Gender and Technology Spring 2009

By reducing patients’ faces and bodies to a series of component parts, surgeons and patients together establish the problematic status of the part in question and its “objective” need of “repair.”

In the Dull/West article, both the patients and the plastic surgeons expressed the opinion that it was “normal” and “natural” for women to seek to change their appearance, because a preoccupation with one’s looks is part of what makes someone a woman. Surgeons also spoke in the article about how people who could describe exactly what was “wrong” were better candidates for surgery. For example, someone who came in and said that they wanted to flatten out the bump in their nose would be a better candidate than someone who just knew they didn’t like how “exotic” their face looked.

I just thought it was interesting that this need to somehow look better is thought to be a natural one for women, but it is necessary to break the human body down into inorganic sounding parts to figure out what exactly needs to be “fixed”.

The National Geographic Channel is full of examples of extreme body modifications and of how sometimes these modifications are gendered (and how sometimes they are not). It shows the details of some things that are not normally seen on television. We do have a biased view of the world and it is hard to understand how others cultures function. I’ve posted these videos to provide a little variety to what sort of body modifications are done around the globe.
Albeit, these are biased videos and from a U.S. centered point-of-view. However they give a unique look at different cultures around the globe.
*Warning* If you are squeamish, you might want to skip these videos!

Rings of brass used to elongate the neck

Corsets used to mold incredibly thin waists

Full body tattoos

Having just watched the Discovery Channel documentary/show, “Is it a boy or a girl?” I am coming to some realizations about how the film was done, and the meaning behind some of the decisions the producers/director/writer, etc. had made. For example, we first meet Cheryl Chase, who speaks out about the pain she and her family experienced after her gender assignment in infancy. What was notable about the first few scenes with Cheryl was that, outside of the shots where she was being interviewed, she was pictured alongside animals; first a parrot and then a horse. I found this odd because I expected to see her alongside family members or friends, maybe a spouse or significant other. But I believe the juxtaposition between Cheryl and her pets really highlights an important point: she has been through so much emotional and psychological torment because of her gender assignment and its subsequent numerous surgeries. These surgeries occurred because for statistical purposes,(one interviewee on the video said that gender categorization and assignment is necessary because “our culture demands it.”) and perhaps just for the sake of comfort and understanding, she could not have existed as a hermaphrodite, holding the identity of both male and female. The process of “feminizing” her genitalia was painful and in many ways ostracized her. Many of the intersexed people on the program reiterated the fact that their condition ostracized them from social circles: they couldn’t undress in front of others in the school locker room, they were constantly in and out of hospitals, etc. So the fact that Cheryl has been identified by her connection with her pets (at least to me) aptly shows her isolation from a lot of people because of her condition as an intersexed individual.

The treatment of the parents of Katrina, an intersexed baby, also interested me. Their identities were concealed, (“We’ll call them ___ and ___” instead of saying “This is ___ and ___”) and whenever they were filmed, the camera was out of focus so as to conceal their identity further. It occurred to me that usually people who want to hide their identity in television interviews and such do it because either 1) people would hurt them if they found out their identity, or 2) they feel guilty about something. I won’t really address option #1 because I’m not sure how to work it out, but option #2 interests me. It’s obvious that they’ve done nothing wrong by having an intersexed baby, but perhaps they feel regret or remorse for having put Katrina through gender assignment surgeries.

However, if we read deeper into the context of intersexed individuals and how they’re dealt with in certain pieces of popular culture, it perhaps could reveal more about attitudes surrounding hermaphrodites and individuals with ambiguous genitalia. One of the strongest pieces of popular culture dealing with this topic in my mind is the book, Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides. In this book, Eugenides traces the ancestry of a hermaphrodite, Calliope, to her grandparents, who were actually brother and sister. This anecdote reminds me of my earlier conceptions of hermaphrodites, that they were usually products of incest, and often connoted transgression for this reason. The video didn’t really address this assumption, which leads me to believe that it isn’t founded in fact. However, myths and misconceptions are often much more powerful than the facts that could quell them. Perhaps the parents of Katrina were wary of revealing their identities on the program for fear of being associated with the assumptions related to intersexed people. After seeing the video, I’m more aware than ever of the immense psychological, emotional, and physical horrors that intersexed people have to combat to deal with their conditions, surgically or not, but I wonder if preconceived notions about hermaphrodites constitute one of the sources of shame and discomfort when it comes to dealing with others and their uninformed assumptions about these individuals.

Just think this is a really interesting area of study, getting new noses or facial features.  Brings with it the intersection of people and technology, and gender and technology as well because (I think) more women get nose jobs (was just reading an article about celebs getting nose jobs: 4/4 of the people mentioned were women — why don’t as many men get nose jobs?).  Also brings up issues of identity — remaking your identity, is it good/bad in general?  Is it good/bad when done for specific reasons?

