Please check out your colleagues' sites!

Dear G370ers,

Several people have created blogs or wikis for their final projects. Please check out the following links and leave comments for your colleagues - they have asked for feedback and would benefit from your comments. We'll also discuss these in class this week.

Antoinette:
http://ajl12385.blogspot.com/

Mackenzie:
http://german370student.blogspot.com/

Jess:
http://eugenicsblog.blogspot.com/

Kit:
http://kkooiker.wikispaces.com/

Jenna:
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~jemiller/abjection/

Let me know if I've forgotten anyone here - I simply copied links from emails I'd received, so if you have a blog or website that's not listed here, please let me know!

NB: Also, see our Calendar for the list of who's presenting which day. I look forward to everyone sharing their work!

Hey people!

Hey guys. My final is in a blog. Here's the link. Please feel free to leave comments and feedback, that'd be great. Let me know if it doesn't work right or doesn't let you post.

GATTACA & Posthuman Bodies

GATTACA

This 1997 film takes place in a future where humans who aren't genetically engineered (in-valids) are considered less than those who are (the apparent majority). Parents are able to pick the "best of the best" of their own genes for their unborn children. At birth a simple blood test can determine the exact cause and date of death as well as any disease probability.
Vincent was an unplanned "faith" child whose older brother was engineered. He has a heart condition the doctors said would kill him by age 30. He has terrible eyesight. However, he manages to fake his own death in order to be "reborn" as one Jerome Morrow, a "9.3" product of generic engineering who was crippled in a foreign country in, as he later reveals, a failed suicide attempt. Since the crippling took place elsewhere, he isn't crippled on record, and he basically stays out of the public and hands his identity, skin cells and all, over to Vincent.
Vincent goes to crazy measures to become Jerome so he can work at Gattaca (some sort of hi-tech space company) and eventually become an astronaut. Almost instantly he is accepted and begins training and testing. Then the mission organizer dies and the mission is rescheduled for the following week. Vincent and his lover, Irene, the only one who knows his real identity, narrowly escape the murder detectives (who found a trace of his real DNA and are relentlessly testing everyone's blood, including in random public places) both at a soirée and at Vincent and Jerome's own home. Just before the flight leaves, Vincent reveals himself both to the doctor at work (who has apparently known all along) and to the police detective, who turns out to be his own brother. The two brothers decide to duke it out with another round of the game "chicken," and Vincent proves that it's his own crazy "human spirit" that has enabled him to defeat his brother more than one time. (Theme: mind over matter...?)
In the end, Vincent leaves on the mission and poor alcoholic Jerome burns himself alive in a furnace.

key terms

de-gene-erate: someone who was born naturally without engineering
valid: someone born with predetermined genes
borrowed ladder: someone who uses another person's DNA and identity


questions

1. Have they really not found a way to fix a broken back yet? What about heart conditions? Eyesight? Pretty impressive (or pathetic) considering the other accomplishments.

2. Did Vincent just disappear to his family, or did he and his brother just lose contact? In the last scenes it seemed like it had been years since they'd last met.

3. How about the scene where his parents decide Anton's gender and looks? Why do they object to choosing the rest of his traits?

4. Does the fact that you know a son is going to be sickly make a parent love him any less? Or is the father just heartless? He refuses to name Vincent after himself after finding out Vincent's problems.

5. So which is better, genetically engineered, or leaving it to fate? Where does one draw the line?



Reproducing the Posthuman Body by Susan M. Squier

Squier describes the posthuman reproductive body in conjunction with the postmodern reproductive body. She says that the main characteristic all definitions of postmodernism have in common is the "de-naturing" factor. This factor can be seen in several works of fiction including Frankenstein and even in a non-fictional government report in Australia. The image of the posthuman reproductive body is best represented by a pregnant man, a surrogate mother, and the ectogenic fetus. She argues that separation of the fetus from the mother-to-be is a main characteristic of the representation of posthuman reproductive bodies. For example, in Romanticism the mother is seen as a machine rather than a main caretaker, nourisher and protector. Postmodernism suggests that the roles are purely social and can be performed by anyone, thereby devaluing the female and taking away her only politically recognized power. Different authors compare the separation of the mother from the fetus in various works of literature as Romantic, Machiavellian, Nietzsche, etc. Squier basically explains the representation of posthuman reproductive bodies in postmodern texts in comparison to other texts.


key terms

copula: a word or set of words that acts as a connecting link between the subject and predicate of a proposition; something that links together
Zona drilling: confusing method of in-vitro fertilization (IVF)
AID: artificial insemination with a donor's sperm
iatrogenic: (of a medical disorder) caused by the diagnosis, manner, or treatment of a physician
obstetrical: of or pertaining to the care and treatment of women in childbirth and during the period before and after delivery
epigenesis: the theory that an embryo develops from the successive differentiation of an originally undifferentiated structure


questions

1. Who in the world actually reads that much into 19th-century epigenesis? Is this THAT valid? "The fetus as the perfect bourgeois subject-- it makes itself, and so is neither simply the inheritor of paternal power nor the commodity-like product of its mother's labor." Who in the world was thinking that at that time?

2. What are the "representations" in all the different time periods that Squier keeps mentioning? Are we limited to literature here or is there actual discourse on the topic from these eras? Is it all retrospection?

3. In an age where machines were idealized, a woman was looked at as a machine, and this is somehow marginalizing her? I don't get it.

4. The definition of "postmodernism as de-naturing" doesn't ring true to me. Does that imply that postmodern feminists are trying to be something they aren't naturally?

5. "Science is not objective, it is projective." I'm pretty sure science is just a way of organizing reality, not constructing it. This person is going a little overboard, right?



Comments


This article is WAY TOO NITPICKY AND ANALYTICAL for me. Blah. I likened it to Creed's article on the crazy stuff apparently going on in "Alien."

Gattaca
This film was based on the use of genetic engineering becoming the norm for childbirth, where a mother and father can choose the sex of the child and create a "super human" that surpasses the qualities of any naturally born child. The film was set in the near future and follows the main character Ethan Hawk, who was born naturally, through his experiences of trying to be accepted as an equal to the genetically enhanced. He adopts the life of Jerome Morrow, a genetically engineered human, in order to be accepted to finally fly into space as he dreamed his entire life.
Posthuman Bodies
In this text the author cited many literary examples of "reproductive technology" used in postmodern literature, such as Mary Shelley's Frankentstein and also Robin Cook's Mutation. The examples that Squier cited mostly dealt with these three images that she felt molded the idea of "reproductive technology", the ectogenetic fetus, surrogate mother, and the pregnant man. Squier ends the text with the conclusion that these three images "overshadow and repress" the pregnant female body.

Terms Ectogenesis- gestation outside the body of a woman in an artificial uterus.
Reproductive Technology- new ways of reproducing humans ranging from the actual to the hypothetical.
Sugar- the surrogate mother in Jolley's The Sugar Mother.
Embryology- The science dealing with the formation, development, structure, and functional activities of embryos.
Theory of Epigenesis- the notion that an embryo develops from lesser to greater organization in the course of gestation.

• Do you think that the existence of the three images that Squiers cites in contemporary literature overshadows and suppresses the pregnant female body?
• If it became the norm to be genetically engineered in our society do you think people be so judgmental and prejudice of the naturally born humans such as in Gattaca?
• Why do you think in The Sugar Mother they refer to the surrogate mother as "sugar"?
• If ever faced with the question of whether or not your child would be genetically engineered to be the best human you can create or to gamble with natural childbirth, which would you choose?
  

Posthuman Body and Gattaca

Posthuman Bodies
The article by Squier talks about how reproduction has been converted at the boundaries of the posthuman. Discussing the effects of growing children in tubes, or implanting a fetus in a man. The three main things she focuses on are "the extrauterine fetus, the surrogate mother, and the pregnant man." Squier explains how our new technologies have a "crucial role" in our social and cultural boundaries. By using examples of this such as Frankenstein or Brave New World, Squier shows that during the late 18th through early 19th centuries people began to think of a woman's ability to reproduce more machine like.

Gattaca
In the movie Gattaca, Vincent a born "in-valid" with a genetic defect is denied his dream of being an astronaut. Because he has a defect, he is not allowed to hold certain jobs or have children with certain "valid" people. He meets Jerome, a "valid" who is crippled, and helps Vincent to take over his identity, so he can have a good life. It follows Vincent from getting surgery to be Jerome's height, to giving Vincent DNA and urine bags to prove he is a "valid. Vincent eventually gets ready to leave on a mission in space when the director is murdered and DNA of Vincent is found in the building. He then has to hide his true self even better, and trying to keep a relationship with Irene. In the end he is allowed to go to space after Anton his older brother and Vincent swim out as far as they can in the ocean like when they were children. Vincent wins again of course, proving that even with his defect he can still beat a "perfect" person. Jerome kills himself in the end after leaving enough samples of his DNA for Vincent allowing him to fully take over his life. The doctor in the end before Vincent is allowed on the shuttle knows he's an "in-valid" but doesn't alert the police because his own son is an "in-valid" and allows Vincent to live his dream and go into space.

