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Donna Haraway is one of the most prominent scholars of feminist and posthumanist theories. Her work focuses on how society imposes boundaries on the concept of humans due to the separation between humans and animals and humans and machines. Therefore, she develops a concept of a cyborg as a metaphor for the rejection of the abovementioned limitations. This approach provides a positive and progressive reflection on the issues in modern society as it combines theories of feminism and post-humanism with a call for change.
In her essay Cyborg Manifesto, Donna Haraway compares a woman to a cyborg and provides several definitions of the latter. Cyborgs are cybernetic organisms, a hybrid of machines and organisms, creatures of social reality, and creatures of fiction (Haraway 123). Each of these descriptions is elaborated and provides an insight into how cyborgs represent the oppressive nature of the Western patriarchy and how this oppression is projected onto women and kinship animals such as dogs. Cyborgs, as creatures of social reality, would struggle with identification and placement in society. Hence, the oppressive powers would place cyborgs in their hierarchy where they wanted them to be in a position of servant. Being a creature of fiction, cyborgs reflect the fear of machine rebellion in the Western patriarchy, which applies to the fear of feminism.
Cyborgs, according to Haraway, are rather caricatures of people not their copies in the organism versus machine dichotomy. The dimension of materialistic with non-materialistic is elaborated in the Cyborg Manifesto as well. The non-materialistic realm, according to Haraway, refers to the concepts of energy things that can be felt and impact the environment while remaining invisible. A cyborg might remain invisible in the capitalistic system as its input can be seen, but the cyborg itself will be unacknowledged (Haraway 128). Therefore, cyborgs act as a metaphor for what hierarchal society turns people into.
Hence, cyborgs allow humans to create scenarios that identify the flaws of the capitalistic society and seek ways of creating a world free of oppression. By imagining cyborgs and placing them near humans as equal and independent species that coexist without oppression, people can challenge the societal norms and boundaries that hinder freedom.
Works Cited
Haraway, Donna. A cyborg manifesto: Science, technology, and socialist-feminism in the late 20th century. The international handbook of virtual learning environments. Springer, Dordrecht, 2006. 117-158.
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