Stephan Wellman

DURHAM, NC — A group of over 100 graduate students and professors from across the world convened on the campus of Duke University from October 2-4 for a conference entitled "Discipline and Deviance: Genders, Technologies, Machines."

The conference was assembled in an attempt to "critically assess the gendered relations which are produced by and produce technology in a global perspective." Students and professors at the gathering presented a plethora of bizarre papers on such topics as "Simulacra and Sexuality: Mannequin Sex and the Cult of Lara Croft" and "The Revenge of the Yellow Faced Cyborg: The Rape of Digital Geishas and the Colonization of Cyber-Coolies in Shadow Warrior."

This conference was inspired by the writings of Donna Haraway, a "cyberfeminist," whose writings attempt to take feminism from the "goddess" mode of the 1970s and transform it into a "technologically explicit" paradigm for the 21st century.

Her essay, "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century," was the most frequently quoted item in the litany of presentations.

"Discipline and Deviance" was a gathering organized by Duke University’s Graduate Program in Literature. Virtually all of the papers presented covered topics of gender, sexuality, neo-Marxism, and "cyborg theory." In fact, during the course of the conference there was only one paper delivered on a remotely literary theme. The rest covered such issues as adult computer games, the Aliens film series, and tampons.

Virtual Sexualities

"Sex is fully pathological in the age of the machine," proclaimed Michael Uebel of the University of Kentucky in "Cyberporn and Masochism in Postmodern Man." His paper was an attempt to classify the ever-expanding market of adult computer games. During his presentation, Uebel analyzed the computer game "Fuzz Buzzers: The Ultimate Sex Toy Challenge." He read an advertisement for the game as seriously and methodically as one might read a poem or a novel. He then offered, "when desires are gratified there is no need to symbolize." He described these adult games as "utopically transformative" and ascribed them the function of "re-inventing male sexuality."

"She runs like a girl, she fights like a girl, and she kicks a**," said David Hatch, Professor of Humanities at Florida State University. In his paper, "Simulacra and Sexuality: Mannequin Sex and the Cult of Lara Croft," Hatch examined the popular computer game "Tomb Raider" and its heroine, Lara Croft. Croft represents the "progressive mechanization of female sexuality," said Hatch. She sends a "mixed gender message." He described the character’s pistol as "phallic" and the straps on her animated holster as a "garter belt." Hatch added that when a computer patch is added to the game, "‘Tomb Raider’ becomes ‘Nude Raider.’"

Professor Hatch discussed what she saw as the increasing phenomenon of "cyber-rape"—"the use of technology to abuse the image of others." He offered several examples, including "nude pictures of celebrities" on the internet and the use of the "voodoo code in a MUD [multi-user dungeon—a text-based role playing environment]." The voodoo code is a program that allows a person to take control of other characters in a MUD. Hatch discussed a specific instance involving the voodoo code, a character named "Mr. Bungle" and a character named "Starsinger." Mr. Bungle, who was controlled by a freshman at New York University, used a voodoo code to make the other characters in a "room," including Starsinger, have "graphic, text-based sex" with him.

He added the livid details of this bizarre computer fantasy, stating, "[Mr. Bungle] made Starsinger shove a steak knife up her a** and made her enjoy it." Hatch stated that "these people felt very real human effects." Instead of dismissing this incident as a part of the computer culture, he expressed shock and concern that this cyber-rape was some type of real violation of human dignity. He added, "these rapes will be more harmful in a graphic narrative format."

During the question and answer period an inflamed, self-described "lesbian scholar" challenged Professor Hatch’s theory that Croft’s pistol was "phallic." She asked him if he had considered that a "lesbian reading of the pistol" might see it as a "lesbian dildo." The two then engaged in heated argument over the true nature of the animated weapon, with neither agreeing with the other’s interpretation.

Performing Cyborgs

"Cyberpunk provides a narrative for the post-human age," said Jyanni Steffenson, professor in the Department of Social Inquiry at the University of Adelaide. Her paper, "VNS: ‘The Clitoris is a Direct Line to the Matrix’" was a discussion of the computer game art of VNS, a group of Australian artists. The game/art, "VNS: Matrix," was described as a "girl game adventure of penetrating Big Daddy’s mainframe." Steffenson said of the game, it "could be read as lesbian cunilingus." She stated that "VNS" was an attempt at "regaining the lost clitoris."

