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Domain Errors!: Cyberfeminist Practices

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Edited by Maria Fernandez, Faith Wilding and Michelle M. Wright, "Domain Errors! Cyberfeminist Practices" is a provocative collection of essays, poems and art works that thoughtfully analyzes technology's impact on women and suggests possibilities for radical change. The book is a project of subRosa, an organization that is dedicated to articulating a sophisticated cyberfeminist critique of society.

The book is divided into three sections.

"Racism and Cyberfeminism in the Integrated Circuit" contains seven articles that pertain to the social relations of the Internet. Maria Fernandez and Faith Wilding contend that cyberfeminists must challenge and subvert power in order to privilege people over centrally-controlled systems of technological production. Maria Fernandez demonstrates how racism persists in online culture and highlights the necessity of addressing the problem in the offline world. Michelle M. Wright connects Hegelian thought with mainstream culture's tendency to minimize the contributions of minorities to our intellectual heritage. Other thoughtful essays in this section include Lisa Nakamura's insightful discussion of the racial dynamics displayed in the movie "The Matrix"; Irina Aristarkhova's personal account of Russian imperialism and the concept of otherliness; Susanna Paasonen's critique of corporate websites and their false representations of female empowerment; and Rhadika Gajjala and Annapurna Mamidipudi's musings on how women from the global South might gain real power (and not be coopted) by joining online communities.

"The Female Flesh Commodities Lab" contains eleven pieces that examines biotechnology and other related sciences of the body. Lucia Sommer ponders how to represent reality within the context of an increasingly commodified culture that is seduced by biotechnology. subRosa's article on assitive reproductive technologies (ART) critiques the industry's profiteering from the biological control of women's bodies. Faith Wilding discusses the problematic relationship of medicine with women's sexuality and compares ancient genital mutilation with modern plastic surgery. Emily de Araujo and Lucia Sommer provide a brief history of eugenics in the U.S. and connects it with the growth of today's biotechnology industry. Other articles include Lucia Sommer's Marxist-inspired analysis of globalized capital's ongoing exploitation of age, race, gender and class; Pattie Bell Hasting's clever piece comparing mothering functions with computerese; subRosa's guide to conducting a college-level workshop that critiques art, biotechnology and eugenics; Amelia Jones' highly personal chronicle of her mental and emotional struggles with infertility treatments; Christina Hung's lessons on female empowerment achieved through alternative healing; Tania Kupczak's exploration of how ART has created new opportunities for gay and lesbian households to form families; and a short poem by Lucia Sommer.

"Research! Action! Embodiment! Conviviality!" contains eight articles that provide examples of how women might challenge the status quo and take action to create a more liveable world. Terri Kapsalis suggests that the designer doll industry may be preparing a new generation of girls for the marketing of designer babies as adults and imagines ways to contest the false promise of attaining predisposed personality traits through genetic engineering. Other articles indlude Irina Aristarkhova's chronicles of the struggle to create a distinctly feminist art in Singapore; Nell Tenhaaf's discussion of interactive art; Maria Fernandez' insightful interview with an alternative healing practicioner; Hyla Willis' ad-jam of the ART industry; a rant by Faith Wilding; an impressive history of subRosa's education and activism efforts from its founding in 1998 to 2003; and subRosa's manifesto for creating social spaces that are conducive to interdependent thought and action.

I highly recommend this book to everyone.