Question 2: ‘When the body is fractured into organs, fluids, and genetic codes, what happens to gender identity?’ (Balsamo). Discuss some of the issues raised by the Visible Human Project about the embodiment gender, race and class.
The Visible Human Project (VHP) is originally a medical and scientific project. However, this guiding question requires something different which is about the issues of embodiment gender, race and class. From the question by Balsamo, it shows that how the gender identity will be once the body is being fragmented. The relevant resources about VHP which is being discussed in this track are mainly based on feminism. By the feminist articles, some of them show how they interpret and understand the issues of race and class raised by the VHP. Here they are in the following,
Firstly, the content of the Visual Human Project (VHP) is being illustrated into several parts in ‘The Visible Human Project: Data into Flesh, Flesh into Data’. It is well for providing some background information for the discussion topic since it draws heavily on talking about the history and the process of how a cadaver to become visualized in the computer screen. It offers the link directly to visiting the Visible Human Project in The National Library of Medicine website. Also, it mentioned that the first person who was willing to donate the body for the study was a male prisoner and the second one is a female who is dead by heart attack. Besides these historical backgrounds, it gives about some scientific methods in managing the cadaver such as the exact think of length for the cadaver that being cut. Garry suggests that this project reinforced the concept of life and takes the sexual variations into account but the authors disagree with it as it is not effective enough to eliminate the heterogeneity. This article provides a transition from the background information to the aspect of gender and easily for people to have further and deeper discussion on this topic.
The VHP is being discussed in relation to the feminist issue within the article – ‘Wild Science: Reading Feminism, Medicine and the Media’ by Janine Marchessault. By using three main parts which are the Corporeal Map, Genetic Codifications and Clinical Practice, the author reveal the ideas towards these issues from the perspective of feminist media studies. The key point from the ‘Corporeal Maps’ can be picked up. It illustrates and pays much attention in the cadaver that is being represented by the media in a scientific way which is being fragmented such as the breasts and uteruses in women's bodies. The increase in the fragmentation of the dead female body shows the continuity of subordination of women’s role within the society and people paid no concern for the western women. It also helps to challenge the fragmentations of women in the cyber world. Since it is being exemplified as institutions and practices and emphasized heavily on political and social issues by the scientific way of representation. These ideas give some good supporting on how the gender issue raised by the VHP and help with developing the body part of the whole essay.
In the third article, ‘Notes on the Political Condition of Cyberfeminism’ by Faith Wilding and Critical Art Ensemble provides some supporting resources to talk about the gender issue much deeper and being as a transition to talk about the class. One of the supporting evident is that the part of the cyberfeminism affect the society in a political and economical way by several changes in technology ( the Visible Human Project is one of the examples) can be well in illustrating the change in gender. Also, it also mentions how the female to react to these the phenomenon of the technological changes. The point is useful to be marked that the gender needs to be diversified because of the gender struggle in the cyberspace. And also the invasion of cyberfeminist into various technology cracked down the myth of male dominate within society. Women are liberated because of the technoworld. It even benefit the women from subversion of the original gender structure. It implied that the class of women increased and advantaged by the increase in occurance in cyberspace and the VHP is one of the examples. As mentioned, these advantages are gained through the class, cultural and the race position. So, this article can be functioned as a transition paragraph from discussing about gender into the class.
To have further discussion towards the class struggle between male and female, this article, ‘Iatrogenic Permutations: From Digital Genesis to the Artificial Other’ by Tama Leaver, tries to explain the implications behind the Project in the feminist perspective. Regarding this article, the novel Permutation City and The Visible Human Project are being analyzed comparatively in order to figure out their common factors and the important theme share among the theme. The useful part is that Sarah Kember suggested that the VHP should be viewed as the recreation of the Eve and Adam in cyberspace. The first visible human female is being sent to the Project shows that the productivity of women is the same as male in the aspect of the male-dominated medical science. An inspiration can be got from this article as the author brings up a good question which can inspire me to have further research on the guiding question. The question that is being raised it that the questioning of human subjectivity identity and embodiment under the new biomedical and technological advances. So, this article indicates the new aspect on discussing the increase in the female status in the technology advancement.
The ‘Fractured identities’ in ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’ by Donna Haraway can well be used in demonstrating well in the race issue raised by the VHP. It is related to the point mentioned by the author in this article that is she politically overthrow the boundary by the using the cyborg hybridty in order to strive for the ‘fairness’ in the identity. As the VHP established and kept running in America, this is a place where the seriousness of racism occurs. The cadavers used in the Project are both Caucasians in both genders. She suggested ‘Women’ is being constructed and are controlled tightly by colonialised, patriarchal and capitalized society. In the article, from the concept of ‘women of colour’ by Chela Sandoval which is mentioned in this article shows us that the black women is still being discriminated. It is because the theory of the anti-colonialism. It implied black women have no say as all the feminists are Caucasians. Not only does the author rejecting the patriarchal society, but also the Caucasians’ feminism. She indicates that the ambiguity between the advancement of biology and technology (the VHP) which causes the world is being signified. Haraway suggested that ‘we’ are cyborg and only cyborg functions as a tool to get rid of the integrity of the patriarchal society and it will hybridize. This article is a very useful resources in order to challenge the possible race issue raised by the Project by the arguments made by Haraway on the above.
In short, these five critical articles and journals are the useful and relevant resources as far after other many irrelevant resources are being filtered. These 5 resources could be found based on the further research on some resources that mentioned little about the VHP in the aspect of culture studies and women’s studies. Five of them can be able to support the guiding question about the 3 aspects raised by the VHP.
Bibliography
Catherine, Waldby. (1996) ‘The Visible Human Project: Data into Flesh, Flesh into Data’ Communications Studies, Murdoch University, http://wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/VID/wildbiol1.html. (accessed 27th Feb 2009).
Donna, Haraway. (2008) ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’. European Graduate School EGS, Media and Communications Division. http://www.egs.edu/faculty/haraway/haraway-a-cyborg-manifesto.html . (accessed 1st March 2009).
Faith, Wilding. & Critical Art Ensemble. ‘Notes on the Political Condition of Cyberfeminism’ Critical Art Ensemble, http://subsol.c3.hu/subsol_2/contributors/wildingtext.html (accessed 26th Feb 2009).
Janine, Marchessault. & Sawchuk, Kim. (2002) ‘Wild Science: Reading Feminism, Medicine and the Media’ Canadian Journal of Communication. Vol 27, No 4 (2002).http://www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/1334/1391 (accessed 1st March 2009).
Tama, Leaver. (2004) ‘Iatrogenic Permutations: From Digital Genesis to the Article Other’ Comparative Literature Studies, Vol. 41, No.3 (2004). http://www.tamaleaver.net/cv/TL_CLS_41.pdf (accessed 1st March 2009).
The fragmentation of a human body in the cyberspace does influence a lot on the gender identity. From my perspective, I agree with the explanations made by Priscilla to talk about its effects on gender identity and they are in the right track for this guiding question. The resources with culturally and women’s studies perspective are supportive to explain how the three aspects which are the race, gender identity and the class are being affected by the cyberspace. It is good to see that some of the points are combine and being analysis from various resources such as the paragraph talking about the part of class. I can see the usages from the article or journal you found, but you can still spend more part to explain how it related to the guiding question. Also, some articles should be found other than the view point of the feminist such as Donna Haraway. It would be better if the guide question can be support by more than one approach.
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