Virtual Reality and Postgenderism

mzungu

I was reading an article recently about gender swapping being done via new virtual reality headsets. It got me thinking about postgenderism and its claims about future technologies that have a role a play in bringing about this new society where gender has been eliminated.

The Postgenderist movement takes its queue from socio-political and cultural frameworks and its proponents believe technologies (when advanced enough) can enable the individual to voluntarily eliminate their gender if they wish (Dvorsky & Hughes 2008). Postgenderist theorists that gender roles and social stratification are not of benefit to people or society, instead they are a drawback. With advances in technology will come options to reproduce without sex, thus leading to a society where all post-gendered humans can give birth and render the need for genders in society as obsolete.

Dvorsky & Hughes suggest the move to virtualisation of our bodies began with cave drawings and has been slowly becoming more virtual ever since. It is through this virtual space, that postgenderism will be realised. It has been the work of futurologists (see Kurzweil 2005) to inform us of the considerable advances in technology that may come our way in the first fifty years of the new millennium. This would include things like being able to augment our minds and bodies with genetic alterations, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence.

The question is, could the virtual reality machines of today be seen as a possible first step on the road to the actualisation of postgenderism?


Dvorsky, G., & Hughes, J. (2008). Postgenderism: Beyond the gender binary. Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, 20, 44-57.

Kurzweil, Ray. (2005). The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. New York: Viking.

CruelCoin

If you think that the world will turn into that crappy Bruce Willis flick where we have sex with headsets, then you're very mistaken. Nothing can or will replace the real deal.

So no, i don't think vr headsets herald the end of man/womanhood.

mzungu

CruelCoin wrote: »

If you think that the world will turn into that crappy Bruce Willis flick where we have sex with headsets, then you're very mistaken. Nothing can or will replace the real deal.

For the most part I agree, there will most likely never be a replacement for the real deal, but that is not to say the VR substitutes won't rise in popularity. There is tonnes on money being spent in that direction. The market seems to be couples in long distance relationships.

I think the line of thought regarding transcending gender roles (in some circles anyways) through technology in real life is more futurology than anything else. Plus, it also depends on things like reproduction being mimicked by technology which is very far fetched and not likely to happen.

CruelCoin wrote: »

So no, i don't think vr headsets herald the end of man/womanhood.

Most definitely not the end of either. While the hardline train of thought would wish for an end to both (never happening), the softer line taken is that these things can exist in a virtual space (aided by technological advances), but would not be possible outside of that in the real world. Instead it becomes just a transcendence of gender that takes place only in the virtual world.

Black Swan

Computer gaming has exploited virtual gender role definitions and transformations, and may in some ways signal postgenderism changes both contemporary and future. In Looking for Gender: Gender Roles and Behaviors Among Online Gamers by Williams, D, Consalvo, M, Caplin, S, and Yee N (2009) analysis of a large survey data set suggested that women were spending more time gaming than men, and that women derived more happiness gaming than their male counterparts. Men did evidence more aggressive behaviour as expected by their gender roles in contrast to women, but interestingly women gamers evidenced greater health than women non-gamers. The greater happiness and health conclusions of this research flies in the face of past opinions that suggested computer gaming was in some ways unhealthful.

Another point that may be explored has to do with labeling of women's changing gender roles during the 20th and 21st centuries. In gaming, novels, films, and episodic TV series we have seen more women assuming leadership roles, sometimes these roles exhibiting both aggression and violence. Methinks it's a misnomer when someone labels these women characters as being more masculine, rather than women performing different and uncommon roles when compared with past expected women's gender roles. These women were not becoming men, rather women's gender roles were expanding and transforming to adapt to a changing environment. For example, in gaming or film does Lara Croft phenotypically or psychologically transform into a man, or a very exciting female bodied hero that some men would like to date virtually or for real?

Black Swan

Postgenderism challenges historic stereotypes for women's roles in society. Rather than discuss such potential shifts that are occurring, some folks like to discard it with a pejorative, oversimplistic, and childish name-calling label like "She is a feminist," as if that was a self-evident and universally acceptable answer that would disqualify someone for intelligent discussion.

The game programmers of Dragon Age had fun with this prejudice through the scripted dialogue of character Sten:

"Leliana: Do you mean your people have no female mages or warriors?

Sten: Of course not. Why would our women wish to be men?"

mzungu

Black Swan wrote: »

Computer gaming has exploited virtual gender role definitions and transformations, and may in some ways signal postgenderism changes both contemporary and future. In Looking for Gender: Gender Roles and Behaviors Among Online Gamers by Williams, D, Consalvo, M, Caplin, S, and Yee N (2009) analysis of a large survey data set suggested that women were spending more time gaming than men, and that women derived more happiness gaming than their male counterparts. Men did evidence more aggressive behaviour as expected by their gender roles in contrast to women, but interestingly women gamers evidenced greater health than women non-gamers. The greater happiness and health conclusions of this research flies in the face of past opinions that suggested computer gaming was in some ways unhealthful.

That is quite interesting, I wonder were they studied playing the same games? For both to experience mostly opposing effects is an eye opener.

One thing I found surprising was that in some age groups, there are less male gamers in the 45-64 age bracket. Although the figures slightly favour males below that, but there really is not much differences between the two in it.

http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media//Files/Reports/2008/PIP_Teens_Games_and_Civics_Report_FINAL.pdf.pdf
http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media//Files/Reports/2008/PIP_Adult_gaming_memo.pdf.pdf
http://www.geekwire.com/2013/dudes-38-xbox-users-female-51-kids/
http://www.polygon.com/2015/11/4/9669110/pew-research-center-female-gamers-statistics
http://variety.com/2013/digital/features/womengamers1200683299-1200683299/

Black Swan wrote: »

Another point that may be explored has to do with labelling of women's changing gender roles during the 20th and 21st centuries. In gaming, novels, films, and episodic TV series we have seen more women assuming leadership roles, sometimes these roles exhibiting both aggression and violence. Methinks it's a misnomer when someone labels these women characters as being more masculine, rather than women performing different and uncommon roles when compared with past expected women's gender roles. These women were not becoming men, rather women's gender roles were expanding and transforming to adapt to a changing environment. For example, in gaming or film does Lara Croft phenotypically or psychologically transform into a man, or a very exciting female bodied hero that some men would like to date virtually or for real?

