No description available.

Drawing from gender studies, cultural studies, and feminist technoscience literature, this dissertation employs an interdisciplinary approach to analyze the androcentric imaginaries through which humanoid sex robots ("sexbots") emerge. Specifically, I utilize sexbots to interrogate and reflect on issues such as consent, whiteness, and humanity. By situating sexbots as proxies for feminized and racialized humans, I argue that the production, portrayal, and proliferation of sexbots are reflections of how we treat marginalized people, reifying existing hierarchal power relations. This project begins by analyzing the creation and dissemination of sexbots by popular sex technology ("sextech") companies. Critically surveying published papers, interviews, and research from various sexbot texts, I attend to gendered and racialized discourses of sexbot consent and companionship in human-sexbot relationships. Next, I analyze the overwhelming presence of whiteness with/in sexbots, exploring how anti-Black racism manifests in sexbots, and underscoring how both the present and "future" of sextech remains rooted in the past. Then, I catalog and dissect the published materials and interviews of prominent sextech creators, critically juxtaposing the marketing discourses of sexbots and evincing how both the sextech elite and science journalists—specifically writers I refer to as "sexbot journalists"—influence, change, and inform the meanings of sexbots. Finally, I turn to robots and robot alternatives found in feminist speculative fiction, utilizing these stories as a way of looking elsewhere in order to theorize what is possible for sexbots as well as our (current and future) relationships to these emerging technologies. At its core, this dissertation is an invitation to question white heteropatriarchy mediated through the controversial existence of sexbots. While synthetic women are the ostensible "subjects" of investigation—as well as commodities exchanged by creators and subsequently praised by enthusiasts—it is the "real" feminized and racialized humans who lie at the heart of this project. Through a much-needed feminist intervention, this project offers an in-depth analysis of humanoid sex robots and what they reveal about violence and power in the world around us. / Doctor of Philosophy / Humanoid sex robots ("sexbots") have served as inspiration for countless inventors, scholars, and writers of science fact and fiction. Sexbots, as I intend to show, are also shaped by gendered and racialized imaginaries, leading to their condemnation by feminist and race-critical science and technology scholars. At the same time, sexbots are popularly advertised as suitable alternatives for human companionship, promoted as emerging technologies designed for users uninterested in, or unable to, have sexual relations with "real" or "organic" women. Interrogating the troubling imaginaries behind these synthetic women, I analyze the creation, production, and dissemination of sexbots by popular sex technology ("sextech") companies. Specifically, I use sexbots to explore urgent issues such as humanity, consent, and whiteness. Unable to consent to the acts they are programmed to perform, or combat the abuse directed toward them, sexbots are often associated with sexual and gender-based violence. By situating sexbots as proxies for feminized and racialized humans, this project argues that the production, portrayal, and proliferation of sexbots are reflections of how we treat marginalized people, reinforcing existing problems related to patriarchy, misogyny, and anti-Black racism. While this project is deeply interested in sexbots, its heart is intimately human. Ultimately, I use sexbots to critically reflect on issues of power and violence in our world, as well as to (re)imagine feminist relationships to these emerging technologies.

