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By Aileen, Section Filter It Yourself!
Posted on Fri Oct 24th, 2003 at 02:09:19 PM EURODISCORDIA TIME
Filtered through having been a feminist for a long time

Thanks, Ryan, for posting your review of Domain Errors! here. Reading it reinforced my certainty that I want this book, if it needed any reinforcing, I just keep forgetting to order it. I know my own reasons for wanting to read it, but now I am curious about your motivation. Would you mind commenting on that?

 

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Looking at the keywords you listed makes me curious as to why you - or anyone, for that matter - would be interested in these topics, although in the review you have described very clearly, I think, why they are (still? again?) important.

One thing that bothers me is the suggestion that "exclusionary practices" are a mistake made in the past, but no longer relevant. This seems to be a very widespread idea (especially among younger women), but I would disagree. I have found women-only spaces and situations at times very empowering (I'm reluctant to use that word, but I can't think of a better one right now), and I think there can be good reasons for people, who feel they belong to a certain group, to tell those who don't belong to that group that they are not welcome. Not everywhere, not all the time - is it really necessary to add that?

I'm not nostalgic for the feminism of the 80s that I became part of as a student, I wouldn't want to go back there, and sometimes I have doubts about what was really "achieved". Altogether, I find cyberfeminism is not merely picking up the threads of what feminism was before, but a good name for stating a disagreement with the way the world is now, knowing how many different and contradictory definitions of this world there are, and a willingness to seek to change it.

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cyberfeminism, feminism, gender | 6 comments
[new] cyberfeminism, feminism, gender (Avg. Score: none / Raters: 0) (#1)
by ryangriffis on Mon Oct 27th, 2003 at 01:49:22 AM EURODISCORDIA TIME
(User Info) http://www.yougenics.net/griffis

hi Aileen, thanks for responding to the review, which was/is motivated by several factors. One is an ongoing interest in critical frameworks for engaging social oppression and inequity. Another, more specific, connection with the book for me is the work of subRosa, which is of interest for me because of their collaborative work in the field of aesthetics and theory and their focus on biotech and IT. subRosa created a performance for yougenics an exhibit focused on genetics and social policy that i put together, so reviewing such a book is another way of generating more dialogue (and, of course, promotion for work that i find important). as for the notion that exclusion is considered a mistake, i think it's important to consider the context within which i used the word/concept. i would certainly not argue that some forms of exclusion can't be productive and necessary, but when such exclusion is performed in order to oppress and deny access to power, that's a different ball of wax. that's why i mentioned the "exclusionary practices" of second wave feminism in relation to the suppression of gender concerns by the SDS and other new left organizations. that economically disadvantaged women were excluded from second wave feminism was neither a conscious nor productive tactic, but one that resulted from the lack of racial and class consciousness of those involved (the SDS, though, was notoriously conscious of its sexism). likewise, the omission of women of color from earlier cyberfeminist practice is a (unconscious) denial of power based on racial and geographic bias. and this is something that i see subRosa attempting to change and make problematic. i also did not mean to suggest that unequal access is a problem of the past - quite the contrary. i don't bring it up as a historical footnote, but as an ongoing, never-ending problem that is extremely important in relation to the technologies that subRosa engage. i found the book to deal quite successfully with these challenges, without resolving them in some final, univocal way. best, ryan


cyberfeminism, feminism, gender | 6 comments
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