He, She, It: Engendering Machines, Gendering Intelligence

Traditional gender binaries such as male/female, science/nature, mind/body, are replayed and reinforced again and again in sci-fi films, in which (male) scientific creativity is continually represented as a dangerous affront to “natural” human (female) values. Supercomputers in film are created by male scientists–I can think of no exceptions–and what makes them valuable (according to their creators) is that they lack characteristics traditionally linked in our culture with the feminine: weakness, empathy, emotion, unpredictability. —He, She, It: Engendering Machines, Gendering Intelligence (Cybercinema, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

One of many short essays grouped into the categories intelligence, fear, god, love, and self.

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Published by
Dennis G. Jerz

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