Donna Haraway's Cyborg Manifesto is a social feminist anyalsis of women in the post modern technological world. She uses the metaphor of the cyborg to discuss the relationships of science, technology, and socialist feminism. She describes a cyborg as a cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fiction. We can no longer think of ourselves in terms of male/female, truth/illusion, self/other, but as cyborgs. A mixture of human and machine where the biological and mechanical side are so intertwined that they can not be separated.
This piece I felt was very difficult to read, but I know that alot of what she is writing about deals with the feminist movement during the 70's and 80's, and what I kept on thinking about while reading this article was how far we have come in they way we (as a society) view females. I am not saying the we live in a perfect society and that no one has outdated views/opinions on not only females, but race as well. What really gets me is that by this January we will have either an African American President or a women Vice President. Although other African Americans/women have ran no one has ever won. This year it is inevitable that one or other will hold office. That to me goes to show how far we have come in our views of not only feminism but race as well.
Another piece of the article that really caught my attention was towards the end when she was talking about the culture of video games and the "high-tech, gendered imaginations". This struck me because of other discussions that we have talked about in class, particularly when discussing video games. A majority of the video games out there the characteres are typically white, young, men who fit the "norm" and you do not see many female characters, older characters, characters of different race etc. This is an one aspect of our culture where feminism has not broken into as seen by the previous examples.
Haraway also states that these technologies "promise ultimate mobility and perfect exchange-and incidentally enable tourism". This reminds me alot of the articles that we have read from Nakamura about identity tourism and being able to transport ourselves to other exotic places and be someone we are not.
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3 comments:
Greetings Tanya,
Her manifesto was difficult to summarize, but after all it was a manifesto, not a blog. She writes from the perspective of a woman scientist working in a male dominated culture. I agree with you that there is more equality today but this is mainly due to the equal rights constitutional amendments fought for by feminists and minorities which has brought about this awareness and enlightenment your generation seems to understand.
I think you summarized her piece well. Your comment that there are outdated opinions regarding gender and race is insightful and encouraging, because it means you think that sexist and racists remarks are passe and have no place in today's society. And I totally agree with you on that!
Great post Tanya!
Tanya, I am in the same boat you are as far as the reading being a bit difficult and troublesome. I cant say it was my favorite read but I like who you tied in todays politics with Haraway's manifesto.
Its hard to measure how far America has come as a society today. I agree with you that no matter what a woman or a black man will be elected into a higher political position than previously elected; but I'm not fully certain that Palin and Obama are products of America's steps to equality, specifically Palin.
Tanya I really liked your blog this week. I also thought it was pretty hard to follow but am also amazed at the progress we have made over the years with gender and race. I also think that we have a long way to go but am excited about the upcoming election and being able to be part of history.
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