Virus world disorder: what is cyberfeminism Bashny.Net

The advent of the Internet and virtual communications, hypothetically liberated users from their physical sex, was the starting point for the movement of cyberfeminism. Theorists Sadie plant, Donna Haraway and staff of VNS in their manifestos calling for the release of the machine from the power men and become a virus, images or cyborgs. T&P talk about the history of this movement, artistic practices and how, in what form cyberfeminism exists today. Twenty seven million seven hundred thousand four hundred eighty nine



In 1988, the feminist and socialist Donna Haraway wrote "cyborg Manifesto" — the politicized cyber-FEM-punk-the utopia of the future on the other side of myths of salvation and gender binaries. In this job she had (re)invented and described the figure of the cyborg that violate the boundaries of a stable subjectivity and is the product of mixing animal, human, and technological. It was dizzying text. Cyborgs and Haraway trampled everything that came their way and was a world heritage of Patriarchy, capitalism, and lingham, onto-of logocentrism: the opposition between public and private, the myths about the natural harmony of the psychoanalytic ego, sexual identity, separation of subject and object, work and pleasure, virtual and real, artificial and real. All of that was a limitation for the speed and intensity of imagination, physical energy and sensitivity, had to be removed.

However, cyberfeminism is not an invention of Haraway, even though it has had on his enormous influence. The term appeared in 1991, and at the same time in two places/texts, independently from each other: in England it began to use the scholar and philosopher Sadie plant and the Australian participants in the art group VNS Matrix. Cyberfeminism just hovered in the air. First the hacker community, cyberpunk, artificial intelligence, technological utopias — all of it promised the possibility of a new, amazing configurations of social relations, decentralization of power, going beyond the limitations of human nature and physicality. However, this brave new world invariably club for boys and, consequently, remained quite conservative when it came to gender relations. Was supposed to be someone who will remove this last barrier seal to the end will reveal the subversive possibilities of new technologies and techno-thinking. That is the role and played cyberfeminism, which became one of the most radical and mind-blowing revolutionary utopian projects of the late twentieth century. Lingham, onto-logocentrism — the term deconstruction, Jacques Derrida, pointing to the domination of the masculine (phallus) in the construction of meaning. There is still of onto-Theo-television-lingham Phono-logocentrism. "Not ideology, but browser» In his book "Zeros and ones" Sadie plant gives the following definition of cyberfeminism: "This is post rebellion — an armed revolt of the emerging system comprising a machine and women, against the world view and material reality of Patriarchy, still trying to subdue them." Thought plant, Internet technologies with their anonymity and accessibility was a natural ally of women in the struggle against gender and capitalist oppression. Just needed to release their revolutionary potential from the influence of corporations and male domination. It is on this and directed all his fierce imagination and unbridled passion of cyberfeminists.

VNS Matrix worked in different genres and media. They were creating video installations, texts, events, billboards, and computer games. Theirs is one of the key texts of the movement — "Cyberfeminist Manifesto of the XXI century", in which they declared themselves the new world disorder virus and sabatinelli CPU Big Daddy. In 1995, they developed the game All New Gen in her story "cybersleuth" and "cyberterrorists anarchist" hacked the database of Big Daddy represents an Oedipal embodiment of the techno-industrial complex, to sow there the seeds of a New World Disorder and end the phallic power. VNS Matrix VNS Matrix tried to use new technologies to disrupt the notion of stable sexual and gender identities, rooted in biological, physical nature. In the anonymity of the Internet gender and gender seemed to have lost the binding to the natural and turned into a stream loses its referential power of signs that paved the way for emancipation from restrictive and disciplining power of the categories of gender and sexuality: when you enter the game All New Gen, the user was asked to select their gender: male, female or no. Only the choice of no sex was correct, when you select other options the game has stopped.

Cyberfeminists tried to deconstruct not only the identity, but the physicality is still serving her unshakable base. In 1995, Linda Dement made a performance Cyberflesh Girlmonster, during which she scanned the bodies of thirty women and recorded their sounds. From the resulting audiovisual data she gathered interactive a monstrous assemblage representing a mixture of noises, images, and information data: thus, instead of ideas about the body as a single, harmonious whole argued the plurality, contingency and partial bodily manifestations, gathering and breaking up into multiple discourses and passions. Cyberfeminism does not support quantum mechanics and has nothing to do with boring toys for boring boys In September 1997 in Kassel, was the First cyberfeminist international, which brought together some thirty artists, activists and mysliteli from eight countries (including from Russia: Alla Mitrofanova delivered a lecture, as Gluklya and Tsaplya [artist-member of the group "What to do?"and "Factory of found clothes". — Primas'. ed.] along with a huge doll because of problems with visas illegally moved from one country to another, and had sent by Fax the records from my travel diary). At this point, cyberfeminism already included a number of practices and formats that allowed the participating to interact with each other and at the same time to destroy the dominant system. This list consisted of chat rooms just for women, mailing list, art practices and workshops, clubs for self-education, web-zines and Association of hackers.

