Transparency Report

While checking the news this morning, I cam across this interesting article.

It talks about Google's new 'transparency report' which is really really interesting to have a quick flick through. It relates back to the discussions earlier in the semester about censorship on the net. Basically Google is providing the information about requests for removals/etc from national governments on a map where you can see how many requests there have been, how many Google responded to etc.

Well worth having a quick scan through.

Bringing internet pop-culture to a town near you!

Sup.

This is the site I was talking about in the tute with the "Jesus listens--TO SLAYER" billboard. Most of the time it is just random images of things like drains turned into skeleton rib cages but it does deliver the occasional hilarious and clever statement. It likes to call itself a site dedicated to "culture jamming graffiti".

-Em

WOMN2205 – WEBLIOGRAPHY

Question 4: Donna Haraway claims ‘we are all cyborgs’. How has this idea been taken up by scholars since the 1980s?

Kyle Munkittrick. “On the importance of being a Cyborg Feminist”

H plus is an online magazine that focuses on modern trend changes. The magazine focuses on three areas: science, technology, and cultural changes. It is not peer reviewed so it is not the most reliable academic source. However, the author is currently a graduate student at New York University and is the program director for the IEET, a not for profit institute that researches debates about emerging technologies. Due to the authors credibility I thought he may be a credible scholarly source to use.

This article was published in 2009. The most current debate on cyborgs argues that technology has greatly improved day to day living. To survive in today’s world being connected to non-human things, e.g. computers, is part of being Human. Humans are living much longer, women have much greater power over birth control and it is much easier for people to change their physical sexuality. However, recognising being a cyborg does not change the cultural restrictions that entrap individuals. Improved technology does not change societies mind set. To change sexuality legally is a mind field which requires expert opinion. Why should someone’s sexuality be determined by someone else’s opinion? Many of the cultural restrictions that existed in the 1980’s when Donna Haraway had written her manifesto still exist in 2009.

(Words: 213)

Jonathan Marshall. “The Online Body Breaks Out? Asence, Ghosts, Cyborgs, Gender, Polarity and Politics.”

Fibre culture journal is a peer reviewed academic journal. The writer is an academic, Jonathan Marshall, from the University of Technology, Sydney. This would be a source any student would use in an essay because experts in the field have academically reviewed it. The ability to be free to the public allows for more international scrutiny and not just a select group of academics who subscribe to the journal. However, it is important to read articles from many angles because each writer and peer reviewer are constructed and cannot consider all the arguments.

Haraway argued that “cyborgs are post-gendered”. However, this article argues that cyborgs are heavily constructed through Gender. Haraway is accused of creating the cyborg as a political function to cross boundaries and nothing else. The problem with creating the definition of cyborg is that it cancels out other possibilities of being. Nearly 20 years since Haraway’s manifesto academics still largely believe that it is impossible to cancel out gender when considering the creation of cyborgs as part of our human identity. Essentially, humans don’t want to change their rigid westernised view of being human because what they know now makes them feel safe. For the majority, many still see human as being man or woman and that computers/technology are not part of the human body. The problem with the Cyborg is it has no boundaries. At what point do we stop being human?

(Words: 235)

Audrey Watters. “Ada Lovelace Day Post: I’d (Still) Rather Be A Cyborg.”

This is a blog entry by Audrey Watters who is a technology journalist. She completed her “undergraduate honor’s thesis in on feminist science fiction” but her masters degree is based on folklore. Folklore has little connection to cyborg and technology. She isn’t an expert in the field of technology or cyborgs, she therefore has little academic authority.

The problem with this blog entry is there is minimal reference to other academic sources. The blog is written from entirely her personal point of view and her experience of reading Haraway’s manifesto. Also, her blog is not reviewed by anyone. I would most likely not use this as an academic source because it is not anonymously peer reviewed by other academics in the field and not referencing other sources.

Essentially, this blog is a glowing review of Donna Haraway and her manifesto. She argues that Haraway is still seen as a female body despite her argument about a post-gendered world by becoming cyborgs. Audrey Watters explains she experiences this discrimination despite spending most of her time online and living on the internet. She concludes, that the white western view of binaries between the sexes, man versus woman, is still the dominant view which constrains many professionals in her field, online blogging. Haraway’s cyborg definition has had little impact on changing and challenging the western capitalist belief systems on definition of identity.

(Words: 229)

Madeline Ashby. “Ownership, authority, and the body: Does antifanfic sentiment reflect posthuman anxiety?”

Transformative works and culture is a free access online academic journal. The website specifies in the policy section that all authors must use their “professional names and not fan pseudonyms”. Once again, all articles are anonymously peer reviewed. It is a well organised journal with an articles archive. The author, Madeline Ashby, is an academic at the university of York, Toronto, and a science fiction writer. As author of science fiction she continuously uses the cyborg metaphor in her fictional and academic writing. Her article refers to other academic arguments to support her thesis. The article is objectively edited and the author has a strong research history in cyborgs which would make this a well researched scholarly article to use in an essay.

