Cyborg or Goddess?

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Cyborg or Goddess?
Donna Haraway
A Presentation By Jay M. Gipson-King Katheryn
Wright Gender, Authority, and the Politics of
Representation in Science Art July 20, 2004
Edited By Dr. Picart Associate Professor of
English Courtesy Associate Professor of Law
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Class Aims

• Explain Haraways 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 Haraways cyborg mythology with modern
  feminism.

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Informatics of Domination

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

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Informatics of dominationa 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
  ______.

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Cyborg or Goddess?

• What is Haraways 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 Haraways choice?

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Discussion Questions

• Which would you rather be, a cyborg or a goddess?
• Do you think Haraways call for cyborg imagery
  works on a practical level, or is it merely a
  beautiful idea?
• How does Haraway critique other forms of
  feminism?

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

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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. lthttp//www.echonyc.com/janedoe/wri
  ting/manifesto.htmlgt
• Schlöndorff, Volker. The Handmaids Tale.
  Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, Aidan Quinn,
  Robert Duvall. (Bioskop Films/ MGM, 1990).