Vocab
malthusian couple- believes that the population will increase without moral restraint or disasterextrauterine- outside the uterus (ex: test tube babies)
epistemologies - branch of philosophy concerned with nature and scope of knowledge ectogenesis- development outside the uterus (ex: infants requiring medical assistance to develop)

Questions
Are test tube babies and help for women to reproduce really that shocking?
Why is it seem to be bad to think of the body as a machine?Why is everything always relate to male power?! Would it not give women more power?
Are children born in test tubes, or helped to start their lives with technologies genetically altered? Or not fully human?

Gattaca and Posthuman Bodies

Posthuman Bodies
This reading talks about the movement towards a new type of “reproductive technology”, as the text states. Throughout the piece the author calls on multiple different literary texts that cover the idea of this. All the pieces display this in different ways. The first work discussed was Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. This was valid for its discussion of the male as a “mother” or “creator”. One piece, The Passion of New Eve, is about the idea of “the pregnant man”. Even though originally a man, there were surgeries that turned him into a biological female. Another piece talks about the surrogate mother, this one is titled The Sugar Mother. There are a few others talked about, but they all come down to the idea of a more “productive and pleasurable models for reproducing the posthuman body.”
Gattaca
This film takes place in the “not-too-distant future”. It fallows the life of Vincent. He is a “god-child” meaning he was created the “natural way” or at least what we view as natural. This made it so that he was predisposed to heart disease along with a great deal of other genetic problems, with a life expectancy of 30 years. This automatically makes him a second class citizen. He has a younger brother that was genetically designed and considered to be his superior in many ways. There is always a rivalry between the two. Vincent adopts the identity of Jerome Marrow so that he can go after his dream of becoming an astronaut. This requires blood, urine, skin, and many other body samples so that he can pass countless tests presented everyday to him. A murder takes place where he works and all that he has worked for comes very close to being destroyed. He falls in love with Uma Thurman and develops a friendship with Jude Law. In the end Vincent makes it to space, and Jerome kills himself.
Vocab
Iatrogenic- induced inadvertently by a physician, surgeon, or medical treatment
Obstetrical- relating to childbirth
Continuity- uninterrupted succession or union
Ectogenesis- development outside the body (dictionary.reference.com)
Recapitulation- a concise summary
Reinscribes- to reestablish or rename
-all other definitions were found at merriam-webster.com/dictionary
Questions
Who were the biological parents of the alien?
Which is more defining, sex or gender?
Why does society view this genetically engineered as glamorous?
Do you think this idea came about as a way for men to be truly “in power”?

Squier Text

This text discusses how social and cultural conditions shape how we think about reproduction and identity construction. Reproductive technology has shifted from a something deemed as hypothetical to an actual medical practice, and with that construction the issues of gender identity and sexual identity are blurred. The texts goes on to explore different literary representations of reproduction through Frankenstein and its interpretation of how the woman's body is a machine that produces new human beings, and the concept of test-tube babies from the Brave New World. Through the stories Mutation, The Sugar Mother, and The Passion of New Eve, the idea of posthumanism is overtly depicted. These stories follow many different and very disturbing human/fetus/gender/sex experiments as to which the main characters find or gain some kind of extra power or insight into the unknown.

Terms:
-Epigenesis: the notion that an embryo develops from lesser to greater organization in the course of gestation.
-Preformation: the notion that an embryo is a static, preformed, miniature entity, somewhat lkike the homunculus.
-Homunculus:a diminutive human being.
-Ectogenetic: gestation outside a womans body in an artificial uterus.
-Absconded: obscuring something from view or rendering it inconspicuous

Questions:
-Is surrogacy still a common occurance? Is it still a hushed subject? Why is it not more common or publicly discussed? Or is it and I just haven't heard?
-Does social influences occur even before birth?
-Does nature vs nurture play a role in these concepts?
-What would it mean for our society to have the option of choosing our childrens genetic makeup?

The medical construction of gender: case management of intersexed infants.

This article looks at what happens when infants are born intersexed. It is based on interviews with six doctors who deal with intersexed infants. It looks at how sex is determined based mostly on how sexual organs will function and appear. If an infant is chromosomally born a female then she will be made into a female regardless of sexual organs but if an infant is born chromosomally male then it depends on how sexual organs will function whether the baby is assigned to be a male or a female. This article talks about how the general assumption with these infants is that they will adopt the gender of the sex they are prescribed yet this assumption is not held with non intersexed babies then the assumption is that there is something intrinsically male or female about them. It also looks at how society demands that we put babies in either a male or a female category and that in our society there are only two categories to be placed in.

The challenges of transgendered identity: the end of gender as we know it?

This article looks at how gender and sex are related or unrelated in a postmodern world. It looks at transgender and also intersexed babies to look at how much is nature versus how much is nurture.

Vocabulary

Intersexed- An infant born with ambiguous genatalia is intersexed

Hermaphrodite- Physically sex is ambiguous.

Gender- The cultural roles of male and female

Sex- The physical difference between male and female

Gender identity- Ones own sense of belonging to a certain gender

Gender role- Societies expectations of gender.

Questions

Why is it so important in our society to know the gender?

Why do we have such strict gender roles?

What does this article say about the idea that gender is an intrinsic characteristic?

Why is it important that we know gender as soon as possible?

What is the link between sex and gender?

Chanter and Kessler

I. Descriptions
*Chanter’s “The Challenge of Transgendered Identity: The End of Gender as We Know It?”
Chanter’s introduction describes the changes in sexuality as technology has advanced. The author provides how cultures dictate gender. This text mentions what gender means in our culture by providing examples of our society color-coding clothing and rooms, the expectations we set for the male and female genders, our expectations of behavior, etc. Chanter discusses Ma vie en rose (My life in pink), a Belgian film by Alain Berliner. In this particular film, Ludovic, a seven-year-old boy wants to be female. “He identifies as a girl, he wants to wear dresses and look pretty, he wants to play Snow White in the school play, and he wants to marry Jerome.” Christine Delphy, a feminist theorist, asks “when we posit the distinction between sex and gender are we comparing something natural with something social or something social that also turns out to be social?” The text concludes with the thought that science is ideologically driven and that the definitions of the male and female genders are not clear through science. Rather, it is culture that interprets what it means to be male or female.

*Kessler’s “The Medical Construction of Gender: Case Management of Intersexed Infants”
In her text, Suzanne Kessler discusses her interviews with six medical experts, all of whom are in the field of pediatric intersexuality. The text brings forth the arguments about changing a child’s gender at birth based on what is already present and what doctors see as healthy for the baby. Kessler discusses the problems gender identity can pose immediately on the parents, the doctors and later in life with the children. The medical experts say doctors should be careful when telling parents about the gender identity problems of their child. Experts say that parents should not feel obligated to name their child (children) until after a gender is determined. The text also includes a discussion about how physicians should not include their personal thoughts into their job. Like Chanter’s text, Kessler suggests that society plays a role in determining gender identity and cultural meaning.

II. Terms
*Chanter
Transgender- a person appearing or attempting to be a member of the opposite sex, as a transsexual or habitual cross-dresser. (dictionary.com)
Hermaphroditism- The presence of both ovarian and testicular tissue in an individual. (American Heritage Stedman’s Medical Dictionary)
*Kessler
Pseudohermaphroditism- A state in which an individual possesses the internal reproductive organs of one sex while exhibiting some of the external physical characteristics of the opposite sex. Also called false hermaphroditism. (American Heritage Stedman’s Medical Dictionary)
Endocrinology- The study of the glands and hormones of the body and their related disorders. (American Heritage Dictionary)

III. Questions/comments
*Chanter
(page 3) “Gender is always already lived, gestural, corporeal, culturally mediated and historically constituted.” What is meant by this?
(page 4) It was interesting that the author pointed out Berliner’s film, but what should we take from that? What does the film teach us about society’s reactions to transsexuality?
(page 5) Delphy confused me – anyone care to translate?

*Kessler
What are the costs involved in gender reassignment?
I didn’t see any figures as to how many babies go through this. Did anyone see these?
(page 17) “In the care of intersexed infants, the physicians merely provide the right genitals to go along with the socialization.” What do you think this means? Why?
If a baby is born with a perfect penis and normal female reproductive gonads, why does it have to be a male? (page 20) “good penis equals male; absence of good penis equals penis.”
Interesting that this article looked at the concerns of the doctors and the ways they should phrase the problems/concerns to the parents.

Transgendered

The Challenge of Transgendered Identity: The End of Gender as We Know It?

This article deals with the issue of gender as a social construct that leaves no room for those who are transgendered. With the growing number of individuals who do not identify with the sex they are born with, it is forcing society to take a look at what it means to be male and what it means to be female and how we can begin takeing down what has become normalized by western society.

