Cyborg or Goddess?

Donna Haraway:

A Presentation By: Jay M. Gipson-King & Katheryn Wright Gender, Authority, and the Politics of Representation in Science & ArtJuly 20, 2004

Edited By: Dr. PicartAssociate Professor of EnglishCourtesy Associate Professor of Law

Class Aims Explain Haraway’s unique definition of “cyborg,” especially

as it applies as a social metaphor.

Identify the pitfalls of our traditional categories of difference and emphasize the importance of embracing our ‘fractured identities.’

Understand the ‘informatics of domination.’

Illustrate what a ‘homework economy’ is and its potential dangers.

Integrate Haraway’s cyborg mythology with modern feminism.

Informatics of Domination

What would the politics that embraces fractured identities and complex networks of connections look like?

Informatics of domination…a little game

What terms in the blank replace the old dichotomies found in traditional hierarchical systems…

For example… When I say representation, you say simulation! Heat becomes ______. Reproduction changes to _______. Biological determinism becomes _______. Racial chain of being transforms into ________. Public/private to _________. Nature/ culture becomes _________. Sex changes to _________. Mind becomes ____________. White capitalist patriarchy transforms into ______.

Cyborg or Goddess? What is Haraway’s overall definition of

the term, “cyborg”?

What are the connotations of the term, “a goddess”?

What are the connotations of the term, “the Goddess”?

What, then, is Haraway’s choice?

Discussion QuestionsWhich would you rather be, a cyborg

or a goddess?

Do you think Haraway’s call for cyborg imagery works on a practical level, or is it merely a “beautiful idea”?

How does Haraway critique other forms of feminism?

Discussion questions In light of our readings in hooks and Schiebinger,

how does Haraway handle the issue of race? Can cyborg imagery apply to groups other than white, middle-class women?

Do gender-bending characters like Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch or Rocky from The Rocky Horror Picture Show relate to Haraway’s cyborg?

Where does art fit into this analysis? What role does it play in the constitution of the cyborg, or does it?

References Haraway, Donna. “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science,

Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century,” Simians, Cyborgs, Women: The Reinvention of Nature (New York: Routledge, 1991). 149-182.

Moore, Michael. Bowling for Columbine. (Dog Eat Dog Films, 2002).

Senft, Theresa M. "Reading Notes on Donna Haraway's 'Cyborg Manifesto.'" 21 Dec. 01. Viewed 17 July 2004. <http://www.echonyc.com/~janedoe/writing/manifesto.html>

Schlöndorff, Volker. The Handmaid’s Tale. Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, Aidan Quinn, Robert Duvall. (Bioskop Films/ MGM, 1990).