1. Donna Haraway: Cyborg or Goddess? A Presentation By:
Jay M. Gipson-King & Katheryn Wright
Gender, Authority, and the Politics of Representation in Science & Art
July 20, 2004

2. Class Aims
Explain Haraway’s unique definition of “cyborg,” especially as it applies as a social metaphor.
Identify the pitfalls of our traditional categories of difference and emphasize the importance of embracing our ‘fractured identities.’
Understand the ‘informatics of domination.’
Illustrate what a ‘homework economy’ is and its potential dangers.
Integrate Haraway’s cyborg mythology with modern feminism.

3. Cyborg or Goddess?
What is Haraway’s overall definition of the term, “cyborg”?
What are the connotations of the term, “a goddess”?
What are the connotations of the term, “the Goddess”?
What, then, is Haraway’s choice?

4. Discussion Questions Which would you rather be, a cyborg or a goddess?
Do you think Haraway’s call for cyborg imagery works on a practical level, or is it merely a “beautiful idea”?
How does Haraway critique other forms of feminism?

5. Discussion questions
In light of our readings in hooks and Schiebinger, how does Haraway handle the issue of race? Can cyborg imagery apply to groups other than white, middle-class women?
Do gender-bending characters like Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch or Rocky from The Rocky Horror Picture Show relate to Haraway’s cyborg?
Where does art fit into this analysis? What role does it play in the constitution of the cyborg, or does it?

6. References
Haraway, Donna. “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century,” Simians, Cyborgs, Women: The Reinvention of Nature (New York: Routledge, 1991)
Moore, Michael. Bowling for Columbine. (Dog Eat Dog Films, 2002).
Senft, Theresa M. "Reading Notes on Donna Haraway's 'Cyborg Manifesto.'" 21 Dec. 01. Viewed 17 July <
Schlöndorff, Volker. The Handmaid’s Tale. Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, Aidan Quinn, Robert Duvall. (Bioskop Films/ MGM, 1990).