The vast majority of scholars have largely rejected Haraway’s theory “we are all cyborgs”. This is because western society has so much emphasis on the body and origins of humans not the lived experienced through technology and machines. However, Haraway’s theory is being kept alive by science fiction. Examples of three fictional texts are used to show how the hero is a female who rejects her role to reproduce and overtakes the masculine corporation that has laid claim to ownership over her body.
(Words: 206)

Amber Casey. “About: Why Cyborg Anthropology?”

This site is dedicated to collating research on cyborg anthropology. Cyborg anthropology “view[s] that most of modern human life is a product of both human and non-human objects”. It is a great starting point for looking for basic definitions of cyborg, the different types of cyborg and academic sources for research. It contains well organized lists and links to all academic work on humans being cyborgs. It was through this site I found the fibre culture journal. I would use this site because have no real understanding on the current understanding of cyborgs and the site explains complex definitions in a more simplified way instead of having to read a whole journal article.

However, as a researcher you must be weary it is a .com site which means it is not a educational website. On the side of the web page are ads by Google advertising training courses. It makes me suspicious as to where the funding comes from to support the site because this can influence the content that is uploaded. Also, Amber Case is the only person who manages the sight. One person means only one persons point of view on managing content of the site which for scholars would find extremely bias. I would be cautious as using as primary source in an essay because the content of the sight is not peer reviewed by objective anonymous academics who are experts in cyborg anthropology.
(Words: 237)

Reference List

Ashby, Madeline. “Ownership, authority, and the body: Does antifanfic sentiment reflect posthuman anxiety?” Transformative Works and Cultures, 1 (2008). http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/40/49 (accessed 15 September).

Case, Amber. “About: Why Cyborg Anthropology?” Cyborg Anthropology site, May 15 2010. http://www.cyborganthropology.com/About (accessed 16 September 2010).
Marshall, Jonathan. “The Online Body Breaks Out? Asence, Ghosts, Cyborgs, Gender, Polarity and Politics.” The Fibreculture Journal, 3 (2004). http://three.fibreculturejournal.org/fcj-016-the-online-body-breaks-out-asence-ghosts-cyborgs-gender-polarity-and-politics/ (accessed 13 September 2010).

Munkittirck, Kyle.“On the importance of being a Cyborg Feminist,” in H+ Magazine, ed. R.U. Sirius, July 21 2009. href="http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/politics/importance-being-cyborg-feminist">http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/politics/importance-being-cyborg-feminist> (accessed 12 September 2010).

Watters, Audrey. “Ada Lovelace Day Post: I’d (Still) Rather Be A Cyborg.” Audrey Watters Blog, March 24 2010. http://www.audreywatters.com/2010/03/24/ada-lovelace-day-post-id-still-rather-be-a-cyborg/ (accessed 14 September 2010).

Webliography

The digital divide guarantees inequity in cyberspace. Summarise recent research on the digital divide and its implications.

1. Technology Trends Among People of Color

Recent statistics on internet and broadband use in America show the gap between whites and people of colour is closing. While African-American people are still less likely to own a PC or go online, the racial composition of online America is more closely resembling that of the population as a whole. Language proficiency is a more relevant predictor of internet use than race.

Racial minorities are more likely than whites to own a mobile phone, to access the internet by mobile phone, and to use social networking sites, particularly to stay informed about government and local issues. The ever-increasing range of devices that can utilise the internet is helping to narrow the digital divide, and ensuring online content stays relevant and accessible by these devices will help address inequities in cyberspace, at least in terms of race.

2. Australian Social Trends, 2008 - Internet Access at Home

The most recent report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics of factors associated with lack of internet access is for 2006-07. These factors include remoteness from major cities, increased age, being a young single parent, low income, low educational attainment, and being an indigenous Australian. Many of these factors are also associated with each other, compounding the effect of the digital divide, as it is likely a disadvantaged individual must overcome numerous obstacles to internet participation, and often the resources likely to aid the overcoming of disadvantageous circumstances can be accessed most easily from the internet.

The main reasons given for not having internet access were no use for, or not interested in, the internet. Lack of access is not included as a reason for not connecting, although it is admitted that broadband penetration into remote rural areas lags behind that of cities, so presumably access is a barrier for some.

Considering the numerous advantages being online is purported to offer people, a more in-depth study of “not interested/not useful” would be advantageous in forming social inclusion policies in Australia, as initiatives like the NBN and subsidised costs will not address this issue. Higher access than usage across several age groups indicates simply having the internet does not bridge the digital divide.

3. Unpacking “I don’t want it” — Why novices and non–users don’t use the Internet

This study from 2006 uses Pew data (2005) to suggest saturation point for internet adoption in America has been reached. In light of the new data from 2010, the comparatively low uptake of broadband overall compared to that of people of colour shows the likelihood that internet non-users will be black has decreased, but that they will be older and less educated still holds true.

An interview of 21 adults, half of whom are “technology embracers” and the other half “technology resisters” shows differences across four areas: learning habits, attitudes about technology, attitudes about technology users, and social networks. Analysis of the “I don’t want it” response suggests resisters are distancing themselves based on fear and misperception. While there is an obvious danger in using the opinions of 10 individuals to draw conclusions about 65 million other people, studies of this nature are valuable in forming policies intended to encourage not just access, but a desire to seek inclusion.

