall 2008, http://www.sumachpress.com/transfem.htm

3.) Esperanza Miyake, My, is that Cyborg a little bit Queer? (2000) http://www.bridgew.edu/soas/jiws/mar04/miyake.pdf (accessed 20/08/2008)

4.) Ruth Manin, Can a goddess travel with a cyborg and a nomad? Feminist Theology in a Post Modern Context, Feminist Theology, 2001, SAGE Publications http://fth.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/9/26/21 (accessed 20/08/2008)

5.) Including Carol Christ, Rosi Braidotti, Nelle Morton, Linda Nicholson and Catherine Keller

6.) Kirsta Scott, The Cyborg, the Scientist, the Feminist and Her Critic, (1997) (http://www.stumptuous.com/cyborg.html (accessed 13/08/2008)

7.) “In the same way that we must invite drunken Uncle Louie or mad Aunt Tillie to our wedding because they are related to us, we must invite OncoMouse and ²³⁹Pu to our politics because they are our weird extended family of the cyborg age” ~ Scott

8.) “a socialist feminist scientific practice would not restrict itself to nunnish cloistered research, but would engage in a critical discourse around scientific practices and process worldwide, from the electronic sweatshops in Singapore to the hiring practices of science faculties in Western Universities” ~ Scott

9.) Ruth Nestvold, "Male" Technology, Feminist Dystopias and the Promise of Cyberspace (1995) http://www.ruthnestvold.com/cyberspace.htm (accessed 13/08/2008). This paper was originally given at the annual conference of the German Association for American Studies in Hamburg, June 1995.

10.) Alison Caddick, ‘Feminist and Postmodern: Donna Haraway’s Cyborg’ (1992)
http://www.arena.org.au/ARCHIVES/General%20Archive/arena_99-100/haraway.html,(accessed 17/08/2008). This article is an excerpt from a larger essay to appear in a forthcoming book tentatively entitled ‘Multiple Bodies: Postmodern Perspectives on Medical Ethics and the Body’, ed Paul Komesaroff

11.) “A Manifesto of Cyborgs’, ‘Fractured Identities’, ‘Situated Knowledge’, ‘Simians, Cyborgs and Women’

12.) ‘far from the cyborg metaphor offering feminism a creative spur to political activity’ but rather that it represents ‘an impasse for thought and action... far from the adoption of the cyborg encouraging an unlimited reflexivity, it closes off the possibility of asking the questions we most need today’

Late Introduction...

Hi.
I know this is late, but I only recently joined the unit.
My name's Alice and I'm doing Communication Studies.
My favourite website is mibba.com, a Creative Writing network.

Webliography

Judy Wajcman 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?

Interpretations and refigurings of Donna Haraway’s cyborg appear all over the Internet, not all of them closely related to feminism or to Haraway’s original vision. Arguments for and against Haraway’s work, critiques of cyborg figures in popular literature and hybrid theories utilising both cyborg and queer theory are just a few of the cyborg texts I found. Deciding which would be the most useful for an essay I will never write was difficult, however.

In “The Cyborg, the Scientist, the Feminist and Her Critic”, Krista Scott follows Haraway in critiquing the feminist rejection of technology and desire to return to the “natural” while acknowledging that scientific techniques are rooted in a white, patriarchal tradition. She affirms the power of the cyborg to break down boundaries and dichotomies and argues against Teresa Ebert’s Marxist critique of Haraway’s work.

Scott’s article is not very original. However, it is well written and useful as an introduction to some of Haraway’s themes. It also serves as an example of how Haraway’s theories have been supported by later feminists, and Scott’s defence of Haraway’s work against Ebert’s critique is an interesting illustration of some of the controversies surrounding cyborg theory.

Esperanza Miyake, in “My, is that Cyborg a little bit Queer?”, unites cyborg and queer theory to “investigate possibilities of a cyberqueer theory”. Using the portrayal of female replicants in the film Blade Runner as a pathway into her topic, she points out the ways in which these cyborg characters are still constrained to traditional gender roles, and suggests that “they all need to be a little more queer” (p. 53). She argues that cyberqueer theory offers insights into the “conceptualisation of sexuality which sees sexual power embodied in different areas of life” (p. 54) and the “problematization of sexual and gender categories, and of identities in general” (p. 55). Finally, she contends that this theory rejects “civil-rights strategies in favor of a politics of carnival, transgression, and parody” (p. 57).