The Medical Construction of Gender: Case Management of Intersexed Children

This article deals with the medical side of infants born with both sexs...or rather one sex that can not be identified externally. Within the article we see how the medical world handles these situations, and the theory that infants that will be assigned the sex as male be sergically altered as soon as possible, and females later. The theory supports its reasonings for assigning a sex early, so that the parents can raise the infant properly in its gender role. However, this thoery does not account for those who do not feel they are the gender they were once assigned, and it completely (in some cases) disregards the presence of testosteron and makes that infant a female so as to avoid future embarassment due to a small penis. This article than discusses the social pressures put upon by both parents and docotors to say what the gender is, and its because of this pressure that many of the problems regarding a proper assignment is made.

Terms:
1) Proliferation: the growth or production of cells by multiplication of parts
2) Circuitous(ly): roundabout; not direct
3) Ineffable: incapable of being expressed or described in words; inexpressible: ineffable joy.
4) Teleologically (teleology): the study of the evidences of design or purpose in nature

Questions:

1) Is gender ambiguous?
2) In regards to Money's theory on gender assignment...should this theory be revisited with our current technology, and new guidlines be set in place?
3) How can we begin to change the social normalization of gender to include those of transgendered?
4) I might have missed this, but why not x-ray the infant to determine if there is a uterous or a scrutom that hasn't fallen in a boy?
5) Should surgical re-assignment be granted at a later stage in life so that mistakes aren't made?

Man having another baby

Thought this was interesting and it fits what we're discussing now!
Check out this link (you'll have to cut and paste it into the URL box):

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/offbeat/2008/11/14/moos.pregnant.man.cnn

Chanter and Kessler

The Chanter introduction offers interesting opinions and many questions concerning transgendered individuals and the cultural norms surrounding gender. Chanter discusses the problems that many non-traditional gender-oriented persons face in todays society. Using several examples, including a Belgian film from 1997, such problems are displayed and spelled out. The summary of the film speaks of a seven year old boy struggling to be who he is, which he feels is a female.

The Kessler article discusses what it means to be an intergendered individual. Much of the article focusses on how intergendered diagnoses are made, using interviews with specialists who often have trouble forming a grammatically correct sentence (maybe it was just me...?). These specialists share experiences they have with families who bear intergendered children and how 'correction' in handled.

pseudohermaphrodite- an individual having internal reproductive organs of one sex and external sexual characteristics resembling those of the other sex or being ambiguous in nature.
gender identity- (from Kessel pg. 5) one's sense of oneself as belonging to the female or male category
gender role- (from Kessel pg. 5) cultural expectations of one's behavior as "appropriate" for a female or male
intersexual- pertaining to or having the characteristics of both sexes
transsexual- a person having a strong desire to assume the physical characteristics and gender role of the opposite sex OR a person who has undergone hormone treatment and surgery to attain the physical characteristics of the opposite sex.

Kessler-
Given that children are born NATURALLY with both reproductive organs, doesn't that nullify the argument that there are only two natural genders?

Why is it deemed a necessity that the issue of intersex be resolved? Is this purely a cultural thing?

According to page 8, "Although physicians speculate about the possible early childhood "castration" memory, there is no corresponding concern that vaginal reconstruclayed beyond the neonatal period is traumatic.", why do you think that is? Is someone only looking for male distress and spending too much time with Freud?

Is a mistaken gender diagnosis as referenced on page 9 perhaps symbolizing that intersexual children are mistakes of nature?

Chanter-

How young do you think a child can identify as transsexual? The author does not specify an age, simply says 'from a very young age'.

Does color coding children really have the huge effect that it used to in modern society? There has been so much effort neutralize everything for babies that perhaps as a society we've gone overboard...

How do we culturally differentiate sex and gender? Does Chanter have the right idea? (pg. 2)

Nose is a Country

Hello everyone--

A month or so ago when we were reading "The Jewish Nose" I mentioned that I'd read a poem about a woman who had had her nose damaged by Dr. Fleiss after Freud referred her to him. He'd told her she needed to have her nose operated on because she was "hysterical" (prone to mood swings) and masturbated.

Anyway I found the poem in a book. You can read it here: Nose is a Country by Aishe Berger.

Reminder: Label your posts!

Hi all,

Just a quick reminder to label your posts.  When I assign grades for abstracts, I check your label to access all your posts.  Some of you should notice you only have a 1 or 2 next to your name in the left-hand menu of class members - By the end of the semester, you should have at least 5 (we did 2 "practice" abstracts, which count toward class participation, and you should do a total of 3 "formal" [graded] abstracts).

Be sure to use the same name (not "name" and "~name" and "fullname" and "nickname" and "firstnamelastname") for each post, otherwise your posts won't all show up under the same label.

You can go back to old posts and edit them to add a label.

Vielen Dank!

"Material Girl" and Body Worlds

Body Worlds:
Gunther von Hagens discovered the effect of reactive polymers (basically a type of plastics) on dead bodies. With this technology he is able to preserve them, seemingly indefinitely.
These exhibits now tour Europe as well as North America. Hagen says "The Human Body is the last remaining nature in a man made environment."

Material Girl:
This reading covered a large spectrum of things, ranging from plastic surgery to philosophy. The beginning talks about this new-ish idea of constantly striving to "look better" and "be more attractive." The ways in which this is accomplished varies. For some it is perming their hair, others breast augmentation, and still other use colored contacts. The reading presents the historic stereotype of being "brainwashed to think blond hair and blue eyes are the most beautiful of all." This idea of a superior and inferior idea of body beauty can be seen all across the spectrum.
The second part of the reading focuses on discourse that has been presented between different feminists, philosophers, and just some opinionated others. The ultimate argument made is that of power. Who has the power? How is the power distributed? Does the power even exist? One argument is that individuals have more power over themselves than the media and are able to make their own decisions when it comes to being told how to be. Another is that power is "not held by anyone does not mean that it is equally held by all. This section goes on to talk about they ways in which people challenge the dominant ideals and norms, or at least represent the beauty in difference of certain attributes. They do not however say that everything is beautiful, just certain aspects of, stated in the article, different races.
The last part is about Madonna and her status as a postmodern feminist and heroine. She claims to find ambiguity in her actions because she has the control. She uses the display of her body to be desired while still being in control. The author argues however that this apparent control starts to fail when a viewer looks at the way Madonna has in recent years objectified her body, and in ways played into a stereotype of being thin and fit to be, for lack of a better word, better.

Terms:
hegemony:leadership or predominant influence exercised by one over others
jouissance: to rejoice
postmodern: uses complex forms, fantasy, and allusions to historic styles or idea
pedagogy:the function or art of teaching/being a teacher
anachronistic: something/one that is not in the correct historical time
transgressive:pass over, often times a law, norm, moral code, or comand

Questions:
Did DuraSoft use African American Women in its adds?
What does a comment like "daughters who have no manners" as a negative thing say about our society?
What does "looking better" involve?
What is your opinion of Madonna? Do you agree with the author or Madonna herself, or do you see it completely different?
Is there really "power" as defined in the article? Who holds it?
What classifies the one doctor as not the kind to "just pull and tuck and forget about you"?

Comments:
There were a lot of things that this reading made me think of. One of them is the bathroom door/keyhole argument. Also this idea of surpassing "God the Watchmaker" by sucking fat from our hips and putting it in our hands. I find this culture of thin in certain places and rounded in others, such as your calves, interesting.

Plastic Bodies

"Material Girl"

In this article Bordo discusses issues of the human body in postmodern culture in media and art. She addresses issues of body modification and uses different celebrities, such as Michael Jackson, as examples of what she likes to call "polysurgical addicts" or "scalpel slaves". Part of this discussion was about advertising and its controversial ad campaigns to promote "the perfect bodies" and trying to enforce "normality" and what should be beautiful. The second half of the article is mostly dedicated to Madonna and her ever changing styles that are constantly critiqued whether or not she's portraying her ideas in a positive or negative light. The video for "Open Your Heart to Me" is addressed with an interseting argument on whether or not she was just showing off her body or if she had a positive message to the video.

"Body Worlds"

Body Worlds is an art exhibition and idea created by Gunther Von Hagens in which he plastinates human body parts that will keep them frozen in time. He actually invented the technique of plastination which is pressing the plastic into the cells rather than just encasing the parts with plastic. This allows him to mold the parts and actually create sculptures with them. At first his practice was looked at as very controversial but now is actually catching on more as a new way of teaching biology. Even celebrities find it amazing, here's what Jenifer Aniston had to say, "To BODY WORLDS—I am speechless. This was remarkable. Thank you!". Theres actually a whole list of celebrity quotes about the exhibit on his website because we all know that celebrities are definitely the most credible source of opinion on this subject.

Terms

Plastination- technology for preserving anatomical specimens with the use of reactive polymers developed by Gunther Von Hagens.

Polysurgical addicts or Scalpel Slaves- insecure people typically of the upper class that are obsessed with the idea of a perfect body and use plastic surgery to attempt to achieve that impossible goal.

Male Gaze- the generalized male perspective, which in this case means a perverted objectification of women.

