Gender, Technology, and Cyborgs

By Megan Hasenwinkel

Cyberpunk

The writings of cyberpunk, in opposition to the writings of feminist science fiction, seem to reject the concept of nature and the feminine entirely. In comparison to the two feminist works mentioned earlier, William Gibson's Neuromancer begins with this line: "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." (3) Another work by William Gibson, his short story "Johnny Mnemonic" begins with these lines:

I put the shotgun in an Adidas bag and padded it out with four pairs of tennis socks, not my style at all, but that was what I was aiming for: If they think you're crude, go technical; if they think you're technical, go crude. I'm a very technical boy. (1)

Instead of looking to nature for possible alternatives, much of cyberpunk accepts the takeover of technology into everyday life. Implants, cyborgs, virtual reality and cyberspace rule. Nature has not died, it has been conquered. In Neuromancer, bodily (or natural) needs are referred to in a dismissive tone, "All the meat. . .and all it wants." (9) The term "meat" is used often for the body, showing its nonimportance in this technological world.

In the example of Neuromancer , we find Case, a cyberspace cowboy who uses electrodes to connect his brain to the computer so he can "jack in" and experience cyberspace as a virtual reality. We also find the fascinating character of Molly, a cybernetic woman with mirrorshade implants over her eyes and razor blades under her fingernails. How does this character incorporate her gender with her technology? One possible answer is that Molly portrays a new sort of female model, a real tough chick or razor girl. I would suggest, however, that Gibson does not really try to integrate any sort of feminine gender construct with technology. Molly is a masculine character who happens to be a woman.

Lauraine Leblanc supports this position in her article, "Razor girls: genre and gender in cyberpunk fiction." She states: "Writers such as Gibson. . .present female-gendered cyborgs undertaking a role-reversal into masculinity; in many senses, these are transgendered representations, rather than radical revisions of gender." She refers to the silicon in Molly's head and says,

. . .not exactly the most feminine place in which to accommodate one's silicone augmentations. These enhancements serve to make Molly somewhat more than human and certainly less than feminine; she is faster, tougher, and stronger than any of the male characters of the novel, none of whom sport cyborg augmentations to the same degree as hers. (3)

A correlation can also be drawn between the character of Molly and the character of Trinity in The Matrix. Trinity is also a cyborg with a plug in the back of her neck that allows her to interface with the matrix. Again, we are faced with a female interfacing with technology. Again, however, we end up simply with a masculine character with breasts in a tight leather outfit.