Late Late Late! OF WOMANBORG

Hey everyone-
I get to be the token after-the-fact poster today!

I'm Jenna. I'm from the infected toenail of the United States, also known as the suburbs of Los Angeles, or the porn capital of the world. I'm a senior in Spanish and Journalism. I'm also a quasi-radical feminist and enjoy reading feminist literature in my free time (hence all my annoying comments in class). I was actually told this class was called "Feminist Topics in German Literature," but cyborgs work too.

So I said this in class, but what I found most interesting about Oler's article was her description of the changes in representations of "wired women" throughout the twentieth century. It's kind of proof that pop culture both creates and reinforces cultural expectations and ideals-- the "perfect" fembot's characteristics changed to conform to (or dictate?) whatever society's definition of the "perfect" woman happened to be at the time.
This could open up a discourse regarding the power of pop culture--- if some true feminist material could actually break through the barriers that seem to keep positive images of women out of the media, maybe people would start to believe it. It would sure be nice if women had some role models besides Carmen Electra or Paris Hilton. How about a fembot that doesn't rely on men for anything? Or maybe a fembot with SMALL boobs? Hm...

"Technology" and "Feminism": Your definitions from class (2nd day)

Technology:

1.  "An object or ideal created to benefit human life."

Examples: the wheel, the pencil

2.  "Stuff used to do stuff."

3.  "Using technology = To change or advance quality of life."

4.  "Any development that makes a job easier, saves time."

5.  "The application of empirical knowledge to problems of everyday living."

Example: face powder (as makeup used to cover up 'unwanted' facial features or skin damage)

Feminism:

1.  "The idea of having social, economic and political equality."

2.  "The advancement of women in society."

3.  "A movement to put a stop to cultural and personal practices of dehumanizung and devaluing women."

4.  "The awareness and understanding of the female gender including cultural expectations."

Blog #1

Hey everyone! My name is John Norris and i'm sophmore German major. I was bron here in Ames and ever since i have stayed. This class sounded appealing from the very start when i heard that women's studies was being crosslisted with german. I think it will offer a very interesting perspective on the nature of women in society.

The text "Of Woman Borg" went into much detail of how technology has affected the view of women in the past and the present. In my eyes, the theme of the text is how the idea of sex has such an impact on the view of woman, that we have incorported technology and violence for entertainment. Key words that made me think this were "android eye candy" and "bionic barbie".

Of Woman Borg

Hello, my name is Bethany Pint. I am a transfer student from North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) in Mason City, Iowa. I graduated from NIACC in May and will complete my final two years on my journalism degree at Iowa State. I am from Fairbank, Iowa (it's a town of 1,000 in northeast Iowa).
I honestly had no idea that topics of this class was cyborgs, demons and gendernauts, otherwise I might not have chosen to take - I didn't think it was me. But I think I'll stick with it, learn something new, and get a little more exposed to the world of sci-fi.

I found the article surprisingly humorous and I enjoyed what it had to offer. It was interesting to read about the service robots developed in Japan and the cybernetic technology of those involved in medicine. It was interesting to read how women are portrayed in the form of cyborgs in movies and the arts. In the sci-fi world, I didn't imagine women being portrayed as being too real. But as the article shows, the women portrayed have feelings and may share some common thoughts among women.

Hi! My name is Antoinette and I come from Santa Rosa California. Thats about 1 hour north of San Fransico. I transfered to ISU from California State University of Fullerton, in Southern California, as a Criminal Justice major with a Womens Studies minor. I hope to one day be a Family Lawyer.

I found the article to be very interesting, and scarily real in regards to how women are portrayed in the media. I was surprised to learn that the concept of women as robots is not new, but has been around for decades. Also that there are, infact, sex robots that have been created. One wonders what makes a robot more appealing then a flesh and blood human being?

Post 1

Hey all. My name is Sara Sickelka. I'm a junior majoring in history here at ISU. I'm a big fan of sci-fi which is why I found this class particularly appealing. I'm really excited to examine the way woman have been portrayed in the sci-fi genre and to learn how these portrayals are changing and evolving as time goes on.
I thought "Of Woman Borg" was a very interesting article. The way female androids and cyborgs are portrayed definitely seems very sexist at times, so it was interesting to read how some authors and directors are trying to change that stereotype.

Blog #1

Hi. I am Anna. I am Spanish major. I am originally from Ames and I just transferred to ISU from UNI where I was a social work major. I have a one-year-old daughter who is my delight. This class seems really interesting to me. I have always been interested in women’s studies and looking at some of the issues of body images or ideals especially from this perspective where people can basically design a person entirely not based in reality seems like a really fascinating/ horrifying way of viewing what these ideals may be. I thought one thing that was really interesting in this article is the fact that most of the altered women in some way were tied to a man as the creator and kind of this god to creation type of system only in this case man is god and women is the creation.

Captain's Log #1

Stardate 25...32-9...

Oh wait, I'm not Captain Kirk, I'm Kit Kooiker. I'm majoring in German and Economics. I decided to take this class because, well, who doesn't like cyborgs and demons? I live in Plymouth, Minnesota. In case it wasn't obvious, I'm a nerdy guy. I look forward to everything in this class, especially watching movies.

I found the article interesting because of the way it went through the timeline of cyborgs and androids in popular media. I wasn't really aware of how common androids were in movies of the 80s.