4. Digital Na(t)ives? Variation in Internet Skills and Uses among Members of the “Net Generation”

The digital divide has traditionally been analysed in terms of access or non-access to the internet, or more recently the quality of access, e.g. broadband versus dial-up. This study explores the divide between those with “internet know-how” and those without.

The belief that exposure to internet technology equates to “net savvy” carries the assumption that connected youth have already crossed the “digital divide” and the inequities associated with it are no longer their problem. However, different uses of the internet are related to social factors, and “differentiated usage patterns among the connected have the potential to contribute to social inequality”.

Controlling for age and education, the study finds low web skill associated with low socioeconomic status, women, Hispanics, and African Americans. Greater diversity of internet use is associated with laptop ownership, more access points, more hours spent online, and men. The findings reinforce some of the well-known issues surrounding the digital divide of connectivity, particularly socioeconomic status, but also expose the inequities commonly assumed to have vanished with equal access, such as gender.

This study shows merely providing internet access does not confer all the internet’s advantages upon the user; the digital divide is also defined by computer and internet literacy. The inequities of cyberspace are not addressed by presence, but by how active that presence is.

5. “Blacks Deserve Bodies Too!” Design and Discussion about Diversity and Race in a Teen Virtual World

Discussion of the internet as postrace might be an interesting intellectual exercise but it does not address the concerns of people like Kerri_87, who desire that the “1/3 of the population” of Whyville with self-chosen black avatar faces, have access to matching black bodies. This article highlights the online representation issues surrounding the digital divide.

Availability of a diverse range of physical representations ought not be an issue in a world of user-generated content, where presumably any perceived lack of adequate representation can be addressed by the perceiver. However, lower numbers of people online that are affected by that lack (as evidenced by the Pew statistics), means less people are likely to correct it, a longer time where the lack goes uncorrected, and in the intervening time the lack is normalised and perpetuated.

An imbalance between availability of non-white heads and non-white bodies, the assertion by various members of the online community that racism doesn’t exist in Whyville because they haven’t seen it, and the initial assignment of a white-skinned generic head when signing up, all reflect the offline world of white privilege. The moderator’s response of making newbie heads blue is an important example of the ability of online environments to address the concerns of minorities.

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2008), Australian Social Trends, cat. no. 4102.0, <http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/lookup/8070dd7b8f223b04ca25748e00124112> (viewed 18 September 2010)

Green, R. Michelle (2006), Unpacking “I don’t want it” — Why novices and non–users don’t use the Internet, First Monday, volume 11 (9) <http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1395/1313> (viewed 18 September 2010)

Hargittai, Eszter (2010), ‘Digital Na(t)ives? Variation in Internet Skills and Uses among Members of the “Net Generation”’, Sociological Inquiry, Volume 80 (1) p. 92–113 <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-682x.2009.00317.x/full>(viewed 19 September 2010)

Kafai, Yasmin B.; Melissa Cook, & Deborah A. Fields (2010), ‘“Blacks Deserve Bodies Too!” Design and Discussion about Diversity and Race in a Teen Virtual World’, Games and Culture, Volume 5 (1) p. 43-63 <http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.126.862&rep=rep1&type=pdf> (viewed 19 September 2010)

Smith, Aaron (Sep 17, 2010), Technology Trends Among People of Color, <http://pewinternet.org/commentary/2010/september/technology-trends-among-people-of-color.aspx> (viewed 18 September 2010)

Pranking

I mentioned something in the tute about how Banksy, the street artist, made a mockumentry (I'm not sure how to spell it) about himself. 

I thought this was an interesting reaction to people showing an interest in his work. How even though he has 'conformed' in some ways with his art he finds different ways to rebel. It's just nice to think that rebellion will always find a way.

The Most Hated Family In America - Documentary

I can't remember why, but during last weeks tutorial we mentioned the Westboro Baptist Church and I thought i'd post the documentary Louis Theroux made about them, The Most Hated Family in America.

It's in parts so you have to follow links, but its quite interesting.

Pranking Rhetoric: "Culture Jamming" as Media Activism

Christine Harold’s article explores the phenomenon of culture jamming as a method of protest and subversion. Culture jamming is explained as appropriating the tools and conventions of the mass media and marketing in order to take advantage of the resources and venues they afford. Culture jammers see their process as attempting to ‘liberate’ and undermine the rhetoric of the mass media. However, in doing so, jammers engage in the same rhetoric and devices that the mass media takes advantage of. Harold, with reference to Bakhtin, claims that engaging with the rhetoric and devices of the mass media simply perpetuates the ‘rhetorical binaries’. In this period of late capitalism or post modernity, Jameson sees that parody has found itself without a vocation and instead pastiche has taken over. Pastiche, is for Jameson, ‘the imitation of a peculiar or unique’ but without parody’s ulterior motives. It is a ‘blank parody’.

