Gender and Race in Science Fiction

• Burcar, Jillian (2009) Living Appendages of the Machine: Reproducing Sex and Gender in Cyborg and Zombie Narratives from Battlestar Galactica to The Walking Dead (in progress). (accessed 7 September 2010)

This paper examines cyborgs and zombies in television and comic books respectively, and their links to gender and sexuality. Through analysis of teleivision series Battlestar Galactica and comic book series The Walking Dead, Burclar makes references to Donna Haraway’s A Cyborg Manifesto (1985) to explore concepts of sex and gender reconfiguration in a post-industrial world. She argues that a cyborgian future concerning gender and sexuality offers a message of hope; ‘that once cyborgs become “more human than a human,” … the “right” posthuman knowledge here has the potential to build an androgynous/post-gender world, where gender is no longer a discriminating characteristic in the dominant cultural programming.’ She then compares this to zombie narratives, which do not offer a hopeful or positive outlook, instead calling ‘for the destruction of the old order by rethinking the ways post-industrial economies conceive of gender and sexuality today.’ Though the zombie comparisons do not draw relevance to this essay, the paper does offer some insightful views on cyborg sexuality and gender in science fiction, though examples other than Battlestar Galactica should be researched.

• Knowles, Alison Michelle (2000) The Cyborg Other: Japan’s Animated Images of Sex, Gender and Race. University of British Columbia (accessed 7 September 2010)

This is an in-depth thesis on the cyborg as represented in Japanese animated films. This paper uses a semiotic reading of gender codes and Donna Haraway’s cyborg theory, exploring the cyborg image as a reflection of Japan. In doing so, Knowles discusses popular culture in Japan, giving us a brief background on anime and cyberpunk, explores cyborg theory as described in Haraway’s A Manifesto for Cyborgs (1985), discussing gender and race boundaries, and analyses several Japanese animated films, including Ghost in the Shell (Oshii Mamoru, 1995), Battle Angel (Fukutomi Hiroshi, 1993), and Neon Genesis Evangelion (Anno Hideaki, 1996). Knowles argues that the cyborg destroys the boundary between human and machine by its very definition, and other boundaries, i.e. sex, gender and race, by its use and interpretation. Though this paper gives us an in-depth look into Japanese popular culture and the image of cyborgs represented in certain Japanese animated films, further reading will need to be done in order to explore and compare the representation of cyborgs in other cultures.

• McGinnis, Katie (2010) Gender Performance, Transgression and the Cyborg in Battlestar Galactica. (accessed 6 September 2010)

This article explores science fiction series Battlestar Galactica and its genre’s potential for social commentary and gender re-identification. Using cyborg theory from Haraway’s A Cyborg Manifesto (1985), McGinnis demonstrates how Battlestar Galactica is able to navigate between gender transgression and technology’s impact on gender. She argues that despite a tumultuous past with gender portrayal and erasure, science fiction can be a genre that represents the female body in liberated ways. In doing so, she discusses gender, science fiction, the spectator, cyborg theory, feminism, and technology, before providing a close reading of Battlestar Galactica, exploring how female characters of the series challenge and deconstruct long-standing gendered binaries. Though the article is well structured and easy to read, it does not provide examples other than Battlestar Galactica. It also does not discuss race representation in the series, thus further reading needs to be done.

• Senft, Theresa M. (2001) Reading Notes on Donna Haraway's 'Cyborg Manifesto. (accessed 6 September 2010)

This article provides an in-depth breakdown of Donna Haraway’s A Manifesto for Cyborgs (1985), which would be particularly helpful for this essay as Haraway’s cyborg theory is extensively used and referred to in other sources. Senft provides some background information on Haraway’s cyborg manifesto, followed by a six-part breakdown of the theory and concepts. Included is a structured breakdown of Haraway’s theories on identity and cyborg politics, including those on gender and race. It should be noted that the author writes in her disclaimer, ‘While you read, please keep in mind that this is my interpretation of Haraway's text … Other scholars read her work differently than I do, and I encourage you to examine a variety of secondary interpretations before coming to your own conclusions about Haraway and her work.’ Although the article consists merely of reading notes and should not be directly cited, it is nonetheless a beneficial source.

• Shaviro, Steven (2005) Supa Dupa Fly: Black Women as Cyborgs in Hip Hop Videos. Quarterly Review of Film and Video. 22, pp. 169-179, (accessed 7 September 2010)

This paper looks at the cyborg represented in hip-hop culture, specifically, African-American women as cyborgs in hip-hop music videos. Shaviro analyses Missy Elliott’s “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” (directed by Hype Williams, 1997) and Lil’ Kim’s “How Many Licks” (directed by Francis Lawrence, 2000), as works of science fiction in both form and content. Looking at cyborg theory described in Haraway’s A Manifesto for Cyborgs (1985), Shaviro discusses how these videos raise questions about identity and embodiment, as well as ascriptions of gender and race. As Haraway argues, in cyborg politics, it is not identity, but affinity that comes as a result of "otherness, difference, and specificity." Thus, Shaviro explores how Missy Elliott and Lil' Kim’s videos tell stories of black female empowerment, in the face of deeply engrained racism and sexism, by fully embracing and becoming cyborgs. This paper gives us an extensive insight into gender and racial issues present today, and the social implications surrounding the female African-American cyborg.