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From Cybernation to Feminization: Firestone and Cyberfeminism

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Further Adventures of the Dialectic of Sex

Part of the book series: Breaking Feminist Waves ((BFW))

Abstract

The first wave of cyberfeminism—various projects, publications and debates—came in the 1990s. The artist group VNS Matrix, inspired by Donna Haraway’s 1985 “A Manifesto for Cyborgs,” authored their own cyberfeminist manifesto in 1991;1 Sadie Plant first theorized the feminization of culture through digital networks and complex connections;2 artists, scholars and activists investigated the meanings of bioengineering and technoculture3 and the three biannual Cyberfeminist Internationals (1997–2001) organized by the Old Boys Network (OBN) brought together a mix of people interested in such developments. Combining theoretical speculation, science fiction and artistic experimentation, cyberfeminism became a “brand name” and an umbrella term for a range of practices that did not necessitate identification with feminism. In fact, the cyberfeminists of the 1990s often defined themselves through their differences from and rupture with, rather than connections to or legacies of, the “second wave” as well as the general category of feminism.4 With the exception of Haraway, whose manifesto has been well remembered, this tended to involve a certain lack of critical dialogue with the traditions of feminist thought, and feminist investigations into computer cultures and digital technologies in particular.

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Authors
  1. Susanna Paasonen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

    Mandy Merck (Professor of Media Arts) (Professor of Media Arts)

  2. Middlesex University, London, UK

    Stella Sandford (Principal Lecturer in Modern European Philosophy) (Principal Lecturer in Modern European Philosophy)

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© 2010 Mandy Merck and Stella Sandford

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Paasonen, S. (2010). From Cybernation to Feminization: Firestone and Cyberfeminism. In: Merck, M., Sandford, S. (eds) Further Adventures of the Dialectic of Sex. Breaking Feminist Waves. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230109995_4

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