While Harold alludes to this movement towards pastiche, she fails to directly take her thesis towards this point. Arguably, culture jamming has become no longer a parody, but rather a pastiche. Jameson’s exploration of pastiche refers to a wider analysis of society, however, this exploration is equally applicable to the process of resistance and subversion of the dominant powers that is embodied by culture jamming. Pastiche transforms the world into sheer images of itself and for pseodu-events and ‘spectacles’. The classic example in contemporary marketing is the process of ‘viral advertising’. Once a process of subversion and resistance, viral campaigns creates a desire amongst consumers to consumer the ‘spectacle’ itself. The issue becomes, as Guy Debord explains, ‘the image has become the final form of commodity reification.’ And as we all know, reification is an inescapable hegemonic form as it serves to subsume everything within itself. Culture jamming fails to break down reification, as Lyotard would suggest, by playing into the opponent’s strategy.

The only way to disrupt the hegemony of marketing and the mass media would be to make a Lyotardian move. Most culture jamming practices serve to stand outside to compete against and escape the mass media. This simply reinforces the binary rhetoric of the mass media. Indeed, if we are living in a period marked by control as Deleuze and Jameson suggest, our actions and reactions are observed within the framework of the dominant. However, Harold suggests that control offers new opportunities for political protest. Harold uses the example of Skaggs who utilizes hoaxes in the knowledge that they will be taken on by the mass media. So rather than attempt to situation himself outside and apart from the media, he situations himself firmly within the media in order to provide a subversion. In this way, pranking provides an invaluable method of subversion. Where culture jamming attempts to differentiate itself from ‘culture’, pranks occur within the dominant in order to provide a subversion. Indeed, pranks address ‘patterns of power rather than its contents.’ Pranks, by their very nature serve to disrupt hegemonic forces. In acting from within the dominant, pranks can unravel the rhetoric of the dominant. It is not enough to engage with an outright confrontation and battle against the mass media. These are simply reactional counter moves. As Lyotard poetically puts it:

Reactional countermoves are not more than programmed effects in the opponent’s strategy; they play into his hands and thus have no effect on the balance if power. That is why it is important to increase displacements in the games, and even to disorientate it, in such a way as to make an unexpected ‘move’ (a new statement).

Questions:

· Does marketing still maintain its hegemonic status

· Does pranking offer a chance to disrupt the balance of power?

o If so, where does this balance of power lie?

o Do we need to prank on the internet? If so, how do we prank the internet when the internet is perceived as an ‘open’ forum, rather than the closed hegemonic structures of the mass media?

· How does Culture Jamming and pranking play out on the internet?

o Is the internet ‘branded’?

· Do we agree with Jameson’s notion that resistance has become commodified?

o If so, what options are available to those wanting to subvert hegemonic powers (especially online)?

o Is it possible to follow Lyotard’s calls and make an unexpected move that doesn’t play into the oppositions hand?

o How does Deleuze and Foucault’s concept of control extend onto the internet? If the internet enables greater freedoms, how does it allow a greater control through modulation of every aspect of life?

Somebody PLEASE think of the children!?

Sup.

Looking at my handout and I saw something about an article reflection in wk 10. I'm doing it now because I reckon I'll be too busy to do it then.

So anyway I found this article that is quite farcical but not deliberately. It's on everyones favorite topic; Teens and the internet! Inspired and intrigued by last weeks readings on internet friendly child safety and what have you I sought out an article relevant to such a topic. That's when I found this cracker.

You know the old saying, "everything should be taken with a grain of salt"? Well with this article should be taken with a cup.

There is no doubt in my mind that this article is hopelessly and grossly biased, blatantly revealing this in the 3rd last paragraph ("Despite the seemingly clear association..."). They are stating their opinion despite the 'study'?! Which, by the way was conducted in CHINA very different place to AMERICA where this site is based. This article talks of social isolation. It does not however, mention time that may have been spent conversing with others online. Are online friends to be disregarded entirely? Facebook, online RPG, skype, email etc. Were these taken into account? The internet is leading to increased social globalisation. You can now easily keep in touch with a friend or colleague in another continent. But no. Don't be silly. This article isn't concerned with such frivolous ideas like benefits (seriously though, no recognition for ANY benefits of the internet in general at all).

"Prolonged internet use to be linked to obesity, social isolation, skipping meals, sleeping problems, and developing depression and stress." You know what else is linked to this? Being an adolescent. Hormones, peer pressure, Identity crisis are all part of being young. Talk about umbrella prognosis.

Okay this bit made me giggle something chronic: "According to the results, the common profile for a heavy internet user was a non-religious male studying engineering...". This is amusing to me for two reasons, 1. It is outrageously specific and 2. I go to UWA. I know a multitude of these engineering guys and they are not 'addicted' to the internet... I suppose the second half "...whose parents did not pursue higher education" is another point to consider but it also further solidifies my first point.

Oh and by the way; parents? It's your fault. Uh, well yeah you (somehow) should be stopping this and be getting your children off the internet. This article was written to "Mom and Dad America". Aiming straight at the parents telling them how to 'encourage; their children to 'log off'. Of course the article doesn't mention if all the students were staying with their parents at the time of the survey so how they can relate this to being the fault of the parent when the parent may not be present is beyond me...

Their final words of wisdom are "Fortunately, internet addiction can be prevented" (which only really reminds me of "only YOU can prevent forest fires") as if this whole 'study' (in CHINA remember..) meant that every child ever on the internet for any amount of time is addicted and you can stop this! Thanks for not trying to to strike unfounded and overblown fear into my heart about the safety of my child article! :D... Oh wait-- :S

I understand the intention of the article but i believe the elocution was misinformed, fear-mongering and dumbed down. I googled "teens and internet" and this was one of the first articles to pop up. It makes me cringe thinking that such a bland and bias article is 'informing' parents about the dangers of the Web. I thought we were supposed to be protecting our children from nonsense on the internet. Looks like we have to look out for the adults too.