Pigeonholed-to assign to a definite place or to definite places in some orderly system.

Questions:

1) Do you think the message of Madonna's video for "Open Your Heart to Me" was meant to be seen as a positive message or just a way for her to show off her body using the "male gaze"? Younger viewers are very impressionable, how do you think they would view the video?

2) Why is it ok to refer to the objectification of women as the "male gaze"? Isn't this term just suggesting that the every male objectifies women?

3)Why is plastic surgery so controversial, all health risks aside, isn't it just another form of designing the way you look just like getting tatoos, piercings, building muscle, or even the clothes you choose to wear? Body modification has been practiced throughout human history, why do you think that it's now being so criticized?

4) Why do you think The Body World's website chose to use quotes from celebrities instead of using actually credible resources such as scientists, doctors, professors, or artists? Why does the general population give such a shit about what celebrities think?

Body Worlds and Material Girl

Body Worlds

Is an exhibit created by Gunther von Hagens that displays the human body, literally, from the skin to the nuro system. This exhibit features real humans who have died, and through technilogical advances their bodies have been presearved and have created a deeper insight into our bodies.

Material Girl

Looks at the postmodern view of feminity and the dualism between the body, and cultural normalization. Bordo opens by establishing the advancement of technology to create the perfect body through plastic surgery. She furthers her discussions by adding an in-depth look at the racial and historical (at least she states eras such as the 50s to the present) context to what the perfect body is to American culture, and that is of an Anglo saxon, blond hair blue eyed person. Through media advertisments, and culturally accepted 'norms' women have been brainwashed to believe that our bodies are not perfect the way they are made. Bordo takes examples from Foucault to explain the embalance of power among women, especially women of color. She ends by establishing that Madonna is not a postmodern Heroin, for, she too has succumed to the cultural normalization of the female body, and no matter how much she says to the contrary, her body is still on display.

Terms:

Concomitant: existing or occurring with something else, often in a lesser way; accompanying; concurrent: an event and its concomitant circumstances.
Homogenizing: to form by blending unlike elements; make homogeneous.
Vicissitudes: a change or variation occurring in the course of something
Pastiche: a literary, musical, or artistic piece consisting wholly or chiefly of motifs or techniques borrowed from one or more sources.
Jouissance: Jollity; merriment
Misogynist: hatred, dislike, or mistrust of women

Questions:
1. Could it be said that since the polly surgical addics keep coming back that ther is no perfect body?
2. Can make-up, changing hair color, over all look be a way for women to truely cover up who they are...the true self?
3. Do we generalize everythign in order to make the tough question fit in a neat little package that won't change the 'norm' when it comes to body image?
4. Can we change what our society veiws as the norm? Can that difference ever be accepted or will it forever to be shot down as we continue to age.
5. Foucault "emphasizes that resistance is perpetual and unpredictable, and hegemony precarious" (262). In our society today do we see hegomony as precarious or just minutely switching outter view points (to seem to include others) while holding the same core views?

Plastic Bodies

Summary

Material Girl: The Effacements of Postmodern Culture examines the postmodern notion we are currently referring to as the "Plastic body" in relation to a few real-life examples (but not without bringing up theorists whose work is largely unknown to most). Of the real world examples, there is an episode of Donahue wherein Phil Donahue asks whether or not ads for colored contacts are racist. The audience members don't think so. Bordo thinks otherwise. Attention is also turned to Essence magazine, which juxtaposes the an article about "The Beauty of Black" with ads that sell hair straightening products or offer "escape". Then there's Madonna, who had an undeniable influence (probably larger at the time than now, but still there in some form) and the changes her own body has undergone, particularly noting how, although she at one point said she liked her stomach in its "round" form, she then went on to start working out because she "didn't have a flat stomach anymore" along with other acts of redefining herself. Bordo concludes that one can't really get away from the social context in which things occur and should be mindful of consequences.

Body Worlds is a pet project of Gunther von Hagens (né Liebchen) displaying bodies preserved by reactive polymers. It's controversial to many, but popular enough to now be exhibiting in North America. His process of Plastination was developed in response to the processes of preservation at the time, as he felt that they could be improved. There's even a link on the website to one about body donation, and a "thank you" to all the body donors. The bodies in the exhibit are shown in active and life-like poses.

Terms

postmodern: coming after, and usually in reaction to, modernism in the 20th century, esp. in the arts and literature; specif., of or relating to a diffuse cultural and artistic trend or movement, esp. in art, architecture, and writing, since the 1950s, characterized by eclecticism in style and content, freedom from strict theoretical constraints, indifference to social concerns, etc. (Webster's New World College Dictionary Fourth Edition)
Plastination: a process of preserving bodies using reactive polymers.
madonna: (once again from Webster's) a former Italian title for a woman, equivalent to madam
plastic: moldable, able to be shaped.
pornography (I include this because of the debate as to what counts as pornography[also from Webster's]): writings, pictures, etc. intended primarily to arouse sexual desire (italics mine)
Questions
Do you buy the idea of Madonna as a feminist?
What do you make of the question, posed by an audience member on Donahue, "What's wrong with blonde hair and blue eyes?"?
And why do they insist that colored contacts have the same effect for black women as cornrows for Bo Derek?

Why did Madonna apparently change her mind completely about her figure? How'd she reconcile this with the concept of self that resists pigeonholes?
What message do readers of Essence really get?
Considering the mention of Oprah Winfrey, Essence and Phil Donahue in the article, what do you think of Tyra Banks and her daytime TV show?
What effect does history have on us when we misunderstand it due to incomplete or incorrect knowledge?

Body Worlds and Material Girl

Body Worlds
Body Worlds is an exhibit of plastinated human corpses that German scientist Gunther Van Hagens made. He came up with the science behind plastination and created the exhibits. These exhibits are designed to teach about human anatomy as well as show what happens to the body under different situations.

Material Girl
This article looks at body image in a postmodern perspective. It describes how the postmodern perspective is that we are free from bodily determinism. This article claims that the postmodern perspective is that we are the sculptors of the plastic of our body. This article argues that in our freedom we then chose to conform to cultural norms which in reality ends with us not being free. This article explores through looking at different media that our perception is that we aren't affected when in reality we are constantly bombarded by reminders of what the cultural norm is. It looks at how changing the body to become more like the cultural ideal is framed in such a way that it appears to be an individual choice for difference instead of a cultural push for sameness.

Key terms
Postmodern Perspective- A perspective that is a reaction to the modernist it takes personal opinion and personal choice as the most important.
Plastination- A process by which organic matter is preserved in plastic.
Gunther Van Hagens – German scientist who invented plastination and also Body Worlds.

Questions
Why are Body Worlds exhibits so controversial?
How are people encouraged to shape their own bodies?
What technological advances have made it possible to shape our own bodies?
Why is Madonna a good example of plasticity?
In what ways has culture shaped our personal choices about our bodies?

Next week's texts

Hi all!

Three things:

Firstly, the text for next week (Susan Bordo, "Material Girl...") is in WebCT Learning Modules and I've also printed copies of it and posted them outside my office door in 2244 Pearson.

Secondly, the article references Madonna's video "Open Your Heart" and so I offer it here for your consideration:

Thirdly, you should take a look at the website for the exhibit "Body Worlds" and google images for it. We will discuss this exhibit in the context of "plastic bodies" and what it mean to have, be, and display postmodern bodies.

Lastly, I encourage you to respond to Jenna's post (see below)!

Men/Masculinity Complex

Hey guys-
This post on Hathor Legacy kind of explains the oppression to men that I've mentioned in class. I think it does a good job of explaining pretty simply what the whole concept is about. The patriarchy HURTS US ALL!

http://thehathorlegacy.com/the-cult-of-masculinity/

From Wonder to Error- A Genealogy of Freak Discourse in Modernity
The reading for this week was the introduction to a book about freak discourse. This reading looked at the changes in the way so called freaks have been viewed throughout history and how modernity has changed this view. It views this discourse as being an indicator of the changes in culture through time. It talks about how in the past how freaks were seen as objects of awe and wonder that were used to look at the boundaries of the world as it was known. This view was mixed in with a more religious view of the world. As the outlook became more secular a medical viewpoint begins to become more popular. It also talks about the idea of teratology as a method of taking the wonder out of freaks. Also freaks began to be put on display but with this the differentness was greatly exaggerated in a process of enfreakment which ends with much of the otherness being a cultural construction. It looks at how as time and our growing mobility people began to be judged more on appearance instead of past connection and family. With this freak began to be a much more detrimental asset. Also with the invention of surgery and treatments anomalies were more often changed to what is seen as “normal” causing more of a rarity and discomfort with ambiguous bodies.

Terms
Enfreakment- The act of making a person seem like a freak through scenery or other social contexts.
Freak – In modern day a human corporal anomaly. (text)
Teratology- a science of monstrousity that ultimately rationalizes the monstrous. (Text)

Questions
Why do we have such a fascination with people who break binaries?
What are differences so controversial and looked at?
Why are we willing to go to such extremes to see other people as abnormal?
Why has it become less acceptable to be physically different as history goes forward?
What impact has technology and the media played on freak discourse?

