I just read Haraway's "A Cyborg Manifesto" This blog entry discusses what I took from it to some depth.
I found this to be a tough read, mostly due to my own limited vocabulary. I am glad she used all of the big, picturesque words though, otherwise it probably would have been REALLY long. :P As a side note, I wasn't aware that a lot of technology was so far advanced in 1985. The alignment between what she wrote about and modern technology is impressive.
The driving concept that I took from the paper was that the author perceived that technology may provide a way for certain groups of minority women (or even women in general) to find an identity or a sense of empowerment that might advance their cause as a group or as a gender in society. Throughout the essay, she talks about cyborgs, which are mash-ups of man and machine. She draws parallels between cyborgs and several aspects of humanity, such as an illegitimate child's independence from his/her father.
I think quite a bit of her talk of cyborgs and feminist comparisons to the metaphor went over my head and weren't gully realized by me.
With respect to gender and technology, I think that Haraway indicates that technology can open up doors for women. It wasn't clear to me if she meant that women would gain access to tech jobs because the men might not want to stoop so low as to do work for the military and women would find a good opportunity there. I sensed she was headed in that direction, but it seemed like she never really said.
I thought it was interesting that she pointed out that all the good technologies operate using things that we cant see (ie. televisions, cell-phones, etc).
About Me
- dinjas
- Vancouver, WA, United States
- Computer Science student at Washington State University in Vancouver, WA
3 comments:
I also like how Haraway pointed out that some of the technologies that we are "most" engaged in are the ones that we take for granted and don't really "see" in action (ie. cell phones, computers, the internet, etc). I think that this can be a misleading or dangerous phenomena if people are not aware of what things are affecting them on a day to day basis (which impacts how we view ourselves and others in this world). As a side note, I also had trouble reading through the immense language that Haraway choose for "The Cyborg's Manifesto". I am just happy that I am a Biology Major! :)
Jen
In terms of gender and technology, machine and human, I think that Haraway is trying to convey that the belief centered on women being passive, submissive and nurturing can no longer persist in the time of the cyborg/technology because the cyborg demonstrates machinery and creates identity, sexuality and gender. In other words the cyborg can be whatever it wants to be.
This piece went over my head too. I swear I need a dictionary and the internet to understand what the writers are talking about half the time in this class.
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