Haraway's Cyborg and Feminism

This paper deals with the concept of Haraway's Cyborg in relation to Feminism. There are many different branches of Feminism each striving for a particular goal in a particular way. Within the context of this paper, the Feminism that is referred to is the movement to analyze/critique the power systems and social structures that are constructed in such a way that they repress all people living under them, especially the marginalized, disenfranchised groups such as women.

Haraway's Cyborg occupies a space of praxis (where theory and practice meld together) and does not fear dialectical tensions. Instead the Cyborg thrives off of them, living in the space of the dialectical continuum where it can see not only up and down the dialectical path, but in all directions (Haraway 153). This Cyborgian space allows for more critical analysis and agonistique than other perspectives do as it can be rooted in a societies' history and still separate itself from that history in order to recognize that there are many histories, many origin stories (Van Loon 240). As the Cyborg realizes this, it becomes a postmodern masterpiece of communication analysis, allowing all of us to occupy the space of praxis beside it (Halberstam 485).

Much research was done to formulate the arguments within this text. Eleven scholarly articles and book chapters were picked as the basis for this paper. In these various articles and texts, several themes were found to be overarchingly included in the author's arguments and explanations. These themes include, but are not limited too: submission and dominance, fear of technology, sensuality as violence, cyberspace/Cyborg/technology used as a tool to (re)construct gender, blurring of boundaries, the mind/body split and how it was used against women, postmodernity as a problem/liberator, and transcending the body to nullify gender.

This may seem to be quite a diversified listing of themes. But upon closer inspection with a Cyborgian perspective, we can see how they are interwoven. The remainder of this paper will explore the connections between the above themes. The first pairing to be explored is the concepts of dominance and submission, sensuality as violence, the mind/body split and how it's been used to repress women, and finally, transcending the body.

When Descartes first conceived of the mind/body split, it was seen as a way to transcend the body into the realm of the purely rational mind (I think, therefore, I am). However, the problem that arose from his concept was this: men were seen to be the rational creatures (the mind), while women were seen as being firmly rooted in the body. The body, which was once considered to be the home of Truth, suddenly became associated with shame, sin, and sensuality. This is not to say that it hadn't been before; however, after men were safely outside the body and encamped firmly in the rational mind, the body itself (women) could be flagellated more than ever before because the dominant half of the species was "above" it (McAleer 400).

The idea of dominance and submission fits nicely into the mind/body split concept. The dominant rational mind was expected to rule over the submissive, although sometimes rebellious, body (Gamble 6). The idea of sensuality as violence is explored in several of the selected essays for this paper. But Haraway and McAleer do the most thorough explorations of it. The body is seen as the seat of the metaphysical battle of sensuality and reason. However, it is only Haraway who seeks sensuality in her analysis. She calls for reclamation of pleasure and a responsibility in producing it (Haraway 158).

Reclamation in and of itself is not a new concept. But, within Feminism, it is a revolutionary one nonetheless. In Feminism there is both a call for reclamation of the body in addition to the mind as well as for a blurring of the boundaries between the various genders (Cwikel 179). The use of Cyberspace and the Cyborg as the tools to accomplish these goals is well documented.

What is interesting to note is the fear that several of the authors both give in too and critique in relation to cyberspace, the Cyborg, technology, and the way in which these may blur boundaries. Two of the articles mention the gendering of technology. In one, the author speaks to the way that technology is used as the indicator of that technologies gender. She gave participants in her study the option of labeling a mobile phone male, female, or neuter. Depending on color, size, and what the phone was described as being used primarily for all contributed to how the participants gendered it (Mortberg 165).

For instance, if the phone was small, brightly colored and described as being primarily for entertainment purposes (not business) then the participants labeled it as female. If the phone was larger, less brightly colored and used for business, it would be described as male. The advocating by Feminism for technology to blur boundaries is problematic in this situation because of the social structures that contribute to socialization such as the education system, the religious constructs of the society, etc...

However, boundaries can be blurred in other ways. Postmodernism itself calls for a "decentering," a way of seeing multiplicities and critiquing the social systems of oppression by seeing the linking's between them. The Cyborg and Postmodernity go hand in hand because the Cyborg is itself a creature of the Postmodern age. The Cyborg is "decentered." It is still rooted in history, but it sees the multiplicity of the Postmodern world.

By using the Cyborg as an analysis technique, we are able to see in all directions at once. This blurs the boundaries for us. And if we subscribe to Wendy Brown's arguments, then boundaries can not only be blurred, but they can be obliterated. In Brown's analysis of why many Feminists fear Postmodernity and its moving away from a stable notion of "woman" points out that there has never been a widely agreed upon, much less stable, concept of woman (Brown 125).

Brown calls for the throwing away of confession as Truth, and of Feminism's playing of the "moral high card" for the wrongs done to women (Brown 130). Instead, Brown advocates a turning to the purely political (Brown 128). This blurs boundaries for many Feminists. How can one work both within and outside of a system to change its practices?

By being a Cyborg of course! While there were many different themes identified in these various articles, the overarching metatheme (if one can use that term in Postmodern times) was that the Cyborg, while frightening in its implications, is also the most powerful liberator that we can imagine. Occupying a space of praxis allows us to theorize and practice, to blur boundaries, and to make our own rules by examining the old ones and deciding what, where, and how to reject the unjust among the societal structures that govern our lives.

Works Cited

Brown, Wendy. "Feminist Hesitations, Postmodern Exposures." Prosthetic Territories: Politics and Hypertechnologies. Ed. Brahm, Gabriel Jr., & Driscoll, Mark. Oxford: Westview Press, 1995. 112-130.

Cwikiel, AgnieszkaBeyond Gender: FemaleCyborg: Some Troubles with Gender." , 2000: 177-186.. "

Gamble, Sarah. "Gender and Science in Charlotte Haldane's Man's World." Journal of Gender Studies 13(2004): 3-13.

Halberstam, Judith. "Automating Gender: Postmodern Feminism in the Age of the Intelligent Machine." Theorizing feminism: Parallel trends in the Humanities and Social Sciences. 2nd ed. Ed. Herrmann, Anne C., & Stewart, Abigail J. Boulder: Westview Press, 2001. 482-500.

Haraway, Donna. "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century." Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. Boulder: Westview Press, 1991. 149-181.

Helmers, Margurite. "Gender/Authority, Teacher/Critic." Conference on College Composition and Communication (1998): 9-18.

Lucek, Linda E. "Women in Cyberspace." Eyes on the Future: Converging Images, Ideas and Institution. Chicago: Visual Literacy Association, 1995. 1-10.

McAleer, Graham J. "Jesuit Sensuality and Feminist Bodies." Modern Theology 18:3 (2002): 395-404.

Mortberg, Christina. "Heterogeneous Image of (Mobile) Technologies and Services: A Feminist Contribution." NORA 11 (2003): 158-168.

O'Sullivan, Jane. "Cyborg or Goddess: Postmodernism and its Others in John Fowler's Mantissa." College Literature 30.3 (2003): 109-124.

Van Loon, Joost. "Technological Sensibilites and the Cyberpolitics of Gender: Donna Haraway's Postmodern Feminism." Innovation: The European Journal of Social Sciences 9 (1996): 231-243.Gender in Film & the Media