Technologies of the Gendered Body: Reading Cyborg Women

by Anne Balsamo

This book takes the process of "reading the body" into the fields at the forefront of culture—the vast spaces mapped by science and technology—to show that the body in high-tech is as gendered as ever. From female body building to virtual reality, from cosmetic surgery to cyberpunk, from reproductive medicine to public health policies to TV science programs, Anne Balsamo articulates the key issues concerning the status of the body for feminist cultural studies in a postmodern world.
Technologies of the Gendered Body combines close readings of popular texts—such as Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale , the movie Pumping Iron The Women , cyberpunk magazines, and mass media—with analyses of medical literature, public policy documents, and specific technological practices. Balsamo describes the ways in which certain biotechnologies are ideologically shaped by gender considerations and other beliefs about race, physical abilities, and economic and legal status. She presents a view of the conceptual system that structures individuals’ access to and participation in these technologies, as well as an overview of individuals’ rights and responsibilities in this sometimes baffling area. Examining the ways in which the body is gendered in its interactions with new technologies of corporeality, Technologies of the Gendered Body counters the claim that in our scientific culture the material body has become obsolete. With ample evidence that the techno-body is always gendered and marked by race, this book sets the stage for a renewed feminist engagement with contemporary technological narratives.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gender, Feminism, Gender Studies, Theory, Research, Philosophy

232 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1995

Reviews

[Darcel Anastasia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Balsamo delves into the relationship between reconstructed body parts and gender identity. She raises interesting points however some parts felt redundant to me. Points for including Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

[Sess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is from the mid 90s so not much can be said about it’s relevance to feminist STS today, but having found it in my local second hand bookstore I wasn’t expecting too much. It’s clear, well written and the chapters are easy to digest, which is rare in a discipline mired by convoluted hot takes. I particularly enjoyed the last two chapters on virtual embodiment and Balsamo’s reading of Synners. All in all, a good book to be read more for enjoyment than for academic purposes.

[Hubert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was fairly impressed by this monograph outlining feminist takes on the gendered body, as rendered in evolving technologies of the mid-90s (i.e. advent of internet, virtual reality, etc.). Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of technological mediation, rendering, or alteration of bodies. The chapter on analysis of discourses surrounding the medical surveillance of women is particularly good (and not dated at all, considering what is happening in the year 2022).

Neophyte readers might be taken aback by preexisting frameworks used by Prof. Balsamo: psychoanalysis, postmodernism, textual networks, ethnographies, autobiography, various strands of feminism, and many others. But such interdisciplinarity of methodology proves to be a strength of this work. Balsamo is equally fluent in image / media analysis as she is in textual / novel analysis (of works by Margaret Atwood and Pat Cadigan).

Recommended reading, and don't be concerned if you don't get everything at once!

[Ash Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cyberpunk's not dead!

(sorry had to)

Balsmo take a fresh look at the foundational texts and applies concepts from them to technological advancements of the day; but the copy I read was from 1996.

Ordinarily, this would be kind of a bummer but fortunately for me the reader and unfortunately for women in general technology hasn't actually moved very far forward and in some cases *predicted* some of the issues we're seeing today, like medical surveillance, to an extent Gamer Gate and so on, but I'd like to get my hands on an updated/expanded edition.

[luce · Rating 3 out of 5]

yes kinda redundant

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

really interesting perspectives on the female body.