Qn 6: Haraway's 'Manifesto' is a political text generated from socialist feminism of the 1980s. In what ways have feminists taken up her radical ideas since then?
Source 1: Squires, Judith. Fabulous Feminist Futures And The Lure Of Cyberculture The Cybercultures Reader, (2000) (accessed 1 September 2010)
This source is a chapter from a book reproduced electronically, titled 'The Cybercultures Reader'. It is a thesis on feminism in cyberculture, backed by references and quotes from other scholarly sources, and thus can be considered a scholarly source appropriate as a piece of research material. In this article, Squires discusses how cyborg culture impacted society, especially with regards to feminism. The section relevant to the essay question elaborates on cyborg culture and feminism by analysing Haraway's 'Manifesto'.
Squires theorises that “cyberfeminists” as depicted by Haraway are postmodern creatures able to adapt to science and technology, attempting to move beyond the female body to attain the level of autonomy of self. Squires also concludes that Haraway's 'Manifesto' encourages feminists to come to terms and work in conjunction with the world they currently exist in rather than attempt to strive for a different world, a view promoted by “eco-feminists” popular during Haraway's time. Squires then uses her interpretation of Haraway's ideas to decry the eco-feminist's view as being an escapist vision. Finally, Squires states that Haraway's vision is a realistic attempt at realising the socialist-feminist vision.
Source 2: Munkittrick, Kyle. On The Importance Of Being A Cyborg Feminist H+ Magazine, (21 July 2009) (accessed 3 September 2010)
This source is an article in an online magazine, and might not be considered as formally scholarly. However, it uses references and quotes to scholarly sources and prominent figures in the field of feminism, although it does not provide direct links to the sources it quotes, being a magazine article. The author is an academic in the field of transhumanism with a focus on gender. Finally, being a thesis on Haraway's Manifesto and how Haraway's ideas have been applied, it is an adequate source for the essay question with properly scholarly authority.
In his article, Munkittrick proposes that cyberfeminism is important to transhumanism as the problems transhumanists will face in the future are problems that cyberfeminists currently face. Munkittrick also states that for cyberfeminists to move beyond the limits of biology, they must first overcome the limits of society. Although Munkittrick generally uses Haraway's 'Manifesto' as an analogy for transhumanism rather than feminism in his article, he does conclude that for cyberfeminism to proceed, it has to deconstruct the mindsets of the past and create a change in social standards and cultural norms.
Source 3: Hawthorne, Susan. Cyborgs, Virtual Bodies And Organic Bodies: Theoretical Feminist Responses Cyberfeminism: Connectivity, Creativity And Creativity, (1999) (accessed 4 September 2010)
This source, similar to the first source, is a chapter from a book reproduced electronically titled 'Cyberfeminism: Connectivity, Creativity And Creativity'. This source quotes extensively from various sources that it references in-text and in footnotes. Despite heavy quoting, it still proposes new theories related to the essay question and is a valid scholarly source. In the source, Hawthorne challenges Haraway's concept of cyborg feminism by stressing that cyborgs originate from human minds and virtual realities will always be limited by human minds.
Although Hawthorne depicts Haraway's 'Manifesto' in a negative light, she highlights how feminists have promoted her ideas, albeit by deconstructing their methods. Hawthorne mentions that another feminist, Zoe Sofia, claims that the email reduces the self to text, carrying on Haraway's idea that the cyborg is without gender. She also mentions that the gender bending is a prominent feature in virtual realities. Finally, I shall use this source to highlight how feminists have taken up Haraway's ideas by comparing Hawthorne's arguments against Haraway's 'Manifesto' with other sources. For example, Hawthorne states that cyborg theorists embrace virtual realities instead of developing knowledge about the physical self, which is actually contrary to many feminists' beliefs of what Haraway stated in her 'Manifesto', like Squires in her article as stated above.
Source 4: Wilding, Faith. Where Is The Feminism In Cyberfeminism? (1998) (accessed 6 September 2010)
This source is an online article by Wilding as a reflection on a cyberfeminist international conference. The article can be considered a scholarly source as it was written by a notable figure in the world of feminism with scholarly references to both books and online articles. The article is relevant to the essay question as it discusses the steps cyberfeminism should take in order to reach out and gain influence while applying Haraway's ideas. Although the article is 12 years old and some points it brings up is irrelevant in today's context, the main concepts it bring forward are still very applicable to today's feminist world and should be considered.
Wilding states that the internet is a traditionally masculine place with deep-set biases that are both sexist and racist, and a cyberfeminist should not expect it to be a utopia of non-gender. She also states that cyberfeminists should network with other feminists if they wish to avoid the mistakes of past feminists. She also discusses about “cybergrrls” and other “grrl” groups, third-wave feminists and how they unthinkingly recirculate sexist and sterotyped images of women in popular media, like supersexed cyborg femmes. Wilding then proposes that cyberfeminists should create more complex images of women breaking the gender sterotypes prevalent on the internet, giving examples like Haraway's cyborgs.
Source 5: Schuurman, Nadine. Women And Technology In Geography: A Cyborg Manifesto For GIS The Canadian Geographer (2002) (accessed 8 September 2010)
My final source is an article from a scientific journal reprinted online. The source is a research report by a Professor working in Geography Information Science (referred to as GIS in the article). Facts and quotes in the article are referenced extensively and thorougly, and being a research report, it is factual and a valid scholarly source. This source is relevant to the essay question as it applies concepts proposed by Haraway's 'Manifesto' to why gender equality should apply to Geography Information Science.
In the report, Schuurman states her interpretation of Haraway's Manifesto with the theory that cyborgs are the result of a human/machine interface, and that GIS in itself is a cyborg.Schuurman also interprets Haraway's 'Manifesto' as stating that cyborgs have materialistic qualities, and that people are responsible for deciding the characteristics of the cyborg. With these theories, Schuurman then concludes that a more feminist cyborg will make GIS and human geography a more equitable place for not only women, but many underrepresented groups – an important factor when dealing with human geography, thus setting up a need for gender equality and feminism in the field of GIS.
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