Robot Propaganda

nice creepy ending.

New Article for Technosexualities Seminar

Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:30:19 -0800 (PST)
From: ASHLEY

Here is an article I found that relates well to our class. I first heard of Second Life during a History of Sexuality class I took during undergrad. Our professor had a guest speaker who was transgender come to our class and present Second Life to us, and honestly, I thought the website was a bit strange, but now I see how fitting it is to our class! Basically, it's a 3D virtual world where people meet, have relationships, and can even find lots of sex! Seems so technosexual ;)

Zizek on CHILDREN OF MEN...

Barbie: the Ersatz Human

Comically Vintage

More on PASSION OF NEW EVE...

cyborgs from korea...

link

Dee Reed on Angela Carter | Biblical Allusions in THE PASSION OF NEW EVE

click to enlarge

Run Robot, Run!

Essays on Orientalism, the Transgendered Gaze and More...

Thanks to colleague Kristi Albrecht for sending along these supplementary pieces to our Angela Carter reading....


Halberstam, Transgender Butch

Said, Orientalism

Halberstam, Transgender Look

Why the future doesn't need us.

Our most powerful 21st-century technologies - robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotech - are threatening to make humans an endangered species.
CLICK FOR LINK

Btw, this was published in y2k.

Do you have empathy for Robots?

http://youtu.be/R6zdhjrnBNo

My initial thought was, "Haha, I can eat a sandwich and you can't!!"

Upon reflection, I begin to feel for this guy .  All he wants is a bite of a delicious sandwich.

However, I never thought about the feelings and the frustrations of the robot was experiencing.  We never think about how a machine feels.

Then again, are we suppose to???

More Retro Cyborg Fun...

source

As participants in a world that encompasses many people and in recognition of studying different sexualities and identities...

bisexual. heterosexual. metrosexual. homosexual. transexual.  and now, the technosexual... are recent developments in technology already altering the dynamics of gender?

As one of our class goals was to explore the dynamics of gender and human sexuality through the lens of technology, we need to take steps as scholars to be cognizant that peers in our campus community, local community, and world embody the identities that we are theorizing about and discussing. Even as we speak about works of fiction, it is important to know that these identities are not science fiction for a lot of individuals. There have been times in class that language used when speaking about LGBTQ identities has reflected a gap in knowledge about how to respectfully address those lived experiences. There are many resources on campus and online to educate yourself about terminology or questions you may have about LGBTQ identities.

Below are some terms and definitions of words used within the LGBTQ community. Please note that there are terms on this list that are considered derogatory by the LGBTQ community. If it is considered to be derogatory by the community, and you don't belong to the community, it isn't really appropriate to use that terminology or argue for using it.

For more information, SDSU has an LGBTQ Resource Center through the Office of Intercultural Relations. (This center is housed in the Cross-Cultural Center.) There are links to educational resources and LGBTQ centers in the San Diego community. The LGBTQ Resource Center website is located here: http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/intercultural/ccc-lgbtq.html
Another helpful link on LGBTQ diversity initiatives by the campus at large is here: http://newscenter.sdsu.edu/diversity/lgbtq.aspx

LGBTQ AND TRANS DEFINITIONS

ally – typically any non-LGBT person who supports and stands up for the rights of LGBT people, though LGBT people can be allies, such as a lesbian who is an ally to  transgendered people.

androgyne: A person with traits ascribed to males and females. Androgyny may be physical, presentational, or some combination.

asexual - having no evident sex or sex organs. In usage, may refer to a person who is not sexually active, or not sexually attracted to other people.

bisexual – an adjective used to describe people whose enduring physical, romantic and/or emotional attractions are to people of the same sex or the opposite sex.

biphobia: the irrational fear and intolerance of people who are Bisexual.

cis-gender – referring to an individual who has a match between the gender they were assigned at birth and the roles and behaviors considered by society to be appropriate to their particular sex.

civil union - is a state-based relationship recognition for gay and lesbian couples that offers some or all of the state (though none of the federal) rights, protections and responsibilities of marriage.

closeted - a closeted person and the expression ‘in the closet’ describes an LGBTQ person who hides their sexual orientation or gender identity from some or all people.