In Thomson's "From Wonder to Error", she discusses the presence of "freaks" in mythology and how this induces thoughts about what separates man from beast. She then goes into great detail about the appearance of "freaks" in dime musuems during the Nineteenth century. During this time, teratology, the study, classification, and manipulation of monstrous bodies, was developed. A lot of this textwas about how people with abnormalities are regarded as "freaks" and the circuses and freak shows that have exploited these people for entertainment purposes, especially during the Industrial Revolution and modernization of the early Twentieth century.

Key terms:
anomalous body- a body that isn't considered normal from other bodies.
lusus naturae- freak of nature.


Questions?
Why do people find the bizarre so interesting?
How do people decide what is human and what isn't?
How do you think circuses have changed since their first appearance?

Introduction: From Wonder to Error- A Genealogy of Freak Discourse in Modernity

Rosemarie Garland Thomson writes about the history of "freak" shows and how they came to be a popular attraction for all types of people. Thomson depicts what defines a "freak" and how people would display their "freakiness"; by performing in rented halls, permanent exhibitions of freaks in dime museums, circus sideshows, fairs, and amusement park midways.





Terms:

• fetus in fetu-developmental abnormality in which a fetus gets enveloped inside its twin and an entire living organ system with torso and limbs can develop inside the host.


• anomalous body- a body that is considered not normal from other bodies.
• lusus naturae- nature's sport or the freak of nature.

Questions

• How do we depict what is human and what is not?
• What do you think is the main reason that "freak shows" aren't a typical thing anymore?
• What first comes to mind when you hear the work "freak"?
• Why would people put themselves in "freak" shows? It couldn't possibly be an uplifting feeling to have people stare at and mock you.

Comments

I found this article to be very interesting because we have heard about "freak" shows but probably have never looked this in depth at how "freaks" were treated or how they came about. I found it disturbing that some of the participates in "freak" shows were mentally retarded and probably couldn't make the decision if they didn't want to be in that type of situation. I'm glad we live in a society where our differences can now make us who we are and most of the time we aren't looked at a "freaks" because of our differences.

Thomson's "Introduction: From ... Modernity"

Rosemarie Thomson’s “Introduction: From Wonder to Error – A Genealogy of Freak Discourse in Modernity”

I. Description
Rosemarie Thomson’s piece explains different meanings of the word freak and how it’s changed throughout history, the history of freak shows, who classifies as a freak, examples of freaks in history, and provides a description of their roles as entertainment in society. Thomson then provides an overall introduction to the works of Leslie Fiedler, Robert Bogdan, David Gerber, Elizabeth Grosz, Paul Semonin, among others.
II. Terms/concepts
freak- The meaning has changed from Milton’s a fleck of color to whimsy or fancy to the 1847 definition which was “synonymous with human corporeal anomaly.” *This means that it’s a deviation from the common body* (dictionary.com)

“enfreakment”- narrative and cultural premise of irreducible corporeal difference

corporeal- of the nature of the physical body, bodily (dictionary.com)

freak show- entertainment that included those who were considered abnormal by human standards. These shows included conjoined twins, albinos, midgets, etc.

III. Questions/thoughts
What were some initial reactions to the freak shows? Were there any groups against it?
What did freaks think about the shows? Were they forced to “perform”? Were they paid?
How were the shows advertised?
What was the real cause of the shows ending?
Why dress the freaks up if they were already considered entertaining?

I found this piece both interesting and disturbing. It’s hard to think that someone’s disabilities or abnormalities were considered entertainment. It was interesting that the author used the example of Michael Jackson to point out the “freak” in our culture.

Freak Discourse

The introduction to freak discourse by Rosemarie Garland Thomson provides an overview of the history of 'freaks' and how they the stigma came to be, as well as how it changed. Thomson provides various definitions of freaks through the ages including everything from beauty contestants to dwarfs to 'exotic ethnics'. Before industrialization, such freaks were flaunted and paraded around as human anomalies that people paid to see. The key phrase in her article is 'wonder becomes error', meaning that modernity changed amazing human deformities into distasteful human flaws that need to be fixed so those members can be assimilated into modern society with little effort and notice. Through industrialization, what were known as freak shows descended into lower society as human mistakes and those that were able should have made an effort to utilize modern technology (surgery etc.) to correct the 'mistakes' within themselves. Another main idea of Thomson's introduction is that most of why freaks were viewed as such comes from a fear of comparison. She discusses at one point that, following the American Civil War, it became harder for freaks to be distinguished from the normal because war casualties had deformed so many people. Thus, many people were now likening themselves to biological freaks which detracted from the wonder of the 'originals.


anomolous bodies- those bodies that were abnormal and differed from the normal and accepted human form

teratology- the science of monstrosity

enfreakment- David Hevey's idea which is a process by one comes to carry the stigmatic name 'freak'


According to page the middle of page for, freaks have "become today the abnormal, the intolerable." Why use the word intolerable?

What do you make of fat ladies and boys as well as beauty contestants as freaks?

Referencing the top of page 11, wouldn't exploitation of freaks increase the risk and threat of freaks?

Who knew that the Epcot Center was based on freaks?

Are reality shows like Little People, Big World attempts to reappropriate the word 'freak'?

Genealogy of Freak Discourse in Modernity By Rosemarie Garland Thomson

“People who are visually different have always provoked the imaginations of their fellow human beings.”
This article illustrates how throughout history, people compare themselves to others, in a way of making sense out of our differences. Visual differences are easily acknowledged and then dissected by others to confirm how the abnormalities of the “freaks” ensure that we, the majority, are the norm and the “freaks” are the outsiders. It is important to understand Thomson’s idea that “whether generating awe, delight, terror, or knowledge, the monstrous emerges from culture-bound expectations even as it violates them.” Historically, freak shows were a very common form of entertainment. Everyone from royalty having their special entertainers, to common people going to a dime theater, were intrigued by these “freaks” and wanted to catch a glimpse of a foreign understanding of life. Then, those with abnormalities were labeled as freaks, where as now they would be seen as “physically disabled” or “exotic looking.” Thomson writes of the four entwined narrative forms: Oral speil, the often fabricated textual accounts, staging, and drawings/photographs. Each of these narratives publicly showcased the “freak shows.” Many of the shows involved the performers doing everyday tasks in their “special” way, which is interesting to those who can perform those tasks without thought. Also many of the shows enhanced the “freakish” differences the performers had, by costumes, backgrounds, or in any way enhancing their differences or abnormalities. Going to these “freak shows,” Thompson writes, “turns America’s collective eyes more attentively on the extraordinary body for explanation, validation, or simply comfort.”

Terms:
Anomalous: deviating from or inconsistent with the common order, form, or rule; irregular
Aberrance: departing from the right, normal, or usual course
Bourgeois: a member of the middle class
Misogyny hatred, dislike, or mistrust of women
Monstra: meaning to warn, show, or sign

Questions:
-What does Thomson mean when saying, “This is not, however, the awe of divine warning, but rather an implication that the world exists increasingly not to glorify god, but to please man, who is destined to be its master.” (Bottom of P. 3)
-Why is a freak show described as a social ceremony?
-Were those with mental disabilities also included in the “freak shows”?
-How did those in the shows get picked and was there a criterion for them being in the show?
-Were the performers paid? Were they expected to stay for a certain amount of time?

Todd Browning's "Freaks," 1932 (opening)

Freaks and Geeks on National Geographic

Abstract #3

This is rather late, I totally forgot to post this.

1)Bladerunner:
Blade Runner is about Rick Deckard, a cop who “retires” Replicants. It is based off the book “Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep?” by Philip K. Dick. The Replicants had escaped from slavery to try and get their creator to extend their lifespans, which are engineered to be four years long. Rick falls in love with another Replicant named Rachel, and after retiring all the others, runs away with her.
Meat Puppets, or Robopaths
The article by Thomas Foster discusses the texts Neuromancer by William Gibson and Antibodies by David J. Skal. It discusses the cyberpunk genre and how it has potential to redefine gender roles, but often doesn't. It also discusses the various themes present in Neuromancer and Antibodies such as the desire to be rid of the flesh or meat, and live purely in the Cyberworld(Case) or become a machine (Robopath).

Blade runner: A cop/bounty hunter who hunts rogue Replicants and kills them
Replicant: Genetically engineered Android
Robopath: Someone who desires to replace their body with prosthetics
Cyberpunk: A genre defined by it's heavy use of advanced technology and often dystopian society

The article talked of Neuromancer. It doesn't talk of the way that in the book, the female characters are more dominant than the male ones. They are also the more sexually forward. Does this affect any of the other conclusions?
The article also mentions the characters breaking their “hardwired shackles.” In what way does this relate to other movements where “shackles” are broken.
Why does the genetic engineer in Blade Runner have those weird midgets running around his house?