Submitted by Gilmar Barros (gilmargomesdebarros@gmail.com) on 2015-04-10T19:18:42Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabiane Ferreira da Silva.pdf: 1094522 bytes, checksum: 746fbda61d782ba6114874d8f705ad71 (MD5) / Rejected by Vitor de Carvalho (vitor_carvalho_im@hotmail.com), reason: - Nomes dos autores nos primeiros campos devem estar em caixa baixa; - Faltam palavras-chave em inglês; on 2015-06-02T17:56:31Z (GMT) / Submitted by Gilmar Barros (gilmargomesdebarros@gmail.com) on 2015-06-03T16:28:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabiane Ferreira da Silva.pdf: 1094522 bytes, checksum: 746fbda61d782ba6114874d8f705ad71 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Vitor de Carvalho (vitor_carvalho_im@hotmail.com) on 2015-06-12T18:59:15Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabiane Ferreira da Silva.pdf: 1094522 bytes, checksum: 746fbda61d782ba6114874d8f705ad71 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-12T18:59:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabiane Ferreira da Silva.pdf: 1094522 bytes, checksum: 746fbda61d782ba6114874d8f705ad71 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Nesta tese investigo a inserção e a participação das mulheres no campo da ciência moderna buscando problematizar alguns dos discursos e práticas sociais implicados na constituição de mulheres cientistas. A pesquisa foi orientada pelas teorias dos Estudos Feministas da Ciência e Estudos de Gênero, bem como utilizou alguns conceitos de Michel Foucault. Neste estudo, tomo a ciência e o gênero como construções sociais, culturais, históricas e discursivas em meio a relações de poder/saber. Esta tese ancora-se metodologicamente na investigação narrativa a partir dos pressupostos de Jorge Larrosa e de Michel Connelly e Jean Clandinin. Orientada por esses autores, entendo a narrativa tanto como uma metodologia investigativa como uma prática social que constitui os sujeitos. Para compor meu corpus de pesquisa optei pela realização de entrevistas narrativas produzidas com seis mulheres cientistas atuantes em universidades públicas e numa instituição de pesquisa do Rio Grande do Sul, sendo uma da área da Farmácia, duas de Ciências Biológicas, duas da Física e a outra da Engenharia de Computação. Desse modo, busquei conhecer a trajetória acadêmica e profissional dessas mulheres, as motivações para a escolha da profissão, as dificuldades vivenciadas na profissão, como elas percebiam a participação das mulheres na ciência, entre outros aspectos. Para análise das narrativas estabeleci conexões com a análise do discurso na linha de Michel Foucault. Ao analisar as narrativas, percebi a emergência do discurso biológico utilizado como justificativa para explicar a feminização e a masculinização de determinadas áreas do conhecimento, bem como para justificar o entendimento de que as mulheres fazem ciência de “maneira diferente” dos homens. Esses entendimentos estão relacionados ao pressuposto de que é o sexo – o fator biológico – que determina as características e funções sociais diferenciadas entre mulheres e homens. Este estudo possibilitou-me perceber também que a escolha profissional das entrevistadas foi influenciada por diferentes processos discursivos e práticas sociais, ora de identificação, ora de confronto, com pessoas da família, com antigos(as) professores(as), nas experiências escolares, na interação com determinados artefatos culturais, tais como brinquedos e brincadeiras. A análise das narrativas me mostrou as diferentes facetas do preconceito de gênero que perpassa as práticas sociais. Sobre essa questão emergiram a negação do preconceito, o reconhecimento de “brincadeiras” sexistas que não são percebidas como preconceito e situações explícitas de preconceito de gênero. Outro aspecto evidenciado refere-se à necessidade de conciliar as exigências da vida profissional com as responsabilidades familiares, que implicou em jornadas parciais de trabalho, no adiamento ou recusa da maternidade. Analisar as narrativas produzidas pelas entrevistadas me possibilitou compreender que a trajetória delas na ciência foi e é construída em um ambiente baseado em valores e padrões masculinos que restringem, dificultam e direcionam a participação das mulheres na ciência. Ao analisar as trajetórias dessas mulheres na ciência, percebi que elas foram de alguma forma levadas a se adaptar ao “modelo masculino” de pensar e fazer ciência, não apenas para serem consideradas cientistas, mas também para serem bem-sucedidas na profissão. / In this thesis I investigate the inclusion and participation of women in the field of modern science seeking to question some of the discourses and social practices involved in the formation of scientist women. The research was guided by the theories of Feminist Science Studies and Gender Studies, and used some concepts from Michel Foucault. In this study, I take science and gender as social, cultural, historical and discursive constructions among power/knowledge relations. This thesis is methodologically anchored in the narrative investigation from the assumptions of Jorge Larrosa and of Michel Connelly and Jean Clandinin. Guided by these authors, I consider the narrative as both an investigative methodology as a social practice that constitutes subjects. To compose my research corpus I opted for narrative interviews produced by six scientist women working in public universities and in a research institution in Rio Grande do Sul – one in the Pharmacy field, two in Biological Sciences, two in Physics and two others in Computer Engineering. Therefore, I sought to know the academic and professional history of these women, the motivation for choosing the profession, the difficulties experienced in the profession, how they perceived the participation of women in science, among others. For narrative analysis I established connections with the analysis of discourse according to Michel Foucault. When analyzing these narratives, I noticed the emergence of biological discourse used as justification to explain the feminization and masculinization of certain areas of knowledge, as well as to justify the view that women do science “differently” from men. These understandings are related to the assumption that it is sex – the biological factor – that determines the characteristics and different social functions between women and men. This study also enabled to realize that the career choice of interviewees was influenced by different discursive processes and social practices, sometimes of identification, sometimes confrontational, with family, with older teachers, in school experiences, in the interaction with certain cultural artifacts such as toys and games. The analysis of the narratives showed the different faces of gender bias that permeates social practices. On this issue emerged the denial of bias, the recognition of sexist "jokes" that are not defined as bias and situations perceived as explicit gender bias. Another aspect shown refers to the need to reconcile the demands of career and family responsibilities, which resulted in partial daily work, and the postponement or refusal of motherhood. Analyzing the narratives produced by interviewees allowed me to understand that their path in science was and is built in an environment based on male values and standards that restrict, impede and direct participation of women in science. By analyzing the history of these women in science, I realized that they were somehow made to fit the "male model" of thinking and doing science, not only to be considered scientists, but also to be successful in the profession.

No description available.

Vision has often been a central concern of feminist studies of science, medicine and technology. In cultural or social feminist analysis, the male gaze and the ways in which technoscience accommodates, and in effect organizes the watching of women, has been an important part of the feminist interrogation of the gender and power relations that produce the subjects and the objects of science. This attention is due to the intimate, and power-saturated, merge of processes of seeing and processes of knowing. Inherent in the notion of vision, there is always a politics to ways of seeing, ordering and observing, of organising the knowledge of the world. Historically, this can be exemplified by the eighteen-century Swedish “father” of biological classification, Linnaeus. Taking a leap away from Christian assumptions, Linnaeus placed human beings in a taxonomic order of nature together with other animals. / <p>ISBN 91-87792-49-4 not valid for this book.</p>

This study comprises a close reading and textual analysis of The Sentients of Orion, a space opera series by Australian author Marianne de Pierres, with a view to investigating the representations of gender in modern, popular science fiction by women authors. I hypothesise that de Pierres will pose a fictional enquiry into gender, based on the richness of science fiction by women, but that a closer examination of physical and emotional intimacy (both positive and negative) in these ‘less literary works’ will prove de Pierres’ gender enquiry to be superficial and inconsistent in nature. My main approach is a qualitative exploration of selected incidents through the theoretical lenses of feminist literary criticism, gender theory and, where applicable, queer theory. While I draw eclectically on these interpretive paradigms, my approach is most closely aligned with poststructuralist feminism. Proving the first part of my hypothesis, my findings show that de Pierres does pose an enquiry into gender through her portrayal of plot and character. The particular focus on the intimacies involving the heroine, women, men, and alien characters, proves the second part of my hypothesis incorrect as it reveals how de Pierres not only deeply and consistently challenges the heteronormative status quo, questioning dynamics in relationships, gender roles, ageism, sexism and societal stereotypes, but also provides possible alternatives. / English Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (English)