coming out – the process of disclosing your sexual orientation or gender identity to some or all people.

cross-dresser - A term for people who dress in clothing traditionally or stereotypically worn by the other sex, but who generally have no intent to live full-time as the other gender. Avoid using the word ‘transvestite’  as it is now widely considered a derogatory term.

drag king – used to refer to women who dress as men for the purpose of entertaining others at bars, clubs, or other events.

drag queen – generally used to accurately refer to men who dress as women (often celebrity women) for the purpose of entertaining others at bars, clubs, or other events. It is also used as slang, sometimes in a derogatory manner, to refer to all transgender women.

dyke - (slang) referring to a lesbian or lesbianism regardless of the person’s actual sexual identity. Originally, it was a derogatory label for a masculine or butch woman, and this usage still exists. However, it has also been re-appropriated as a positive term implying assertiveness and toughness, or simply as a neutral synonym for lesbian, regardless of individual gender expression.

fag – (slang) is a shortened version of the word faggot and is a pejorative term and common homophobic slur used chiefly in North America against homosexual males. The word has many meanings worldwide, like ‘bundle of sticks,’ ‘cigarette’  or as a culinary term for seasoning added to a meal. The etymology of the word faggot meaning homosexual is unclear, though the earliest known written reference was in 1914. Sometime gays have ‘reclaimed’ the word, but many still reject it. GLSEN’s ‘Think Before You Speak campaign is an example of the efforts made by the gay community to stop it’s popular usage.

gay – is an adjective used to describe people whose enduring physical, romantic and/or emotional attractions are to people of the same sex.

gender expression – How a person represents or expresses one’s gender identity to others, often through behavior, clothing, hairstyles, voice or body characteristics.

gender identity – An individual’s internal sense of being male, female, or something else. Since gender identity is internal, one’s gender identity is not necessarily visible to others.

gender non-conforming – A term for individuals whose gender expression is different from societal expectations related to gender.

genderqueer – A term used by some individuals who identify as neither entirely male nor entirely female.

heterosexism – is a term that applies to a system of negative attitudes, bias, and discrimination in favor of heterosexual sexuality and relationships. It can include the presumption that everyone is heterosexual or that opposite-sex attractions and relationships are the norm and therefore superior. Heterosexism as discrimination ranks gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people as second-class citizens with regard to various legal and civil rights, economic opportunities, and social equality in the majority of the world’s jurisdictions and societies.

hate crime - is a crime (usually an act of violence) where the victim is targeted because of their perceived membership in a certain social group, such as a racial group, sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity.

homophobia – is a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards LGBTQ people. Definitions refer variably to antipathy, contempt, prejudice, aversion, and irrational fear. Homophobia is observable in critical and hostile behavior such as discrimination and violence on the basis of a perceived non-heterosexual orientation. In a 1998 address, author, activist, and civil rights leader Coretta Scott King stated that “Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood."

internalized homophobia - refers to negative feelings that we have towards ourselves because of our homosexuality. The forms it may take can vary from outright shame, denial, or self-injury, to hating on other gay people and more unconscious behaviors as well.

intersex – A term used for people who are born with external genitalia, chromosomes, or internal reproductive systems that are not traditionally associated with either a “standard” male or female. (taken from the NCTE)

lesbian - A woman whose enduring physical, romantic and/or emotional attraction is to other women. Some lesbians may prefer to identify as gay (adj.) or as gay women.

lifestyle – Inaccurate term used by anti-gay extremists to denigrate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lives. As there is no one straight lifestyle, there is no one lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender lifestyle.

marginalized - Excluded, ignored, or relegated to the outer edge of a group/society/community.

PFLAG - Parents and Friends of Lesbians And Gays, is a non-profit ally group whose mission is to ‘promote the health and well-being of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender persons − while providing support and information to their families and friends.’

Queer - A term used to refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual and, often also transgender people. Some use queer as an alternative to “gay” in an effort to be more inclusive, since the term does not convey a sense of gender. Depending on the user, the term has either a derogatory or an affirming connotation, as many have sought to reclaim the term that was once widely used in a negative way.