I personally found the book “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” better than Blade Runner. I found the explanation of the Android/Replicant better than the vagueness of the movie.

Cyberpunk Bodies

Meat Puppets/Robopaths
Fosters article disscusses the effects of cyberpunk idenitiy on society from either the "meat puppet" standpoint or a "robopath" perspective. The article is mostly based on a view of how cyberpunk bodies seem to affect "feminist, gay/lesbian, African American and postcolonial" bodies. Foster points out the differences between the mind, body, and machine. Foster then critiques other texts from Gibson to Haraway, mostly just summarizing their texts to support this idea of a "redefinition of embodiment." Foster uses many different examples to prove his point that embodiment has been changed by the idea of the cyberpunk, while at the same time discussing that a person cannot truly forget who they are (particularly for white male critics for some reason) a 'boy or girl.'

Blade Runner
Is a story about Deckard a retired blade runner (cop) who is brought back to "retire" some replicants that are on the loose on Earth. The replicants are humanoids that are illegal on Earth because of a war they had with humans. They only live for four years and are looking to increase how long they have to live. It takes place in LA in 2019, talk about a seriously un-environmentally friendly city. Deckard begins to look for these replicants meeting Rachel, a replicant who doesn't know she is one working for the man that created the replicants Tyrell, who says Rachel is "more human than human" and she eventually save Deckard from being killed by a replicant. The last male replicant Roy, kills Tyrell and Sebastian when he discovers that Tyrell will not help him live past the four year mark. Deckard ends up killing Roy's replicant girlfriend Pris, then dukes it out with him in the old apt building. In the end Roy dies after saving Deckard and Deckard runs away with Rachel.
Definitions

Cyberpunk - Fast-paced science fiction involving futuristic computer-based societies.
Meat Puppet - a person trapped in their own organic body, can also mean prostitute
Robopath - a person who believes they are a robot in an organic body
commodification - treatment of the body as a commodity (in cyberpunk definitions)
hardwired - To determine or put into effect by physiological or neurological mechanisms; make automatic or innate

Questions/Comments
1.) What was the significance of the unicorns in the movie?
2.) Is Deckard a replicant?
3.) Why are all animals robots? Is it related to the crazy amount of smog in the city?
4.) Why have women's bodies always been considered post modern?
5.) What exactly is an illegible human? And how can you be "more human than human"?
6.) What is with the concern about these cyberbodies when Foster points out himself that this is all fiction?

For being a futuristic film, I found the Polaroid picture pretty funny, same with the tiny windshield on the cop car, as well as him not wearing any gloves when touching evidence. After reading the Foster article, I really felt like I hadn't learned anything from him, but from the other authors, and the information would make more sense if you read it directly from them, not from summed up versions by Foster. Why does everything in this class go back to Freud in one way or another?

one more question

I should have posted this with the rest of the stuff, but. . . another question. . .

Why do replicants always go for the eyes?

Cyberpunk bodies

Cyberpunk Bodies: Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and Foster’s “Meat Puppets or Robopaths?”

I. Description

Blade Runner is a film directed by Ridley Scott. The film is about Rick Deckard, a member of the Blade Runner Unit (a police squad that kills Replicants), who is assigned to kill genetically-produced criminal replicants (Nexus 6 Replicants). The story takes place in Los Angeles in November 2019. The Replicants were produced in the Nexus phase and were taken to the Off-world for slave labor. They are criminal replicants who were designed to copy humans in every way except for emotions. The Replicants have a four-year life span in place and are seeking for more years in their trip to Earth. Deckard is on a mission to kill the Replicants, apparently by himself, and learns about himself in the process as he falls for the girl, breaks two fingers, and battles evil.

Foster’s essay “Meat Puppets or Robopaths?” looks at David Skal’s novel Antibodies and William Gibson’s novel Neuromancer and describes the similarities and differences in the mens’ explanations of what it means to be a cyberpunk. He also looks at the distinctions between mind and body and human and machine. Foster says Skal’s work contradicts its “own critique of the robopaths in more fundamental and less overt ways.” He then says that the novel represents lesbian sexuality and abortion activists as monstrous and that he doesn’t entirely agree with Skal’s ideas of a cyberpunk. Foster seems to be more in favor of Gibson’s Neuromancer. He references Gibson’s character Case, a “ ‘console cowboy’ ” and “futuristic hacker”, to examine the ‘post-biological’ attitude and the relationship between flesh and meat puppets. Foster uses a variety of authors and examples to demonstrate the thought of cyborgs being meat puppets or robopaths. He concludes his essay with the idea of Case’s girlfriend, Michael, who may be seen as either a woman with a nontraditional name, or as a man who identifies himself as a woman.

II. Terms and concepts

Blade Runner:

“Replicants are like any other machine- they’re either a benefit or a hazard. If they’re a benefit it’s not my problem.” –Rick. Machines have both beneficial and hazardous features.

Leon to Deckard: “Painful to live in fear, isn’t it?” Explores that when one is faced with death, they feel more pain and fear not just how long they have left to live, but how they are going to die.

Foster’s essay:

Cyberpunk- The thought of something being “high tech” and “low life” (Wikipedia)

Robopath- The idea of replacing the body with mechanical prostheses (pg. 215)

Meat puppet- prostitute (pg. 216)

Commodification- The experience of forced signification (pg. 221) – the process of making something into a good (commodity).

Embodiment- The subjective experience of having and using a body. (Wikipedia)

Case- The character in Gibson’s Neuromancer who has a neural implant that allows him to correspond with computer networks.



III. Review/questions/thoughts

Blade Runner:

“Chance to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure” Interesting that this was the welcoming message especially since this was what was advertised for those who came to America.

If the life-span of the “criminals” is four years, does that include a full life? Do they reproduce or have families?

Is this what the year 2019 is really going to look like? Whoa! I might be moving to L.A.…

Why L.A.? Why not New York City? Or Denver? Or Orlando? Or Minneapolis?

Replicant Rachel realizes differences between lesbian and a human. Doesn’t this implicate that she does have emotions since she responded by asking what her answer would mean?

Pris and Rachael as meat puppets?

What’s the significance with the owl? Does it have to do with vision?



Foster’s essay:

I thought the essay really didn’t have an ending. There should have been a conclusion paragraph that tied all of the themes together instead of it ending with thoughts about Neuromancer.

(page 211) What was Gibson really visualizing when he said cyberpunks ought to ‘live fast, die young, and leave a highly-augmented corpse’? It said that this refers to a body enhanced through mechanical prostheses and cybernetic interfaces but what was he really referring to?

(page 212) How have women’s bodies always been postmodern?

(page 216) ‘I may have been born meat, but I don’t have to die that way.’ What does this mean? How does one break away from ‘the meat’?

Week 10: Cyberpunk Bodies

Text: Meat Puppets or Robopaths? Cyberpunk and the Question of Embodiment
Centering on the novels Antibodies, by David J. Skal, and Neuromancer, by William Gibson, Thomas Foster digs into the nature of cyborg and cyberpunk identity, confronting the limiting dualities that stand in the way.
He first digs into the necessary background information on cyberpunk including its commodification and the perhaps somewhat typically 'punk' attitude of Gibson that 'As soon as the label is there, it's gone.'
He then moves on to the cyborg in a racialized context, examining the Marvel comic Deathlok. In selectively quoting W.E.B. Du Bois, Deathlok, so it seems, has defined himself in terms of 'multiple forms of hybridity, without transforming one form into a metaphor of another, racial identity as a metaphor for the cyborg, for example.'
He then moves on to the 'meat' of his argument, if you'll excuse the pun. Here, he digs into [sorry, I don't know what's up with me and digging tonight] gender, fetishism, and cultural identity. In Neuromancer, gender in particular (according to Foster) may find a way out of its limitations, whereas Antibodies takes a much more reactionary stance on the cyborg

Film: Blade Runner
Blade Runner is set in the inconceivably distant future of the 21st century, when advanced cybernetic robots known as 'replicants' have become illegal on planet Earth. The blade runner Deckard is informed of several replicants that (who?) are to be 'retired,' a euphemism that makes it sound a lot less violent than it actually is. The strongest among these, Roy, wishes to quite literally meet his maker, and for this he requests the help of one of the Tyrell Corporation's (makers of replicants) genetic designers, J.F. Sebastian, who has in the meantime met the replicant Pris. Leon, another replicant, is being pursued by Deckard. Deckard meets a replicant, Rachel, who (that?) does not know she (it?) is a replicant; it is Rachel who saves him from having his eyes gouged out by Leon. This incident occurs directly after Deckard 'retires' a replicant working (nude) at a sleazy bar. In the end Pris is also 'retired,' but Roy, who drives Deckard into the position of merely trying to survive, attempts thereby to instill empathy before finally succumbing to the end of his predetermined four year lifespan. Deckard hereupon announces his retirement, which is to say, that he's got no intention to 'retire' Rachel, with whom he flees in the end to who-knows-where.

