HENRY CHAU'S (KU)CRITICAL ANNOTATED WEBLIOGRAPHY
Q4. Is a cyborg queer? Discuss critical thinking on the intersections between sexuality and technology.
By Cayden Mak
For the idea of cyborg, it goes beyond the dualities. Those dualities are constructed by power relation. It helps us to classify the things such as male and female. We are required to act as the society hoping for. When we are born, we cannot choose our sex, our parents help us. What is the situation of intersex people and transgender people in cyborg? In Cayden Mak’s article, it is related to the transgender people. It states that transgender identities are excluded from Haraway’s cyborg theory because of the perfect examples of cyborg praxis are transgender identities. Also, the society separates the human into two sexes only, male and female. The transgender people cannot have their own identities. They need to classify into male or female. In the article, the DMV officials argued on the sex of writer’s driver license. It can reflect the sex is very important for our daily lives. However, what is the main function for the sex? No one tells us bout that! For the technology, the writer thinks that the technology is oppressor to transgender and it is intentional use of technology to change their being-in-the-world. For the writer, the cyborg is helping people to be themselves.
By Tania Kupczak
From this article, it stated the technological development contributes a lot for the queer family. The queer families can have babies. Sex is not only for the reproductive function. The present technology can lead to new form of family, the queer family. The gay family can find surrogate mother. The lesbian family also can find the male for donating sperm. The technology development can support the queer family for their needs. The queer families are not limited by the body function for reproduction. The technology can help them to have babies which have blood relation. In here, the writer states that there are no limitations on the family role model for the children of the queer family. The family construction and the parent roles have been changed. The queer family can have two male or two female. It is the new form of the family structure. The construction of a family no longer is formed by a male and a female. In fact, the homosexual couples can classify the gender role. It still can provide the role model to their children by their gender behavior. It is breaking the tradition of the function of reproduction, the family construction and social norms.
By Nina Lykke
From this article, the main idea is ‘Does the the cyborg-world of desexualized, scientific reproduction not overtake the anti-biologist arguments?’ The writer use cyborg and queer as the examples because these two are selected from the wealth of feminist theorist. These two concepts are showing the deconstruction of biological determinism. They are played a prominent role in feminist theory. For the writer’s point of view, the sex and sexuality are socio-cultural and historical constructions. The technology can satisfy the queer desires for having a child. Both the queer and the cyborg are trying to deconstruct the biological determinism. They are trying to break though the cultural imaginary process. By the way, in the writer’s article, it also focuses on the relationship between feminist figuration and cyborg and queer. The new reproductive technology is changing the role of female. For the society norm, the function of female is reproduction. There are a new power relation occur in the female status. The technology can help the infertility couple can have baby by the technology development. Are the female only for reproduction?
By Esperanza Miyake
In this article, it is mainly focusing on three parts. The first one is “conceptualization of sexuality which sees sexual power embodied in different levels of social life, expressed discursively and enforced through boundaries and binary divides”. The second part is “problematizes sexual and gender categories and identities in general”. The third part is “rejection of civil rights strategies in favor of a politics of carnival, transgression, and parody which leads to deconstruction, decentering, revisionist readings, and anti-assimilations politics” (Miyake, 2004). For the first part, it is mainly related to the power relation of the body. The technology is referring to the cyberspace. It can help us for constructing other identities which we hope for. For the second part, it is talking about the gender role become unclear, a world without gender. The cyberspace helps us for opening an online or offline queer cyborgs recreation. It is true that the cyberspace cannot provide any evidences on proofing the real identities of the users. Everyone can construct another identity which can be totally different in their real lives. For the third part, it is about the three boundaries breaking down. The private and public life become blurred by the technology. The identities can not reflect the whole person. It just show you what the person hope you can access.
By Kyle Munkittrick
For this article, it gives us a brief introduction of Donna Haraway’s cyborg theory. It states the most important idea of the theory: breakthrough the three boundaries. The writer thinks that the idea of cyborg is rebellion embodied in a single techno-organic subject. Then, it gives the readers the features of the cyberfeminism. It has the interaction of gender role and mutual construction in society. It talks about what is normal and how the time and space change the definition of normal. It uses the example of homosexual. At the past, the society cannot accept homosexual. Nowadays, it is acceptable and become a sexuality which has a large number of people. It is the deconstruction of the function cyborg. It can change the social norms. After, it goes to the relationship between political change and the transhuminanist model. It is based on the effect of the cyberfeminist model. It uses the reproductive technology as the example. In these technology, the female has no said and being ignored. The transhuminists support many women issues and liberal the female from the ignorance. It changes the political structure of female. They start to express themselves. For the final section, it states the transgender and intersexual group in the society. The technology contributes on a person to change his or her biological sex. It can lead a chain of question like a person birth certificate is male but with a female’s driving license. Furthermore, it involves the duty and the right of that transgender person in the society. The transgender and intersexual idea and the technology go too fast compare with the society and politics development. The change is still keep occurring. The cyborg theory can bring a forward step to our society and the mindset of people.
Works Cited
Kupczak, Tania. "So You Wanna Be a Cyborg Mommy? Queer Identity and New Reproductive Technologies." Domain Errors!: Cyberfeminist Practices. By Maria Fernandez, Faith Wilding, and Michelle M. Wright. New York: Autonomedia, 2002. 179-86. Web. 14 Mar. 2011. <http://www.refugia.net/domainerrors/DE2g_queer.pdf>.
Munkittrick, Kyle. "On the Importance of Being a Cyborg Feminist." H Magazine | Covering Technological, Scientific, and Cultural Trends That Are Changing–and Will Change–human Beings in Fundamental Ways. 21 June 2009. Web. 14 Mar. 2011. <http://hplusmagazine.com/2009/07/21/importance-being-cyborg-feminist/>.
Lykke, Nina. "ARE CYBORGS QUEER? Biological Determinism and Feminist Theory in the Age of New Reproductive Technologies and Reprogenetics." Web. 12 Mar. 2011. <http://www.women.it/quarta/workshops/epistemological4/ninalykke.htm>.
Mak, Cayden. "Cyborg Theory, Cyborg Practice » The Outlet." Electric Literature Home . 11 May 2010. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. <http://electricliterature.com/blog/2010/05/11/cyborg-theory-cyborg-practice/>.
Miyake, Esperanza. "My, Is That Cyborg a Little Bit Queer?" Journal of International Women's Studies 5.2 (2004): 53-61. Web. 14 Mar. 2011. <http://www.bridgew.edu/soas/jiws/Mar04/Miyake.pdf>.
BY HENRY CHAU
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