Transgender – An umbrella term for people whose gender identity, expression or behavior is different from those typically associated with their assigned sex at birth, including but not limited to transsexuals, cross-dressers, androgynous people, genderqueers, and gender non-conforming people. Transgender is a broad term and is good for non-transgender people to use. “Trans” is shorthand for “transgender.”

Transgender Man – A term for a transgender individual who currently identifies as a man, aka FTM.

Transgender Woman – A term for a transgender individual who currently identifies as a woman, aka MTF.

Transition - The period during which a person begins to live as their new gender. Transitioning may include changing one’s name, taking hormones, having surgery, or changing legal documents (e.g. driver’s license, Social Security record, birth certificate) to reflect their new gender.

Transsexual - A term for people whose gender identity is different from their assigned sex at birth. Often transsexual people alter or wish to alter their bodies through hormones or surgery in order to make it match their gender identity.

Transvestite - An outdated term for a cross-dresser that is considered derogatory.

Two-Spirit – A contemporary term that references historical multiple-gender traditions in many First Nations cultures. Many Native/First Nations people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, or gender non-conforming identify as Two-Spirit; in many Nations, being Two-Spirit carries both great respect and additional commitments and responsibilities to one’s community.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Many of our definitions were borrowed from GLAAD, GLSEN, and the NCTE, (and some from wikipedia) because they did them so well!


Borrowed From http://revelandriot.com/resources/lgbtq-and-trans-definitions and http://geneq.berkeley.edu/lgbt_resources_definiton_of_terms and http://fuckyeahlgbtqlife.tumblr.com/post/735816539/lgbtq-terms

Angela Carter/Passion of New Eve Essay

Ashley Boyd sends along this useful article... hit the first-page facsimile image for the .pdf link...

A second essay sent in by Allison Hooker appears here; hit the image for the .pdf file...

Allison writes:

Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2011 12:59:17 -0800
Subject: Please add this article on The Passion of New Eve to the blog!
From: Allison Hooker <allisonhooker2
To: William Nericcio <bnericci
This article compares Angela Carter's The Passion of New Eve  to Lois Gould's A Sea-Change and makes some interesting points about the two works. However, in the end, the author argues that neither ultimately provides an alternative ideology for a de-gendered or a re-gendered world. Unfortunately, it seems we are trapped in the established paradigms of masculine and feminine and can't enter into a mindset of genderless-ness.

For Your Listening Pleasure

Don't let the length of this show (one hour) scare you off - it is amazing, and a bit disconcerting.

What can machines tell us about being human? This hour of Radiolab, Jad and Robert meet humans and robots who are trying to connect, and blur the line. We begin with a love story--from a man who unwittingly fell in love with a chatbot on an online dating site. Then, we encounter a robot therapist whose inventor became so unnerved by its success that he pulled the plug. And we talk to the man who coded Cleverbot, a software program that learns from every new line of conversation it receives...and that's chatting with more than 3 million humans each month. Then, five intrepid kids help us test a hypothesis about a toy designed to push our buttons, and play on our human empathy. And we meet a robot built to be so sentient that its creators hope it will one day have a consciousness, and a life, all its own.

Lydia H. Liu in ROROTOKO...

Fun With Robots! Kids Comics Edition

Hugo Ball, Dadaism, and Karawane

The image above is Hugo Ball's 1916 Dada-ist nonsense poem, "Karawane." The Dada Movement was a cultural  movement to critique what the Dada-ists saw as meaninglessness in society. As it critiqued meaninglessness of certain aspects of society, the participants also invoked nonsense to poke fun at things that were considered serious, like art and poetry. One of my previous professors said that Dada-ism was a way to be able to comment on the chaos of WWI.

I think that Dadaism is particularly relevant in considering Liu's analysis of meaning and non-meaning of language and communication. I've included below Ball's Dada Manifesto as well, and it speaks to a rebellion of the basic and aiming for the complicated. A reclamation of the written word to be perceived as how they felt.

Dada Manifesto by Hugo Ball

Read at the first public by Dada soiree, Zurich, July 14, 1916.