Em.

ADBUSTERS

Hey guys, here's my presentation for this week. Its pretty short but I think we have a few presentations this week anyways.

Im doing my presentation on the Adbusters

This website is basically the online version of a magazine of the same name and is produced by the Adbusters Media Foundation, which is a not-for-profit, anti-consumerist organization founded in 1989. The magazine is Canadian and is circulated to 120, 000 readers. The magazine is mainly concerned about the erosion of our physical and cultural environments by commercial forces.

On the website, they describe themselves as “a global network of culture jammers and creatives working to change the way information flows, the way corporations wield power, and the way meaning is produced in our society”. They are devoted to numerous political and social causes, many of which are anti-consumerist in nature. Culture jamming is the primary means through which Adbusters' advocates fight consumerism.

Adbusters has also launched numerous international social marketing campaigns, including Buy Nothing Day and TV Turnoff Week, and is known for their "subvertisements" (refers to the practice of making spoofs or parodies of corporate and political advertisements form of a new image or an alteration to an existing image, often in a satirical manner) that spoof popular advertisements.

QUESTIONS:

Do you think the website/magazine is effective in what it does?

Is culture jamming a form of civil disobedience or is it simply vandalism of well-known brands/corporations?

Is there a code of ethics when it comes to things like this, or are the creators of these things free to as they please? Do they have any sort of social responsibility?


I also added a few examples of subvertisements from the website as my cultural artefact for the week. There's a lot more stuff on the actual website so go on over and have a look!

Webliography

Q4. If science fiction is a genre that imagines our future, what happens to gender

and race?

Source 1: On The Importance Of Imaginative Literature by Vandana Singh (2001)

This is an article written by a physicist and social worker residing in Boston. Singh presents an interesting insight on the marriage between science fiction and fantasy which proves to be relevant since both of science fiction and the imagination of our future are confronted here.

As proposed by Singh, this married genre provides us with opportunities to create alternative technologies and cultures through the imagined worlds. Ultimately this produces metaphors – which are said to be the language of our unconscious minds- thereby enabling us to expand our views of the world by stimulating thoughts on the possible futures.

A setback for this article is the superficial discussion on race in the genre which is ‘often accused of … portraying … scantily clad women’ and her realization that Imaginative Literature in the West is still dominated by men. However, Singh made a valid point on the portrayal of ‘the Other’ which could be referred to as ‘anyone different from ourselves – a person of another caste, class, nationality, race --- or an animal, or an alien’. This is an interesting point to note and is definitely useful in helping me widen my primary definitions of ‘gender’ and ‘race’, which may have been restricted before this.

In contrast, even though the website is seemingly established having various science fiction writers as active participants on the forum, the immobility to link to other pages does invoke a sense of doubt in the credibility of the source.

(245 words)

Source 2: Human Race Will 'Split Into Two Different Species' by Niall Firth (2007)

As an online article by an established newspaper, this source has proven its reliability. It presents the idea that racial difference will eventually diminish in the speculated future as ‘interbreeding produces a single coffee-coloured skin tone’.

Firth’s work adds an appealing twist to the issue of race which has long been dabbled in the discussions of science fiction. Its attraction lies in its presented subjugation of the collective human race through class, as opposed to classification based on ethnicity since colour would no longer be an issue.

Firth has also paralleled his findings with a popular science fiction novel, The Time Machine by H G Wells (1895) which sees the human race engineered into two species: the intelligent and wealthy Eloi as well as the grotesque Morlock. Although this parallel is seemingly relevant, it would be greatly beneficial to look further into Dr Curry’s report on the possible future which served as the main argument for this article.

In dealing with the essay question, this brief article warrants an intriguing introduction to a distinct argument on the issue of race and should as such be further developed.

(187 words)

Source 3: R Is For Race, Not Rocket by Adilifu Nama (2009)

This journal article is helpful in revealing the progress of the inclusion of ‘blacks’ in films thereby creating a new multiracial onset in the American science fiction landscape. It explains the shift of ‘black’ participation from the 1950s where the population was said to to be too effected by history and social location to the emergence of the Black Power nationalism in the late 1960s which gave rise to a phenomenon referred to as ‘Blaxploitation cinema’ where the “black experience” is ‘represented, recognized, and, in the end, validated’(p. 158).

Comprehensive case studies were given in the form of ‘black characters’ in popular science fiction films such as ‘Star Wars’ and ‘The Matrix’. For instance, the placing of the ‘black’ character Lando Calrissian in ‘Star Wars’ proved to be watershed for ‘blackness’ in American sci-fi cinema. His role as a successful mobile character reflects the shifting social and political paradigm of African Americans in the early 1980s. Nama thus likens the American science fiction landscape to the social construction of race in US society, where static is absent.