During the Congress the international of cyberfeminists discussed such topics as digital self-representation of women and bodies of data; theory of visibility gender differences in the network; cybersex; feminist porn; the danger of fetish desires and ways to support network of feminist projects in different countries. Instead of give a clear and strict definition of cyberfeminism, was released 101 antithesis that is not cyberfeminism. In addition to many other things on this list can, for example, to learn that cyberfeminism does not support quantum mechanics, has nothing to do with boring toys for boring boys and is not a zone free from Smoking.

However, no one expected that cyberfeminists will be serious debate about the accepted definition of the movement. In the end, cyberfeminism not aspire to become a total new ideology competing for an objective explanation of everything in the world. Rather, it is, in the words of Alla Mitrofanova, was supposed to be a browser "for viewing and navigation in the modern cultural shifts and historical heritage". "Old school feminism» Cyberfeminists was set up quite critical of traditional feminism, which is accused of essentialism, antitechnologists and antisexuality. Since de Beauvoir one of the main goals of the women's movement was to establish equality of rights between men and women, which meant that the woman must finally cease to be the object of submission and become the subject of power, history, knowledge. Instead of or alongside a man-demiurge was supposed to be a female goddess. And it wasn't what you wanted cyberfeminists. Lola's bad Sadie plant believed that feminism, seeking recognition for a woman of the status of the subject, pursues the wrong goal, because any subject will always be a masculine subject. Cyberfeminists called for a new "irresponsible feminism", which recognized the coincidence of the category female and the multiplicity of women's experiences. The purpose of this new feminism was not becoming of a subject, but becoming a monster, virus, animal, slime, image, avatar. As proclaimed even Donna Harwell: "I'd rather be a cyborg than a goddess".

However, it would be wrong to reduce the relationship of cyberfeminism to the previous feminist movement only to the gesture of denial. In fact, cyberfeminists adapted and used many theoretical and social approaches and practices, has already been invented in other feminist currents. The strategy of separatism (mailing only for women self-help groups, chat groups, networks, and technical training of women and for women only), feminist theories of language, culture and society, creating new images of women in the fight against rampant sexism on the network, and even strategic essentialism: it was all a figment of the interaction between the cyber and broader feminist field. The purpose of this new feminism was not becoming of a subject, but becoming a monster, virus, animal, slime, image, text But cyberfeminism interacted with all that had come to him in heritage, not as frugal heiress. Cyberfeminism was a Trojan all the traditional ideologies based on identity (feminism is no exception). His mission was not to reform and not a game within the specified parameters, and hacking the system, its encoding and subsequent run hacked version. The main protagonist of cyberfeminism (at least in some versions) is a hacker hacking security and gender matrix and thus receiving direct pleasure, ecstasy from their activities. And this also was another difference from traditional activism with his usual seriousness and asceticism: cyberfeminism was full of joy, passions, desires, desire to play and have fun, not looking at the limit infinitely old world. "We are the future cunt» From the fight with the real world of cyberfeminists not emerged victorious. At least for now. Web 2.0 with the ubiquitous social media, advertising, the provision of personal data or their use for purposes of Commerce, and surveillance finally killed ideas about the subversive potential of the web and new technologies. Gamergate, showed that the virtual space is still very Patriarchal and masculine. Does not add optimism and statistics, according to which in technical positions in leading news companies, women make up only about 10% of the state.

When German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel the remark that the actual astronomical order does not correspond to his philosophical conceptions, he replied: "so much The worse for him." Heknow Hegel can say: "Cyberfeminism failed to destroy the Patriarchy and capitalism: it has remained the same repressive, limited and dull. So much the worse for him."

However, cyberfeminists the project is not completed. Many hacker groups, art associations, research projects, groups in social networks who are struggling with aggressive masculinity in the virtual community, to directly or indirectly adopt cyberfeminists strategy and tactics. So the virus world disorder is not disabled: he moved for a while in a power saving mode. published by P. S. And remember, just changing your mind — together we change the world! ©

Source: theoryandpractice.ru