A group of characters in the game, "DNA sluts," are the "terminators of the moral code." They have "DNA coming out of where their clitoris is supposed to be." The characters in the game greeted each other with obscene phrases, including "p*****s," "we are c**t," and "cyberc***s." She said about one of the male characters in the game, "he could unscrew his penis and turn it into cell phone."

In her analysis of the game, Steffernson provided illumination. "Gender is relative psycho-historically," and "the epistemophyllic stage . . . is a framework for reading the womb-brain" were among her many points. Her paper was masked in perplexing of technical language, much of it common to the "critical theory" camp and some of it possibly invented by her. She concluded that "VNS" was "incredible" and that it had many "possibilities."

"I’m not shocked. I love that s***. Click. Click. Give me more," exclaimed Teresa Senft, professor of Performance Studies at New York University, commenting on "VNS." In her paper, "Shockingly Tech-splicit: The Sexual Politics of Orlan and Other Performing Cyborgs," Senft discussed the ways in which art now proves that "the woman is now cyborg." She began her talk by discussing Orlan, a performance artist who receives grants from the French government to have plastic surgery. Her surgeries are broadcast live via satellite to various museums and galleries across the world were they are shown for the world’s artistic elite. She said Orlan uses her surgery to produce a "specific kind of shock." Senft was critical of Orlan because her art was "from the neck up" and did not incorporate the entire female body.

Instead, she offered the artist Sharon Lanier, whose work Senft claimed portrayed "ordinary cyborg women." Senft discussed one of Lanier’s "pieces," entitled "My Womb the Mosh Pit." This "work" consisted of odd combinations of blurred visuals and esoteric text. During the course of the piece, Lanier provided commentary on the visuals. "I laughed in wonder at what looked like a baby boy," Lanier said after looking at her aborted fetus. As a final commentary on her abortion Lanier said, "I bonded with this image, I aborted this image."

Art for a Brave New World

A bare lecture hall with nothing but a chalkboard, two speakers, multiple motion detectors, and a floor empty of tables and chairs was the piece of performance art by Jools Gilson Ellis and Richard Povall. This installation, present at the conference, was entitled, "The Secret Project." The "piece" consisted of people walking through the empty room. As one walked through the lecture hall, the motion detectors would trigger a hidden sound system that would blast various messages from the speakers. The messages were recorded in various languages: French, German, and Russian and contained mysterious comments. "The Secret Project" was intended to explore "the concept of motion detection devices" and connect them to "live, interactive performance."

The other artist present, Leigh Ann Halberg, brought some of her large "fabric-and-paper sculptures" for the attendees to peruse at their leisure. Her pieces consisted of images on fabric illuminated with light. Many of these images were projected through magnifying glasses to increase the visibility. All of the pieces required some level of "physical interaction" with the viewer. This was what Halberg termed "interactivity." Most of these images were obscene, consisting of ambiguous sexual performances and images of food that resembled female genitalia.

Keynote Address

Diana "transformed herself into a sleek Amazonian," declared Pamela Church Gibson, professor of Cultural Studies at the London Institute in her multimedia presentation entitled "Perfect Bodies, Monstrous Bodies." Gibson examined the image of the late Princess Diana, anorexic models, the handicapped, and the character Ripley (played by actress Sigourney Weaver) in the Aliens film series. This presentation incorporated slides, television footage, and clips from the movie.

"Diana was not so much the people’s princess as she was the people’s cyborg." There was little explanation as to how Princess Diana was a cyborg; it was assumed that the audience would know this.

After discussing the "cyborg" and "Amazonian" Diana, Gibson dedicated the bulk of the presentation to the character Ripley. "Ripley protects the weak and hunts down the monstrous," observed Gibson. Gibson then went on to discuss the final two films of the series, Alien3 and Alien: Resurrection. Gibson interpreted these movies as "anti-abortion." In both films, Ripley must destroy the alien life forms of which she is the mother (or host). The alien is read as "the perfect life form." Yet, this "perfect life form" is also "monstrous." On this paradox, Gibson said, "the monstrous perfect could be, in some way indicative."