While this reading is ostensibly panoptic in its discourse on the ‘black’ inclusion in science fiction cinema, unfortunately it only embraces the American point of view plausibly due to the genre’s increasing prevalence in Hollywood therefore giving no insight into the science fiction genre as a whole.

(224 words)

Source 4: Best Wives Are Artefacts? Popular Cybernetics And Robot Women in the 1970s by Susanna Paasonen (2001)

This scholarly article is a commentary on the various themes of the film, ‘The Stepford Wives’, with reference to Betty Friedan’s ‘The Feminine Mystique’. The film is a speculative fiction which is based on values of the 1960s. Paasonen thus seeks to debunk the mystery surrounding the female gender of the future.

With Friedan’s feminine mystique being a close analogy to the themes presented in the film, the robotic Stepford wives are adept embodiments as the robots are stripped off their names, or original identities, hence giving light to ‘the problem that has no name’ as coined by Friedan (p. 191). Paasonen also discusses the issue of technology as a male terrain, as all the husbands work at technological research institutes and the robotic women are treated as ‘automated puppets whose controls are held and operated by men’. The gendering of the robot also emphasizes the seductive quality given to technology in the run to ultimately destroy the goddess as mystic origin. Nevertheless, Donna Haraway’s claim that she “would rather by a cyborg than a goddess” (p. 195) seem to argue for the possibility of change and multiplicity in technology.

Based on the above, it is apparent that this scholarly article aims to cover the themes of the films in as just a manner as possible. Nevertheless, pertaining to the essay question, Paasonen failed to discuss on the feminine gender as a whole thereby giving challenge to the projected portrayal of females as the subjects are all assumed to come from a white middle class background and are heterosexual.

(255 words)

Source 5: Unbending Ethics Of The Machine In Brave New World by Sukyi E. Douglas-McMahon (2008)

Douglas-McMahon’s article attests Huxley’s transnational feminist nature through the exploration of the power struggle in his novel ‘Brave New World’. In the novel, Huxley presents the foreboding tale that humans have become too dependent on machines and are as a result a mere automata with prescribed roles.

Based on the article, the essay question can be demystified through the presentation of machines as the ultimate dominant power in the imagined world therefore eradicating the assumed control held by men. In fact, as suggested by Douglas-McMahon, both men and women alike are mercilessly manipulated and rendered powerless by technology as it exploits human labour for greater power and efficiency.

The interesting point to note of this article is the possibility that race and gender would not matter in the science fiction genre thereby eradicating the power struggles between ethnicities and genders because ultimately, technology reigns. It would however be highly useful to find out if there is any form of gendering found within the technology itself in later research to substantiate this argument.

(172 words)

Total word count: 1076

Reference List

Douglas-McMahon, S E. 2008, ‘Unbending ethics of the machine in Brave New World’ in Technological determinism and feminism in Aldous Huxley’s Essays, Brave New World, and Island, English Department of Theses and Dissertations-English, viewed 7 September 2010, <ecommons.txstate.edu/engltad/5/>.

Firth, N 2007, Human race will ‘split into two different species’, Dailymail Online, 26 October 2007, Associated Newspapers Ltd, viewed 30 August 2010, .

Nama, A 2009, R is for race, not rocket: black representation in American science fiction cinema, Quarterly Review of Film and Video, California State University, viewed 5 September 2010, >.

Paasonen, S 2001, Best wives are artefacts? Popular cybernetics and robot women in the 1970s, School of Art, Literature and Music, University of Turku, viewed 1 September 2010, .

Singh, V 2001, On the importance of imaginative literature, 11 June 2001, South Asian Women’s Forum, viewed 26 August 2010, .

Please pay no attention to my artefact post.... or rather, come back and read it when I present in week 10!

Cultural Artefact

As all the readings for the week have been covered I am presenting a cultural artefact.

Rather than looking at internet ethics which have been covered by everyone else, I decided to think about what happened pre-internet. Specifically, what happened to the disgruntled youth?

I decided to look at Pump Up the Volume (1990) which is the typical teen flick portraying the students in a highschool and the edgy, unsettled undercurrent in their environment. This undercurrent is verbalised and exacerbated by a pirate radio station whose DJ is a student there - Hard Harry.

Pump Up the Volume is an interesting look into what the cross-section of society who are now the angry bloggers used to do to get their message out there. In this situation, before internet was freely available, they turned to airwaves...

PUTV delves in the area of censorship and notions of free speech, what it means, how it's practiced etc.

The Ethics of Porn on the Net

Kath Albury’s honours thesis on ‘heterosexuality and media in popular culture’ took an unexpected turn and ended up in the world of pornography. Within four years the reactions of her friends and academic colleagues had begun to change and the adult was being discussed as a legitimate topic. Her article discusses a number of issues which arise from the intersection of morality, ethics, pornography, and the internet.

Jorgia Lambert's Webliography Assignment

4. "If popular culture has taken up the cyborg as a figure of progress, what happens to the way race is represented?"

John Safran's Race Relations & Kim Dalton; Pushing Small Screen Boundaries:

John Safran's Race Relations is an eight part TV series which explores interracial love in a thought provoking, occasionally offensive, hilarious way. The TV show is and the webpage are items of pop culture which deal frankly with race in modern societies using comedy. Safran’s confrontational style forces viewers of the website to ponder the realities of the ‘race relations’ he is discussing and pushing into our social consciousness via comedy, a form of popular culture that has increased exponentially in popularity in the last century, and which has been around for over a millennia.