I happened to read this article by Andrew Sullivan over the weekend and thought it would make an interesting addition to our discussions.  It’s just another medical intervention that some use to accomplish gender.  Sullivan is using testosterone for medically necessary reasons, but his use of the hormone led him to some interesting observations about the biology behind “gendered” behaviors.

These are the very first words that greet you on the website for the Manhatten Center for Vaginal Surgery, below a pink flowery banner with rotating images of young, attractive women. The Center would like you to know that it offers Vaginal Rejuvenation, Vaginoplasty, and Labiaplasty for $9900 and Hymen Repair for only $5600. Under Labiaplasty, it lists a few reasons why women might want this elective surgery, one being:

Cosmetic Reasons: Women who are unhappy or embarrassed with the way their labia look. Often this affects sexual relationships and self esteem. Some women just want to look as beautiful as they can for themselves and their partner. With the increasing openness of society to sexuality and greater exposure to sexually explicit materials, labiaplasty is becoming increasingly popular.

So if your partner watches a lot of porn and has a distorted view of what your labia should look like, don’t worry! You can tailor-make your own so you won’t be embarrassed or disappoint them!

What kind of message is this sending??

I began thinking about cosmetic vaginal surgery while reading the New York Times article on repairing the hymen for religious reasons. Then I wondered how common this would be for purely cosmetic purposes. An article from Women’s E News spoke volumes. Dr. David Matlock, just one plastic surgeon, performs 40 to 60 vaginal cosmetic surgeries a month at his practice in Beverly Hills- the plastic surgery capital of the country. I’ll admit, I was shocked to see such a high number, especially when you think about how many this could mean are being performed in the country each year, coupled with the fact that this article was written in 2004. Dr. Pamela Loftus, Boca Raton, asks her patients why they elect to have this procedure before beginning:

“The most common reason we hear is that they have had a negative comment made by a male sexual partner. Women are made to feel that they are not perfect the way they are and often it’s the partner that sets this off.”

I don’t imagine that there are many women who, not having been exposed to the standardized “perfect” vaginas of the porn industry, would look down and say, “Wow, I think I should get my labia fixed so I’ll be prettier and feel better about myself.” Many reports state that negative feedback from a male partner is the number one reason why women elect to have these surgeries. I knew that cosmetic surgery was becoming more prevalent in American culture, but I had no idea of the extent to which some women were going, and so frequently!

Hi everyone.  I know this post is very late, but I am still getting used to the idea of blogging for a class – it’s something I’ve never done before.  So I’ll try to keep this intro post short so we can get back to the regular discussion!

My name is Sarah.  I’m a Bryn Mawr freshman all the way from Kailua, Hawaii, and still trying to adjust to this weather!!!  I am fairly certain I want to major in either English and/or Psychology, and I plan on minoring in Film Studies…of couse, nothing is certain, and so far this class has rekindled my interest in computer science.  When I was younger, all of my future career paths had to do with technology or science – mostly astronaut (I was quite serious about this, I went to space camp and interviewed real astronauts and wrote all 2nd through 6th grade projects about NASA), but I was open to anything (science teacher, researcher, entomologist, etc).  I gave up most of these dreams when I discovered in high school that math didn’t come as a second nature; and as a student at a highly competitive prep school, I always felt the pressure to be the best or not try at all.  I realize now that I am out of that environment that this philosophy is a false and harmful one.  When I look back on my math “failures”, I see now that it was more of a lack of effort on my part, and I think it may have been partially motivated by the mentality of “girls aren’t good at math”.  This is definitely an experience I will be able to use later in the course when we explore further the social norms that sometimes prevent women from accessing or accepting technology.  I also worked for a website throughout most of high school, and I have some interesting stories about the different ways that the male and female members of the staff were treated (interesting not in a bad way, but in that we were clearly treated differently according to our gender).

I was interested in this course because I have never really had a chance to clearly articulate what my thoughts on technology’s role in today’s society are.  I always hear talk about what different forms of technology can be used for and are used for, but I have never really thought about it through the lens of gender.  As someone who loves technology/media in all forms (TV shows are a particular expertise of mine), I think it is important to think about what the implications of these technologies are and how they can affect what our perceptions of social norms can become.  I am excited to see where our class goes with our discussions, and I can’t wait to see what my thoughts by the end of the course will be!

So, my post is a bit late but I have a GREAT excuse. Over the weekend I was making an attempt to wrestle a guy friend and in the process cracked a rib. sooo I spent my day in the ER, getting my lungs x-rayed, hence the late post.

somewhat unrelated, at the beginning of last week i watched an episode of a show i found online called “gender rebel”. The episode I saw was about 3 women that felt they could neither identify as male nor female. they were biologically women, but basically agreed that they were at a point inbetween– they refered to themselves as “genderqueer”. two of the three individuals had significant others, both of which were other (bioligical) women, yet neither couple wanted to be identified as a lesbian couple. Instead, One significant other called herself a “boifriend” and I believe the other identified as genderqueer as well.

To integrate the topic, one individual on the show was preparing to have a surgical breast reduction on her size B chest (pictured above from logoonline.com). She recalled hating her breasts the second she hit puberty, and was usually uncomfortable in anything but a high-impact sports bra. Another genderqueer individual was nervous to tell her mother that she had been binding; or using an ACE bandage to restrain her chest underneath her size small men’s polo shirts. Ideally, this individual wanted to look like a 16 year old boy, and if people stared in attempt to guess her gender, she hoped they would mistake her for a gay male.

further integrating the topic, like I said, I was in the ER with a cracked rib all day. there’s not much that can be done for this injury except, ironically, wrap me tightly with an ACE bandage, around the spot of injury… which is directly under my chest. Despte the pain, I laughed as the male doctor helped to professionally bind my boobs, and did in fact feel like a 16 year old boy. that’ll teach me to wrestle with the guys. (please note: sarcasm.)

here is a link to clips of Gender Rebel– it said it could not be embedded, but if someone else finds a way by all means let me know.

http://www.logoonline.com/video/?vid=103253

In reading in Victoria Banales’ “The Politics of Cosmetic Surgery” about women of color – including “Jewish, Asian, and Black women” – getting surgery done to “smooth” ethnic features, I related this to my own experience.  I am culturally/ancestrally Jewish, and have a nose that is probably larger than average and has a bump in the middle, a “Jewish nose” you might call it.

I remember looking in the mirror and putting my finger across my nose, noticing that I looked “prettier” without the bump in my nose.  I remember looking in childhood photos to find how old I was when the bump emerged (it was not visible when I was a young child).  I also distinctly remember one of my grandmothers always commenting on my nose when I went to visit her.  She was a wonderful, gregarious, and generally very accepting woman, but she always was telling me “Tosh, you should really get your nose fixed.  You can do it really easily these days.”  My nose, fixed.

I don’t remember which came first, my judgementalism towards my nose or my grandmother’s comments (also probably there were other societal pressures against such noses, which were not in my explicit consciousness).  But I do remember thinking about getting my nose fixed, considering it.  I was hurt that my grandma didn’t like my nose, and ultimately decided for myself that I wanted my nose to be natural. As Erik Parens discusses in “Thinking about Surgically Shaping Children”, it makes sense for people to 1) accept others as they are and 2) let children, to the extent possible, decide whether or not to get surgery.  My grandma said if I had been her child, she would have had me get surgery.  This makes me appreciate all the more that my parents never forced (or even suggested, as far as I can remember) me to change my nose.

This issue really represents an intermixing of technology and people (the cyborg?), and technology and gender (for example the Peruvian women who undergo plastic surgery).  It also brings in the intersection of technology and race/class etc..  I’d like to point out that probably many of the people in our class have had braces, which is a more prevalent, but still relavent kind of cosmetic change / technological change done to people.  It represents a class issue to an extent as well, but in a slightly different way from the Peruvian women: I don’t have hard facts on this, but my guess is that people of higher class levels are more likely to get braces.  Also, while a number of males get braces too, I suspect there’s again a gender discrepancy here.

One final comment on Parens’ article: while I liked the article, I would have appreciated some more information on the other side of the issue — parents who chose to get surgery done to their children.  Addressing the other perspective would strengthen his arguments about the importance of acceptance and allowing children to be part of the decision-making process.

My favorite play and film is “Closer” and I had never realized it before, but the women are excluded from using computers.  The two men chat online.  One man pretends to be a woman, seducing the man into having cyber-sex.  This thought was sparked by another student’s post which spoke about the way in which an online community allows a person to dawn a sex or gender identity which is not their own.  Do the ideas of men being controlling and women being manipulative/seductive carry over into the cyber community?  How could one know for sure without certain knowledge of the subject’s sex/gender?  I believe the cyber community could, therefore, be a “place” where stereotypes can be eliminated.  This is still an idea I am wrestling with, but I think there is a lot to explore here.

“Rhinoplasty Before and After-Follow Experience of Ethnic Rhinoplasty Patient”*:

“African-American Rhinoplasty-AfricanAmericanRhinoplasty.com”*:

If you have the time it’s interesting to look at what the comments were to these videos, the ratings, and the “more info” section.

Being in this class has certainly raised some interesting questions about technology and gender. A question that keeps popping up in my head is how exactly do we define the word ‘technology’? In my experience most people associated the word technology with computers, silicon chips, robots and the like, but such items as the cotton gin, the tractor, and the blender have also been categorized as technology. I think we might be limiting ourselves in thinking of technolgy in small terms. Maybe by reviewing technology as more than fiber optics and chips we’ll be able to see a pattern in how technology is used to perpetuate social and class stratification. On that note, the article I read, “The Face-Value of Dreams: Gender, Race, Class and the Politics of Cosmetic Surgery”, was very interesting to me because while advances in the technology of medicine has saves many lives, a topic that in my experience has been less discussed are implications and politics of medical practice. When I’m at home I like to watch the Discorvery Health Channel, where a show called “Plastic Surgery: Before& After ” aires. Often while watching episodes in which majority of which the patients are middle-aged women, I noticed that many of them after getting surgery reported feeling better about their appearance and having higher self-esteem. Moreover, the show a pattern of showing the patients’ lives before surgery as utterly miserable before surgery and life after surgery as something of a “rebirth”. The article also reminded me of Joan Brumberg’s “The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls”. In it she tracks the history of the “ideal” body and the practices that women use to attain it. I wondered as I finished the article if Brumberg published a new edition, what would she say about technologies impact on the “ideal” body?

This past summer, there was a big controversy over this L’Oreal ad, featuring Beyonce. Everyone in the world blogged about it basically, so I won’t say too much about it – L’Oreal was accused of whitening Beyonce’s natural skin tone, which combined with the blond hair, made the singer look like a Caucasian woman.

In her article, Bañales discussed the use of cosmetic surgery to give women, in the Third World and elsewhere, a more European appearance. I really liked her discussion of race and class in relation to physical appearance; it’s important to point out that the traits which women strive for are often a part of the white phenotype, which inherently links them with issues of colonialism and class. The media is filled with images of female beauty which, if it is not caucasian, is somehow “otherized.” I think we are making some progress, but even in museums, the dominant European art depicts female beauty, almost entirely, as Caucasian.

Bañales describes parts of the world in which cosmetic surgery can be an economic necessity, if only those with dominant-class features can obtain employment when there is fierce competition for jobs. This image of Beyonce, though, suggests that “whiteness” is not just a goal driven by economic necessity. I have no idea if she wasa aware of what the ad would look like, and I won’t make any claims about Beyonce’s intentions, but it’s disheartening that L’Oreal felt the need to airbrush her to make her fit in better with the dominant version of female beauty.

I was also thinking about how strange this seems to me. Personally I’m pale all the time no matter what, a fact I find very frustrating and which has led me to a lot of laying in the sun without sunblock. I think a lot of us have also had conversations about being jealous of different hair types; it seems that all curly-haired people want straight hair, and all straight-haired people wish they had curls. This is definitely a different kind of phenomenon, but I haven’t quite decided how. In wanting to be tan, I want to be something other than I am for purely aesthetic reasons that have more to do with trends than with historical discourses of power. This is probably where the difference is.

After reading Victoria Banales’s article gave me a whole new awareness about the homogenizing and racist effects of cosmetic surgery. In the very little spare time I have I participate in an affinity group on campus called Mixed Company. Its purpose is to serve as a safe setting for discussion and as a support group for people who identify as “mixed,” which can range from a person identifying as multi-racial to multi-faith and our allies.

Cosmetic surgery for me, before reading this article, meant either covering up an injury or scarring from another surgery or the shallowness of a woman who thinks that changing her outward appearance can mean a better life. Yes, I am guilty of blaming women for their shallowness and for caving under societal pressure to fit a beauty norm. This is because it is up to every individual to stand up and shout and scream when something is not right and when something is not fair, no matter the pressure.
But that cosmetic surgery is not only oppressive for women, but more specifically for women who do not meet Caucasian beauty standards was something I overlooked. I am definitely bringing this article to the next club meeting. For me, hypothetically if I were to get surgery it would be to appear closer to my latina roots. My “mix” makes me look white, so when I go to some groups I feel out of place event though I am a part of that group through heritage and culture, my appearance always makes people feel that I am an ally and not a legitimate member of the group.
Certainly there are many forms of body alterations that are made frequently in the world that are seen as taboo.This includes tattoos, piercings, and inserting and many other types of body modification which may be shunned in some societies while admired in others. However, these are generally optional and used as a way to go against the grain and stand out. Cosmetic surgery is one form that while it may have some positive aspects, such as reducing the appearance of scarring or rebuilding a breast after a mastectomy, is abused for its ways of making someone fit in better to the world. Even if that means hiding your race.