Terms
Meat puppet- one confined to an organic body, in Neuromancer, more literally a prostitute controlled by software, while consciousness is suppressed.
Cyberpunk- literary movement within science fiction, with a focus on cyborg characters and the relationship between the body and technology.
Robopaths- those who believe themselves to be robots trapped in human bodies.
artificial intelligence- some electronically programmed form of intelligence, emulating the human type we all take for granted.
cyberspace- surprisingly to me, coined by William Gibson to be an effective buzzword, denoting a complex array of interconnected electronic information; perhaps now it is better to just say 'the internet,' as, regardless of how people want to define it, the word often gets used this way.
Questions

Why does Deckard drink so much?

What does the vision/dream of the unicorn signify, and what of the origami unicorn left by one of the cops?

It has already been discussed how cyborg identity might relate to the traditional, dualistic concepts of gender. How might it relate to those whose gender is not so easily classified?

Have people begun to think of themselves, as some of the characters in cyberpunk novels do, as 'meat'? Is this a real danger?

If cyborgs present a 'crisis in dualistic thinking,' then how might is this to be resolved? Should this be resolved at all?

Do androids dream of electric sheep???

Cyberpunk Bodies

Meat Puppets or Robopaths? Cyberpunk and the Question of Embodiment
This article looks at how the body is viewed within the cyberpunk movement. It also shows how science fiction can be used to look at the present instead of how it is normally interpreted to look at the future. It looks at how within the cyberpunk movement the flesh is viewed as a hinderance and that the goal is to get rid of the flesh or change it as much as possible. It also looks at the binary between human and machine or human and enhanced human and how this can change race relations and gender relations to be either create a greater gap or bring them closer together. One of the main things this article seems to explore is how the people whom are parts of more then one binary within the cyberpunk movement are viewed by themselves as outsiders.

Blade Runner
The movie Blade Runner is about a future world where Nexus a company has created replicants who are human like machine. After a mutiny by the replicants in an off world colony, replicants are banned from earth. The story is about Dex a blade runner, special police force used to hunt and “retire” replicants, whose job it is to catch a group of replicants who recently hijacked a ship and came to earth. The goal of these replicants is to find a way to length their life span which as it is for all replicants is a mere four years. Dex hunts the replicants down and kills them but as he is doing this he also falls in love with a different replicant. He appears to have qualms about killing being that are so close to humans and there is always the question of what if he accidently kills a human. In the end the groups of replicants all die the last one because his life span is up and Dex runs away with his replicant girlfriend who is shortly going to die.

Replicant- a human like being/machine made by Nexus corporation in the movie Blade Runner.
Blade Runner- A special police force used to hunt and “retire” replicants from the movie Blade Runner.
Meat puppet- a prostitute or someone who is not technologically enhanced.
Cyberpunk- a movement born in the late 1980’s that looks at how computer networks and cyberspacecan interfaced with human beings to be experienced by human beings.

Are the replicants living or none living beings?
Why is it acceptable to have a replicant that is purely made for sexual purposes and what is changed in her model to make her this way?
Whose property is a replicant?
What was this article trying to say about the way humans interact with their bodies?
When humans become technologically enhanced is it important to keep difference such as race and gender?

"Babies for German Engineering"

The Red Menace

Apropos Theweleit's red floods and commies, thought you all might find this amusing:

Proposals w/ Dr. V.'s Comments and Resources

Hi all,

I forgot to mention today when passing back your proposals - please keep the copy I gave you with comments, in addition to any resources I printed out for you, and turn it back in to me together with your final version of your project. If you're worried you may misplace it, you can give it back to me now and I'll make a copy of it. I would have made copies before turning them back to you, but I wanted to make sure I got them back to you as soon as possible and didn't have time to make copies before class today.

Thanks!

Barbara Creed’s “Horror and the Monstrous-Feminine” first talks about the mythological creature Medusa and Freud’s interpretation of her sexual meaning. She then goes into great detail about an essay entitled Powers of Horror by Julia Kristeva, where Kristeva gives a historical and religious side of abjection, where the corpse is the ultimate representation of abjection. This is also present in cinema. She then describes horror films as a form of abjection with the precense of vampires, ghouls, zombies, witches, and werewolves.
There are three ways that abjection is tied into horror films. One is the corpse, the second is this idea of having a border between good and evil, human and inhuman, or between normal and abnormal sexual desire is crossed. This is the central theme in many horror films such as the Carrie, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the Cat People. The third way is the maternal figure being abject. This is present in films such as Psycho and Carrie where the mother has trouble letting go of their child and the absence of the father figure makes the mother even more monstrous.
In the movie Alien many of these forms of abjection are present, the main idea being the abject maternal figure. This is represented by the life support system on the Nostromo happily named mother and the unknown spaceship being shaped as legs and the crew mates enter in through the “vagina”. This is also represented by the alien itself being the monstrous abject maternal figure.

Key Terms:
Abjection- idea of being cast down
Archaic mother- mother having trouble letting go of her offspring and nurtures them to much.
Semiotic chora-the maternal body becoming the site of conflicting desires.


Questions:
1. Is the face hugger alien represented as a father or mother figure?
2. When Kane enters the “womb” of the foreign ship and becomes impregnated, how does this signify “incestous desire”?
3. How does the alien represent a maternal figure?

Monsterous Feminine, Alien, H.R. Giger

Text:
Barbra Creeds Monsterous Feminine takes a look at how women are depicted in horror movies. She begins by giving a look at how historically, in different religions and cultures, womens menstral cycles, and vagina are viewed as monsterous and how these ideas have come to play a role in horror flixs. She also discusses various other aspects of the horror film in the soul-less bodies, sickness, terror, desire, etc. in "abjection at work". Creed ties all of these views and concepts in interpreting the film Alien.

Alien takes place deep in space aboard a cargo ship named "Mother". The crew is taken out of there deep sleep pods halfway to Earth to investigate an unknown signal. The crew leaves Mother by detaching a shuttle ship from "umbilicus" in order to investigate the planet, and determine the origin of the transmission. Three crew members come back to the shuttle, after exploring the deserted ship, only to have one member of the crew have an "unknown" alien stuck to his face that grately resembles a vagina with arms and tail. Later the alien falls off the crew members face, after empregnanting him, and allowing the true alien to be born. The movie ends with Sigourney Wiever, and her cat, being the sole servivor.

H.R. Giger is a Swiss surrilist who has created the world and image of Alien. He is also a painter, sculpter, architect (interior), and designer. His work consists of the combination of man and machine.

Key Terms

Demarcation: is the act of creating a boundary around a place or thing
Cathexis: as the process of investment of mental or emotional energy in a person, object, or idea
Abjection: the state of being cast off

Questions:
Do we conform to the partiarchical sense of viewing women as 'monsterous' in the simplist of forms?
Why have women been historically viewed as evil? what makes women different from men?

Comments:
I enjoyed the movie and the symbolism invovlved. The reading gave a little bit more insite into why we have these female images of being monsterous, but it still left questions as to why we have developed this way.

Week 7: The Monsterous-Feminine

Horror and the Monstrous-Feminine An Imaginary Abjection

By: Barbara Creed





In Creed's writings she starts off by talking about the mythology of gendered monsters and how Medusa's head of writhing serpents somehow look the horrifying sight of the mother's genitals. It was said that when men looked at Medusa they got terrified and turn stiff, Freud pointed out that turning stiff could also mean having an erection. This would then mean that Medusa actually turned on men instead of repulsing them. Creed points out that all horrific figures are "bodies without souls" (the vampire), "the living corpse" (the zombie), and the corpse-eater (the ghoul). Creed explains that to the extent that abjection works on the socio-cultural arena, the horror film would appear to be, in at least three ways, an illustration of the work of abjection. The first one is the corpse which is mutilated followed by an array of bodily fluids. The second one is the function of the monstrous which she is suppose to bring about an encounter between the symbolic order that which threatens its stability. The third one refers to the construction of the maternal figure as abject. In this she explains that the child is wanting freedom away from the mother and the mother is reluctant to let go of her child. Creed then goes on to give her perspective on the film Alien, here she interprets the space craft as a womb and the alien as the toothed vagina. Creed explains the roles of the mother and father and how children view birth.

Alien
By:Ridley Scott

The spaceship Nostromo receives a call from another planet and goes to investigate. When three of the members get off their spaceship and wander on the windy dark planet they discover another spaceship which seems to be deserted. When one of the three members Kane goes inside to further investigate he finds giant eggs with pulsating figures inside. One of the eggs opens up and a creature jumps out and clings to Kan's face. The other two members take him back and let him in Nostromo even though Ripley is against it for safety purposes. Once inside the other crew members inspect Kane with the alien suctioned to his face and head, awhile later the alien releases itself and they think that the alien is dead, little do they know that the alien actually impregnated Kane and later at dinner the alien baby fights it's way out of Kane's chest killing him. A plan is called into action and all the crew members go on a quest to find and kill the monstrous alien. The caption Dallas is the next one to die and shorty after that everyone is dead except Parker, Lambert, Ripley and her cat. They are planning to destroy the ship and leave on a smaller space craft connected to the underbelly of the Nostromo. Ripley goes on an attempt to find her cat and when she comes back to get Lambert and Parker they have been ripped apart by an alien. Ripley flips a couple of switches and activates the spaceship to self destruct. Ripley runs for the smaller space craft and launches off with barley any time left destroying the aliens and saving only herself and her cat.