As a preemptive response to the outrage assured to follow the premiere of John Safran’s Race Relations on ABC TV Kim Dalton, the Director of the Network posted this statement on the official website. ‘The Drum: Unleashed’ is a “robust community debate” forum where all sorts of news and opinion articles involving current events, politics, entertainment and a variety of other things are available. Dalton’s statement acts as both a warning and a declaration; he counsels people to avoid Race Relations if they easily outraged, or wish to be outraged and offended and almost in the same breath he defends the airing of it staunchly.

Racialicious & Blacktating: Breastfeeding news and views from a mom of color.

Racialicious is a blog which explores the “intersection of race and pop culture”. Race has always been a controversial, sensitive topic in popular culture; there is outrage over misrepresentation, or not enough representation. Racialicious has blog entries ranging from personal stories of being a “coloured” person running a marathon, to links to various news stories detailing the reason Americans aren’t giving for the Pakistan floods, or why the abortion rate among Asian-American women is high. The blog is a detailed and varied exploration of what race has become to mean, and how it is represented in popular culture. Popular culture is thoroughly explored, from celebrities to politics and other current events.

Racialicious to a degree also explores the role of gender in popular culture, one post commenting on black, female stereotypes and particularly the lack of healthy black women in breast-feeding campaigns. It links to the blog Blacktating, run by a black mother who bemoans the lack of black representation in the Nestle ads and website. She also makes the connection with the aggressive marketing of Baby Formula to ‘women of colour’.

Marketing Pop Culture:

Rob Fields on brands, pop culture and the ecology of business.

This is a critical blog, which is now closed, by an African American marketer which looks at the representation of race in modern fields. He keeps an eye on advertising involving race, deconstructing ad campaigns and analysing the psychology of different racial groups. For example in the post on October 18th, 2007 he looks into an article on the “Psychology of rappers and wounded young, black men” or on the “Black-White I.Q. Gap” on December 11, 2007. He links to various videos, a 37 minute speech from President Barack Obama on the unity of race in todays society, praising Obama’s openness in tackling such a difficult topic and calling for people to follow his example.

Fields approaches gender in popular culture as more of a side issue in Marketing Pop Culture, criticising ads which stereotype people by gender and race. One ad he focuses on is an Intel campaign to “multiply computing performance and maximise the power of your employees” which features a white manager in the center of his employees, all of whom are black physical specimens, signifying performance at the white man’s beck and call.

‘Boi or grrl? Pop culture redefining gender’:

From metrosexuals to Ellen, gender-bending goes mainstream.

‘Boi or grrl?’ is an article on MSNBC, an online breaking news website linked to the NineMSN news site. This article in particular is an analysis of what gender is becoming to mean among youth in popular culture. It explores the concepts of transvestites and how that has transformed into more fluid notions like being a ‘tranny boy’ as described by Alex Polanco, or a ‘transmale’. The article discusses the ambiguity of gender, consulting experts in Behavioral Science and interviewing youth who are in a state of limbo when it comes to their gender. It also looks at metrosexuality as a declaration of the acceptance of straight males expressing their more feminine side. An interview with the head of the board of directions for the National Centre for Transgender Equality in America establishes that gender is fluid and not a cut and dried issue with Andy Marra identifying her ‘gender identity’ as female, and her ‘biological gender’ as male.

The Sign of the Dancing Men: Negotiations of Masculinity in Film Musicals

This article is by Professor David Buchbinder at Curtin University who is the Chair in Masculinities Studies. He explores the role of male lead dancers in popular culture films, ranging from Gene Kelly in hits like Singin’ in the Rain (1952) to Richard Gere in the popular 2002 film Chicago. He also looks at the more recent trend for dance films in which the actors perform to other peoples’ music, like Bootmen, The Full Monty, Dirty Dancing or even the recent surge in teen films like the Step Up franchise. Buchbinder looks at how these films often emphasise the sexuality and pure physicality of the male lead. He also questions whether the resurgence of ‘the dancing man’ in mainstream pop culture signifies an ‘acceptance of feminisation of males in culture’ or whether it is a critique of it. He critically analyses the styles of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire and the way they interact with their audience. A focus is placed on the representation of the male body through dance, with movement, social class and sexuality becoming inscriptions on the body, in a way ‘re-gendering’ it. He concludes that dancing men in fact reinforce masculinity, especially after significant socio-political events, eg. The Full Monty reconstructed Britis

Cyberstalking: Gender and computer ethics - by Alison Adam

Alison's article discusses computer ethics, and the benefits that could come from insights into feminist theories, especially feminist ethics, the basis of this being the large differences in male and female experiences online. She explains the three areas in which feminist ethics could be beneficial in the deconstruction of gender related power structures in a technology based environment. The first of these being a means of countering traditional technological determinism that is inherent in computer ethics, the second being the revelation of continuing inequalities in power, and how these are often gendered, and the third being an alternative, collective approach to the individualism of traditional ethics theories. Her article focuses on the second aspect, basing her argument around the causality of online misconduct in regards to feminist theory. She argues that there is a need to theorise the reasons for any underlying differences in men and women's behaviour.

