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postmodern
feminism creates an arena in which we can interrogate the meaning
of womanhood in relation to the contemporary technological moment.
as we become increasingly reliant on newer biotech and medical
advances, questions are raised as to the "nature" of
woman. this is not a fringe issue, nor is it any longer the product
of an imaginary science fict!
ion.
from
the birth control pill to hormone "therapy" to transitioning
across sexes (male to female, female to male transsexualism/ transgenderism),
it has been made clear by science that the body's sexual characteristics
can be altered by hormone dosing... better living through chemistry?
even the birth control pill (synthetic estrogen and progesterone)
augments women's curvature and libido, promoting a hyperfeminine
body while simultaneously divesting it of its maternity. part
of the transitioning process of transsexuality involves taking
hormones to create secondary sex characteristic effects of the
desired sex. science can change woman to man, and vice versa.
and this to say nothing of the sur!
gical possibilities...
but
speaking of which, sex reassignment surgery is another aspect
of transsexual transitioning that exposes the instability of the
essentialized body. further, cosmetic surgery is rampant throughout
the moneyed and miserable world, and it targets women who are
unhappy with their bodies. technology is being used to shape bodies
into ideal womanhood... whether within or across essentialized
sex categories.
these
are but a few examples of the possibilities of gender creation/dissolution
through technological means, an idea central to queer
feminist thought.
i've
got a fun little factoid, speaking of technological development.
master of one's domain, indeed. some smarty pants at doc johnson
decided to promote a collection of ivibes. that's right, a little
pocket rocket or egg vibrator that matches your imac. this is
no joke... and yet it is. the master's tools, eh? before anyone
exhibits concern about a gratuitous sexualization of the feminine,
let's take a brief look at emancipatory feminism's roots, shall
we? we all remember freud. so much modern falsehood about the
nature of woman, about irrationality, frailty of body, etc. stems
from freud's funny little notions. one of his was the famous hysteria,
from the greek for uterus, which suggested that women go crazy
because th! ey can't ejaculate (it's always about the cigar with
freud, isn't it?). his prescription for hysteria was to manually
stimulate the pathologized woman to a 'release' of hysterical
energy, i.e., an orgasm. since doctors hands got tired easily,
somebody invented the vibrator. this was its original use. so
isnít it so very cute and parodic in that pomo way that somebody
has made a vibrator (generally sold to women) that matches a computer
that was meant to appeal to a feminine aesthetic. the master's
tools in the mistress's hands. fight the power!
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