Terms:

• semiotic chora- the maternal body becomes the site of conflicting desires.
• Oedipus complex- According to the theory, the complex appears between the ages of three and five. The child feels sexual desire for the parent of the opposite sex and desires the death of the parent of the same sex.
• unheimlich- the uncanny:concept of an instance where something can be familiar, yet foreign at the same time, resulting in a feeling of it being uncomfortably strange.
• archaic mother- fantasy mother of the first few months of the infant's life.
• parthenogenic-is an asexual form of reproduction found in females where growth and development of embryos or seeds occurs without fertilization by a male.

Questions

1. Why do people risk their own lives for their pets?
2. Do you think that Ripley's cat had any significant meaning in the movie?
3. Why are vaginas always looked upon as horrifying and monstrous? The penis isn't anything that pretty and great to look at either.
4. Why didn't the crew self destruct the ship earlier in the movie?

Comments

1. In Alien the crew didn't seem to be really worried about Kane and the alien on his head, they seemed relitevly calm for the situation they were in.
2. Ripley played a heroic women in this movie, the other women (Lambert) in the movie probably was in it to make Ripley look even more powerful since Lambet was freaking out and crying helplessly the whole time.

Yet another Armored Bodies abstract, or, Late Post is Late

In Male Fantasies, Klaus Theweleit explores the culture of fascism, and at its heart finds a fantasy of the male body as a hyper-powered, impervious machine, rigidly contained and invulnerable within an armor or military discipline. Not surprisingly, he also finds a revulsion against human warmth and sensuality, and especially against femininity and emotion. These are identified with the threatening "mass"--whether the working-class masses, or the secret, vulnerable mass of soft flesh, blood, entrails and excrement within the body itself--as objects of loathing, to be repudiated, confined, beaten down, lest they subsume the hard male self. At first glance, it's hard to see what this has to do with Tank Girl, a comic about a "grotty," farting, chain-smoking, hard-drinking, kangaroo-shagging soldier grrl who goes AWOL in the outback with her souped-up tank after an urgent mission (to deliver a shipment of colostomy bags) goes way, way south. If there's a connection, it's that Tank Girl, with her midriff-baring tops and crutty undies, her PMS and her kink for talking mutant kangaroos, is shamelessly and transgressively a body with lusts and hungers. The humor of the comic depends on her being wildly subversive of anything a good soldier, or a nice girl, is supposed to be.

Questions:

"The most urgent task of the man of steel is to pursue, to dam in, and to subdue any force that threatens to transform him back into the horribly disorganized jumble of flesh, hair, skin, bones, intestines and feelings that calls itself human." In the wake of the Great War, the horror of being reduced to that "horribly disorganized jumble" would be fresh in men's minds, and the fantasy of being invulnerable to it is understandable. Yet the reality of battle would very quickly give the lie to this fantasy, so why did those who subscribed to the fantasy--including veterans of the war, who would have known better--see combat as a supreme good?

Can we really see the body itself as an acting "subject" (Foreword, xviii), constructing the external world in its own image," and why would this act of construction be ascribed to the body and not the mind inhabiting the body?

Is Theweleit's explanation of the origin of the machine-fantasy--from imperfect ego-formation in early childhood--convincing?

What is accomplished by making the protagonist of Tank Girl female?

Terms:

Desiring-machine: a reframing of the concept of desire as a productive force that manufactures itself

Introjection: the opposite of projection--internalizing an exterior object within the self.

Abstract: The Armored Body

1) summary

Tank Girl is a comic book from 1988 featuring a seemingly emotionless, bloodthirsty, alcoholic and possibly insane yet somehow very sexy girl who joins the army in her homeland of Australia in search of blood and guts. She becomes outlawed from the army after they fail to give her any assignments of merit and decides to live in the tank and basically deal with what comes to her. She kills a pack of rogue kangaroos (after having sex with one of them, apparently) and a man who claimed to be her long-lost "bastard" father as a joke. Then she kills his cronie. There is no plotline to this comic and it has said to be a manifestation of women's growing power, especially in the British punk movement. Also, this comic was the brainchild of a man who was infamous for drawing huge penises on any piece of paper given to him (wikipedia).

Theweleit's text (and the foreword) talks about the absorbtion of fascism into the body, and how bodies were viewed by both the fascist ideology and by the self in the post-WWI German world. Theweleit concentrates on the Freikorps because he discovered a huge primary source from soldiers at the time. Theweleit's theory states that the fascists feared the feminine, associating wickedness with floods and "softness." They also feared the feminine within thsemselves and so idealized a sort of man-machine with no emotions and no mother. Theweleit argues that misogyny plays a bigger part in Freikorps sentiment than anti-Semitism.

2) key terms - pretty straightforward...

• sensuous anti-sensualism - preoccupation of the warrior with the perimeters of the body, a disembodied dis-sensuality

3) questions

1. Why doesn't Tank Girl have a name or a father?

2. Who's that guy that appears asking for Jane then terrorizes the tank?

3. Who does the comic strip ridicule? What does this reveal about the political and social ideology of the time?

4. What sort of values are applauded in the comic, if any?

5. Is Tank Girl portrayed as an ideal character?

6.Have diguised fascist ideals been transferred to American culture? Do we see masculine women and feminine men as "threatening," as Theweleit says of fascists?

7. How are gender roles in fascist Germany similar to gender roles in American pop culture today?

8. Why do fascist men fear pleasure? How is pleasure associated with Judaism?



Uhh... wow. Tank Girl is a hilarious parody of "girl power" and fascists were just pathetic...

(original post date: 10/6/08 at 12:38pm, adjusted by Kris to keep abstracts in correct weekly order)

In the Tank Girl graphic novel an angry young woman stars in her own heroic flop of a life story. Frustrated with her absent father and her seemingly unimportant life Tank Girl opens a new chapter in her life and joins the military. After a few years of trivial lavatory cleaning she finally gets her chance to have a few more important missions, which she botches. She also manages to smoke like a chimney and make out with a kangaroo. Interesting. Very interesting.

In Male Fantasies Klaus Theweleit explores fascism through the Freikorps. Analyzing writings from members of the Freikorps Theweleit discusses the need for men to become machines for the military in order to live ‘male’ lives completely devoid of any feminine traits. He pulls from writings of Jünger and Freudian ideas to talk about the fear of feminine traits and behaviors.

Effluent- flowing out, moving forward
Pragmatic- pertaining to a practical point of view or practical considerations
Schlappschwanz- sissy
Jocularity- joking


What is the significance and symbolism of Tank Girl’s love-entanglement with the kangaroo?

Why do you think Tank Girl’s ‘important missions’ all seem somewhat meaningless and ultimately demeaning?

The second to last paragraph on page 155 of Male Fantasies talks about troops as a single machine. If that machine has no independence, doesn’t that defeat the purpose of having a machine in the first place?

On page 152 of MF, there’s a question about Salomon’s happiness as a part of the military machine. Does happiness seem to be an appropriate word? Especially since earlier it is referenced “…the military academy as an “institution” (Anstalt), a place where the cadet lives behind prison bars.”

How sweet does the Hitler Youth motorcycle squadron look?

What is the significance of men only receiving letters from their mothers and not significant others?

Abstract #3

Male Fantasies- this text describes the political sides of German fascism and how it shaped the German culture, military cognitions and tactics that went into training of the soldiers. It discusses the idea of how the soldier was redesigned into a machine during military training. The concept of desire and pleasure was considered unnessary and a hinderance to war-time and peace-time sucess. The human body was transformed from flesh, limbs and mind into intricate tools and gears in the military machine. Ultimately, the focus was on how the soldiers were taught to "live without emotion."

Tank Girl- a graphic novel about a woman who enlists into the army and gets assigned to "Special Op's" and has one mission that doesn't go as planned. She steels some money from the operation and ends up living in solitude for a long period of time. Then she decides to start driving her tank a loop around Australia and finally is driven out into the desert and gets tricked by two military men, and ultimately kills both the men.

Freikorps- voluntary army that was assumed to be unreliable and assigned to menial duties
Maelstrom- powerful tidal current
White Terror-violence acts against real or suspected communism
Fascism- totalitarian philosophy of government that glorifies the state and nation and assigns to the state control over every aspect of national life.
Libido-is the generalized sexual energy of which conscious activity is the expression.

-What was the significance of distinguishing between the wartime and peacetime machine?
-Are the internal and external explosions bodily functions or representations of problems with the "military machines" that were being trained?
-Are all the emotions or desires associated with the distruction of a good soldier sexual? oedipal?
-What is the significance of the "masses" and all the different kinds described in Ch.1?