As a postgraduate student essay, “My, is that Cyborg a little bit Queer?” is rough in places. Nevertheless, it is a strong piece, and was published as a winner of the Women's Studies Network (UK) Association Essay Contest. It is a very useful example of how feminists today are responding to, redefining and extending the image of the cyborg.

In “Are Cyborgs Queer?”, Nina Lykke also combines the image of the cyborg with queer theory to analyse the Danish debate in Parliament over assisted reproduction. The “queer” raises questions about sex and gender as performance, while the cyborg challenges ideas about how bodies are produced and what is natural. Lykke suggests that as the sex/gender dichotomy is already being challenged by advances in reproductive technologies, the image of the cyborg may be more useful in critiquing these technologies. However, she chooses to use a fusion of both in her analysis, showing how aspects of both “queer” and cyborg were demonised by participants in this debate. The power of the “queer cyborg” is in its ability to challenge ideas of what is “natural” and “normal”, to cast doubt on biological determinism. The “natural” and “normal” were often brought up in the Parliamentary debate, with participants expressing fear of the “unnatural” possibilities of the technologies they were attempting to control. The “queer cyborg” is transgressive, both technological and biological, and thus offers a unique perspective on this issue.

Other feminists have been critical of the power of the cyborg. Joan Blauwkamp and Nicole Krassas argue in “Should Feminists Be Cyborgs?” that use of the cyborg in popular culture tends to reinforce rather than destabilise dualisms such as self/other, culture/nature and male/female. Their paper shows how these dualisms are reaffirmed by the portrayal of cyborg characters in two Star Trek series and Marge Piercy’s novel He, She and It. However, Blauwkamp and Krassas do not deny the potential of the cyborg to disrupt such dualisms; rather, they contend that its potential is rarely realised in these texts.

Unfortunately, although the title of this paper is provocative, the content fails to address the question it poses. The article provides an excellent critique of the use of cyborg figures in these popular culture texts, but barely touches upon the issue of whether the cyborg is useful to feminist thought. It takes the destabilising potential of the cyborg for granted, and thus avoids tackling the more challenging aspects of the cyborg figure in culture.

Yael Sherman’s article “Tracing the Carnival Spirit in Buffy the Vampire Slayer” also uses the cyborg to critique a text, and then uses that text to critique Donna Haraway’s vision of the cyborg. Contrasting the cyborg aspects of Buffy with those of Adam, an evil cyborg, Sherman points out that Adam is “a perfect blasphemous cyborg” and argues that, while Buffy is the kind of cyborg feminist theory imagines, “the cyborg theory provides no grounding for understanding the dynamics of power” involved in Adam’s amorality. She contends that cyborg theory “Others non-cyborg bodies” and even that it “legitimate[s] rape”.

This article is not focused on the cyborg aspect of Buffy. Sherman examines the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer through several critical theories, and Haraway’s theory is only a minor part of her argument. While some of her objections to cyborg theory seem extreme, the section of the article dealing with the cyborg are carefully argued and provide an excellent example of how feminists may simultaneously use and critique cyborg theory.

The sources I found demonstrate the diversity of responses to Donna Haraway’s cyborg theory. None of them comment on this diversity, however: if I were writing an essay on this question, they would function more as examples than as discussions of the “ways [the figure of the cyborg] has ... been taken up by feminists”. Despite the great number of cyborg resources available on the Internet, finding those most useful to me took a long time. If I were really writing this essay, my main research avenue would still be print texts.

Critical annotated webliography

3. 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?


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: [August 20 2008]

Ola

Well hello everyone,

This is a pretty late post, my apologies... I've just moved to a new apartment and I've been internet-less for the past few weeks. I felt pretty disconnected, not having access to the cyber world. It almost seemed like I was living in 1990's or something. Hahaha :P

Hmmmm there are plenty of sites that I do like to surf on, besides the all-time-waster -facebook... there's also www.wikipedia.org and www.postsecret.com

Anyhooooos, catch you guys soon (: