Cyborg Babies: From Techno-Sex to Techno-Tots [Paperback]

R. Davis-Floyd (Editor), Joseph Dumit (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415916046 | ISBN-13: 978-0415916042 | Publication Date: July 29, 1998 | Edition: First Edition

Cyborg Babies explores the increasingly pervasive role of technology in childrens lives, from conception to birth to childcare. From foetuses scanned electronically to wired toddlers, children are being rendered cyborg by their immersion in technoculture. The contributors, who include Sherry Turkle, Emily Martin and Mikuko Ito, discuss the co-development of the human and the machine. While much popular reporting swings between presenting technology as monstrous or science as saviour, Cyborg Babies argues for a more complex analysis, and provides a range of perspectives from cultural anthropologists to social critics. Subjects discussed include: popular reporting of cyborg babymaking, including IVF, sperm banks, surrogacy, ultrasound and amniocentesis the technological management of childbirth in hospitals the technologically-saturated world of childhood, from vitamin injections to TV toy tie-ins.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The editors of this anthology and the writers featured here use the term cyborg seriously. They do not, however, use it in its science fiction sense. As defined here, we are all cyborgs to the extent that we are not merely using technology but have become dependent, perhaps codependent, upon it. The anthology examines the role high technology now plays in the development of our children, from technology-based conception to the technological toys children play with. The contributions cover a wide range of philosophies, from those who find current trends alarming to those who consider recent developments a great boon for all humanity.

All agree, though, that technology has caused--or at least paved the way for--serious social changes in the way children are conceived, gestated, born, and raised. The writers look not only at how technology has changed the processes but how it has shaped our views of childbirth and childcare. Technologies addressed range from artificial insemination to the use of ultrasound and even teddy bears that comfort a baby with the sounds of the womb. The range of philosophies explored is equally wide. Emily Martin, for example, looks at the medical metaphors for mothers' bodies in her essay "The Fetus as Intruder," while Mizuko Ito examines simulation games and destructive impulses. With many diverse perspectives here, it's unlikely that you'll agree with everything you read, but you'll certainly find much worth thinking about. --Elizabeth Lewis --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

It is a valuable addition to the vibrant literature that has sprung up around the intersection of medical anthropology, feminist studies, and science and technology studies. ...the collection is highly readable. ...eminently suitable for use in graduate and undergraduate teaching and will be indispensable reading for scholars in the many fields upon which it touches.
–Medical Anthropology Quarterly, December 1999

This delightfully diverse collection introduces scholars to watch as it presents the possibilities for the future of our species: Will we remain humans, or become monsters?.
–Village Voice

...fascinating collection of essays....
–Shift, Nov 1998

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; First Edition edition (July 29, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415916046
• ISBN-13: 978-0415916042
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #963,893 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anthology of Feminism, Technoscience and Reproduction, May 29, 2000

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sidney eve matrix - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cyborg Babies: From Techno-Sex to Techno-Tots (Paperback)

Sixteen essays make a contribution to "cyborg anthropology" and "cyborg feminism." Volume considers human reproduction through the lens of an interrogation of the cyborg metaphor, its power, pleasure, promise, and threat. Section one essays discuss medico-technological interventions in conception and contraception including production of "technosemen." Section two includes essays by Emily Martin, Rayna Rapp and others, examining gestation and the use of medical imaging (ultrasound) and screening (amniocentesis) technologies to produce "normal" and "healthy" fetuses. Section three essays consider technobirth, focusing on the medical monitoring and management of the mother's body. Section four considers childrearing in a digital culture, including essay by Sherry Turkle on cyborg babies in a culture of "simulation." Exceptional introduction by David-Floyd and Dumit provides historical/theoretical overview of cyborg metaphor as quintessential postmodern myth and tool.