Feminist ethics attempt to re-evaluate areas of traditional ethics which devalue the moral experience of women. It aims to create a gender-equal ethics, and in doing so it can be helpful in exposing power inequalities There is a question over whether privacy is different for women and men, and also how this difference can be captured in legislation.

Alison discusses sexual harassment in regard to power relationships between the genders, and how the power relationships tend to be transferred into online interaction. It has been said that online sexual harassment tends to mirror the levels of harassment women find in real life. However, cyber-stalking tends to be a lot more vicious. She discusses three separate instances, only one of which being the traditional 'spurned lover' scenario. The other two she discusses are sparked by a woman who attempts to resolve perceived injustices by speaking up publicly on the internet. In these cyber-stalking examples the stalker remains anonymous, hidden behind impersonated postings by the victim. They posted inviting messages on sex websites, instigating stalking behaviour in other individuals.

The feminist ethics she applies to this is that the women used self help empowerment techniques rather than relying upon the corporations to solve their problem. She argues that only through further exploration of the gendered nature of the cause of these problems can we truly start to understand how it can be combated.

It is clear in her examples that the major causal factor in the facilitation of cyberstalking was an instability in power relationships. The fact that it is online, means that perpetrators have an anonymity that in itself increases their power. By impersonating the victim online they are introducing an element of uncontrollability that reduces the perceived power of the victim. By this method they are able to gain perceived power in themselves. The gender-related causes of this power relationship are what Alison believes to be the intrinsic cause of cyberstalking.

Do you think that power relationships are intrinsically gender-related?

Does the way men and women interact differently on the internet tend to invite or advocate activities such as cyberstalking?

Does the anonymity of the internet offer a broader arena for people to engage in stalking and harassment behaviour where they are not individually spotlighted? In most of the examples given, the perpetrators themselves did not engage in real life with the victims.

Kate Lowe

"Be net alert, not alarmed"

This reading made me think about how my up bringing has been impacted by the internet - It raised some interesting questions surrounding how knowledge about the Internet can challenge traditional perceptions of familial roles and relations.

Long’s reading “be net alert not alarmed” begins with comparing how parents regulate the internet, with John Howard’s anti-terrorism campaign entitled “lets look out for Australia” – as there exists an outside threat – predators – the need for an authority to regulate this threat – and external advice telling people how to ensure safety.

- This presents an interesting comparison however it seems like a large generalization as it does not take into account the individual parents and their varying treatment of the problems arising from the internet. Parents don’t necessarily rely on an authority to teach them how to deal.

- Long then went on to explain how… Fathers remain more likely than mothers to say that they know more about the internet than their children - although that status is disputed elsewhere by teen girls – who claim themselves and then their mothers are the most knowledgeable in relation to the internet and computers.

- Hence Long suggests that the majority of supervising parents on the internet – are mothers.

- She explains the idea that “asymmetry in knowledge about the computer leads to an unusual social situation in which the normal (familial) power relations are partially reserved”

Similar to the case with my own family:

- Teens display their knowledge and become educators themselves – assisting their mother but chastisising her ‘ I’ve told you this how many times?’

- Parents feel powerless because children know infinitely more about the net than they do

MONITORING MUMS:

Long’s interpretation of the Angle of monitoring mums: you will fail in your quest for good mothering of your teenage girl, unless you remain vigilant and seek assistance from external experts.

The belief in this reading is that the perception when it comes to mums and the Internet is that they are the guardians… and must do their best to protect the children.

However there are extremes in this representation – popular culture blames mothers for either not being protective enough or being over protective.

Not mentioned in this reading is the influence of other external sources on internet use amongst teenagers – the media being arguably the largest sex educator amongst teens – children who are not educated by their parents about things such as sex are now more likely to look to internet and media for information.

PARENTS VERSUS TEENAGERS

Feeling of powerlessness – teens know infinitely more about the internet reflecting a shift in approach to the traditional roles of parents and teenagers.

I agree with this statement to an extent, however it is clear from all other information in this reading that the traditional and societal perspective is that parents are still the authority, despite them being behind in technology – they still aim to have control over what their kids see and do on the internet, and it seems to be a problem in society if they do not.

This leads parents to seeking outside authority on protecting their kids – utilizing programs such as net nanny.

Whilst these programs may help, my view is that it should be more up to the parents to talk to their kids and work out restrictions between them – rather than seeking outside programs to solve their problems.

Never the less, there is clearly a problem here, with a UK survey from website Broadband Suppliers stating the following about Kid’s online behavior:

According to the survey reports, a whopping 62 per cent revealed that they lied to their parents about their online activities and more than 50 per cent erased their history on the web browser so that their parents could not make out what they had been up to online. Furthermore, while 55 per cent claimed that they had more knowledge on the internet than their parents, 47 per cent admitted to have been routinely spending two hours or more online, unsupervised.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Do you think these monitoring programs really work?

2. Is there a risk of maiming positive and creative aspects of teenage internet use?

3. In your family who do you think is the most educated about using the internet?

4. What are your thoughts on the expression “It’s not snooping – it’s responsible parenting”?