Dada is a new tendency in art. One can tell this from the fact that until now nobody knew anything about it, and tomorrow everyone in Zurich will be talking about it. Dada comes from the dictionary. It is terribly simple. In French it means "hobby horse". In German it means "good-bye", "Get off my back", "Be seeing you sometime". In Romanian: "Yes, indeed, you are right, that's it. But of course, yes, definitely, right". And so forth.

An International word. Just a word, and the word a movement. Very easy to understand. Quite terribly simple. To make of it an artistic tendency must mean that one is anticipating complications. Dada psychology, dada Germany cum indigestion and fog paroxysm, dada literature, dada bourgeoisie, and yourselves, honoured poets, who are always writing with words but never writing the word itself, who are always writing around the actual point. Dada world war without end, dada revolution without beginning, dada, you friends and also-poets, esteemed sirs, manufacturers, and evangelists. Dada Tzara, dada Huelsenbeck, dada m'dada, dada m'dada dada mhm, dada dera dada, dada Hue, dada Tza.

How does one achieve eternal bliss? By saying dada. How does one become famous? By saying dada. With a noble gesture and delicate propriety. Till one goes crazy. Till one loses consciousness. How can one get rid of everything that smacks of journalism, worms, everything nice and right, blinkered, moralistic, europeanised, enervated? By saying dada. Dada is the world soul, dada is the pawnshop. Dada is the world's best lily-milk soap. Dada Mr Rubiner, dada Mr Korrodi. Dada Mr Anastasius Lilienstein. In plain language: the hospitality of the Swiss is something to be profoundly appreciated. And in questions of aesthetics the key is quality.

I shall be reading poems that are meant to dispense with conventional language, no less, and to have done with it. Dada Johann Fuchsgang Goethe. Dada Stendhal. Dada Dalai Lama, Buddha, Bible, and Nietzsche. Dada m'dada. Dada mhm dada da. It's a question of connections, and of loosening them up a bit to start with. I don't want words that other people have invented. All the words are other people's inventions. I want my own stuff, my own rhythm, and vowels and consonants too, matching the rhythm and all my own. If this pulsation is seven yards long, I want words for it that are seven yards long. Mr Schulz's words are only two and a half centimetres long.

It will serve to show how articulated language comes into being. I let the vowels fool around. I let the vowels quite simply occur, as a cat meows . . . Words emerge, shoulders of words, legs, arms, hands of words. Au, oi, uh. One shouldn't let too many words out. A line of poetry is a chance to get rid of all the filth that clings to this accursed language, as if put there by stockbrokers' hands, hands worn smooth by coins. I want the word where it ends and begins. Dada is the heart of words.

Each thing has its word, but the word has become a thing by itself. Why shouldn't I find it? Why can't a tree be called Pluplusch, and Pluplubasch when it has been raining? The word, the word, the word outside your domain, your stuffiness, this laughable impotence, your stupendous smugness, outside all the parrotry of your self-evident limitedness. The word, gentlemen, is a public concern of the first importance.

Introducing the T-001

Just recently came across this video of a anthropomorphic robot developed by Boston Dynamic named PETMAN. The robot is reported to be used to test clothing for military personal. (Sounds like a coverup if you ask me) This robot can even stimulate human physiology by controlling temperature, humidity, and sweating. Either way this has to be the most amazing robot to date, and I can only guess what the outcome of this will be...say hello to SKYNET!!!

Beyond the Gender Binary

While I was reading Angela Carter's The Passion of the New Eve, I kept feeling a sense that the author and/or narrator was having difficulty conceptualizing the idea that there are more than two genders (and sexes for that matter) and this struck me as odd considering the gender subversive nature of the novel. I understand that the main idea of the novel was to take this misogynist man (Evelyn) and "turn him into" a woman as, what I interpret, a healing process and to shed light on the gender conflicts of the time (c. 1977, feminist movement, yay!), but the author seems to flirt with this line of "am I going there or am I not" and I found it frustrating.

So to alleviate my discomfort with the author's lack of understanding or acceptance of transgender/transsexual and intersex people and issues I have provided a link Gender Binary Wikidot where you can find some information on gender and sexual fluidity.

Enjoy!