Blog #1 Intro

Good Morning, Day, Evening everyone! My name is Rachel Underwood and I am a Junior and 4/5ths studying German and perhaps minoring in business. I'm absolutely excited about this class, because it seems a bit out there, and we're talking about movies, which I personally believe is a great topic for class!! I'm the same as Mackenzie and heard about this course from Kris in her Berlin Stories course.
I thought the article was pretty funny actually. It was well written and very factual which can sometimes be surprising from a magazine...I think the arcticle could have been titled "Feminism vs. Robots (including men's obsession of the perfect woman)" just based on the overall tone of the article. I found it interesting that towards the end the article made it seem like most of these robots were a perverse vision of women created by men. She even mentions the Bionic woman being more like a Bionic Barbie, when a quick wiki search will show you Barbie was created by a woman, based on a German Doll, which I thought considering this class was kinda ironic.

Blog #1- Introductions

Hello everyone! My name is Emily Thurmaier and I am a junior German major, looking to double major in religious studies. I was born in Syracuse, NY, lived in Poland for a year, moved to Lawrence, KS, did my high school time in Ames, spent a semester at UW-Madison and then transferred back to Ames to go to ISU. My parents now live in DeKalb, IL and I have an older sister who just moved from Seattle to Denver last week. I spend most of my 'free' time reading, playing piano or hanging out with my roommate.

As for this sweet article we read, I found it to be quite entertaining. It posed many interesting questions (ie. Are the ideas of bionic women/cybors feminist or simply sexual?) and had many sentences that made me laugh. A lot. Then again.. I like laughing and it doesn't take a whole lot to get me started. :)

Blog #1

Greetings and salutations! My name is Mackenzie Dierks and i am a sophomore majoring in Agricultural Studies and International Agriculture, and getting a minor in German. I am a total nerd and am uber excited for this class. I saw the posters for it up at the end of the spring semester, and Dr. V talked about it in the Berlin Stories class so that's how i got interested.
I thought that the article brought up a lot of neat points, and it also makes me think about the "skills" that robotic, or super, women are given as opposed to the ones that male superheros and robots get to sport. There were also a some really great quotes in the article that put a totally different, mainly feminist, view on the situation.

Blog #1

Hello! My name is Heather Kuhlmann. I am double majoring in Marketing and Finance and am taking this class to fulfill a U.S. Diversity requirement. I was unaware this class was about German film making, however am open-minded and love to explore new territories. My family is German, so I thought that could make the class a bit more interesting.

I don't really know much about sci-fi or robots, so it should be interesting to learn more about the two. When it comes to Cyborgs, I feel that it makes sense that they are mainly formed out of the "ideal" female figure. As much as we don't want to admit, or realize, the female body plays a huge role not only in the male aspect of life, but as well as all of society. I am curious as to how these robots will evolve in our culture in the future. It should be an interesting semester!

Blog # 1

Hello all! My name is Lindsey Renken. I am currently a double major in Interior Design and German. Naturally, I am in this class to further my credit total (who isn't). :)
I have never taken a class regarding the film industry, let alone Sci-fi. So in my case I am genrally interested in anything and everything.
I've always liked debate with Male vs. Female content. This exerpt in particular introduces the ever-reccurring idea that a womans only power revolves around sex in a mans world.

Heineken DraughtKeg Robot vs Svedka_Grl

For your consideration...(The contenders are two of the "gynoids" mentioned in Oler's text "Of Woman Borg")

Heineken DraughtKeg Robot vs Svedka_Grl

Apropos sexy robots...

Al Jazeera English news reporter and interviewer Riz Khan speaks with David Levy, author of the book "Love and Sex with Robots: The Evolution of the Human-Robot Relationship" (mentioned in Oler's text "Of Woman Borg"):

Assignment for Thursday, 8/28/08

There are essentially two tasks for Thursday (8/28). First, to do the reading and take notes, and second, to post your first blog entry.

1) Reading and Notes:

• Read: Oler, "Of Woman Borg" (available for viewing and downloading in the WebCT Learning Module for "Week 1") and take notes using the following format (in your notebook):
  
  
  • a) Describe, in 1-3 sentences, what you see as the main argument or overarching theme of the text/s.
  
  
  • b) List at least 3-5 terms you feel are key for understanding the text/s or that are new to you.
  
  
  • c) Formulate a list of comments and questions you have about the text/s. What did
    you find especially interesting or thought-provoking? What did you find disconcerting or contestable? What didn't seem entirely clear? What questions did this text leave you asking yourself?

2) Blog #1:

• In order to complete this part of the assignment, you'll need to set up your Blogger account. You will receive an email *at your iastate.edu address* from Prof. VL (screenname "Pallaksch. Pallaksch") "inviting" you to be an author on the site - follow the instructions in the email to set up your account. Note that you will need to set up a Google account in order to use Blogger (there will be detailed instructions in how to do this in the email you'll receive). Be sure to let Prof. VL know promptly if you have any trouble setting up your account, especially if you have not received the "invite" email by Wednesday (8/27). Once you've set up your account, you can blog your first post:
  
  
  
  • Post #1: In a short paragraph, introduce yourself and tell us what brought you to this class and what you're especially interested in exploring with regards to our topic. If you choose, you can also include comments or questions from the notes you took on the reading (as practice for next week, when you'll be posting an abstract of the week's readings that will take the form of the notes you took in Part 1 above, i.e. a) Argument, b) Terms, c) Questions/Comments.
  • When you're finished with your post, type your name (as you'd like it to appear in the Members list) to the box "Labels for this post."  Use this same label (and only this label) every time you post.   That way, we'll end up with a list of members matched to their posts that is easy to navigate.

Any questions? Don't hesitate to email me!

Welcome

Welcome to Ger/Wmst 370.  We'll use this space to reflect on readings and films and to share items of interest or other information relevant to our course.