Agreed, I think when the whole "masculine" trope is brought out in relation to female characters it is more out of laziness on the part of the reviewer/commentator than anything else. For so long it was primarily males in the action roles, so the violence, aggro etc that is part of those movies, just became a cinema cliche as masculine traits.

Lara Croft is an interesting example. I will admit I never played Tomb Raider or saw the movie, however from reading things about the character over the years I was always one to assume it is femininity that was a selling point to both. Plus, she broke the barriers for women in video games and was possibly one of the first examples. Although, Cohen (2000) notes that the success of Tomb Raider can also be attributed in part to the gameplay, graphics and action in the game. Something that a lot of other games of the era lacked.

Cohen, Mark (24 April 2000). "The Desire of the Toy". Lara Croft: The Art of Virtual Seduction. Prima Publishing. pp. 106–109

Black Swan

USC's Interactive Media & Games Division explores virtual reality and postgenderism in game development, especially those changes affecting women, as well as those with alternative gender roles. In class they discuss if Lara Croft in Tomb Raider would be considered a feminist. Furthermore, they examine how gender preferences of marginalized groups have been manifested in virtual reality gameplay, whereupon such preferences might not find expression in real life without sanction.

mzungu

Black Swan wrote: »

USC's Interactive Media & Games Division explores virtual reality and postgenderism in game development, especially those changes affecting women, as well as those with alternative gender roles. In class they discuss if Lara Croft in Tomb Raider would be considered a feminist. Furthermore, they examine how gender preferences of marginalised groups have been manifested in virtual reality gameplay, whereupon such preferences might not find expression in real life without sanction.

I guess with Lara Croft, depending on what prism one views the character, she could either be seen as a feminist icon or just a digital version of the 90s beauty ideal that is merely an object of the ‘male gaze’. Taking the feminist icon route first, all the prerequisites are there, things like being independent, strong, intelligent etc. So, for all intents and purposes one could say that she is.

As Jones (2002) notes, Croft could be seen as part of the mid 90s zeitgeist of ‘girl power’ that was spurred on into the mainstream with the Spice Girls, and a year later Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For Jones, Croft displays a “bimodal” appeal in that she appeals to both *men and women. There is no doubt that in a short space of time she became a cultural icon. For example, In an Issue of The Face magazine in 1997, she was described as a cross between Pamela Anderson and Yoda! Although, her physical prowess and sexuality was met with ambivalence by both feminist and non-feminist commentators (Kennedy 2002) and follows a similar pattern with other popular feminist narratives in 90s entertainment (e.g.. Thelma and Louise: did their use of guns bolster or undermine the film as being feminist). Hence, Lara Croft is locked in this juxtaposition between physical prowess and sexuality (Kennedy 2002).

Kennedy goes on to point out that she inhabits places like dark caves that would traditionally be defined as ‘male spaces’ in computer games. It is her comfort in operating in what would have been considered as masculine spaces that “disturbs the symbolism of masculine culture”.

On the other hand, there is a line of thought that would view Croft as fodder for the ‘male gaze’. Kennedy uses Lara Mulvey’s (1975) psychoanalytic framework to explain that Croft is not only an object of “fetishistic and scopophilic pleasures”, but unconsciously she is a threat to masculine order. Thus, her femininity may be seen as a threat and Mulvey’s psychoanalysis would view Croft as the “castrated body” that represents the threat of castration. To counteract this, the phallicization of Croft via “fetishistic signifiers” like hair, glasses, guns, belts and long hair. In other words, or at least how I read it, Croft has been given these signifiers as a means to prevent her from being a permanent feature in the ‘masculine space’.

So, I think the Croft character came with the same dualisms of other feminist works in 90s popular entertainment. She will appeal to one section as empowerment, but to another as another symbol of oppression. The observation made by The Face magazine that she was a mix of Yoda and Pamela Anderson is quite close to the mark. The character was a product of her time, and was always going to be at the mercy of the beauty ideals of the time. She was also locked into the stereotypical 'wise old sage' cliche that surrounds Yoda (and other male characters in countless movies) but that is a movie trope that is more static and timeless than ever changing beauty ideals in the entertainment industry.

Although, it would be wrong to come to the conclusion that Tomb Raider was massive just because Lara Croft fitted beauty ideals. It would have been a factor of many things. For example, if the gameplay was terrible would the game still have been as popular? Or if it was a man in the lead role, would it have caught the imagination in the same way?

I see her popularity as hinging on a wide variety of factors such as gameplay, character, graphics, storyline, popularity of the PS1 and the zeitgeist of the nineties and the culture of the time all created a space where it would be possible for a character like Lara Croft to become a household name and eventually make the leap to cultural icon. In a culture that is more disposable than ever (gained momentum in 80s consumer culture and never looked back IMO) it takes something out of the ordinary to transcend the hype and noise to enter the public consciousness in a meaningful way. Could this be done if the character was not larger than life? Probably not. Given the success of the game is down to a wide variety of factors, I would take the view that they played things just right (eg. balance of masculinity and femininity) and I think the success of the franchise among both men and women gamers is a good testament to that.

Does the element of masculinity in the character prevent her being a feminist icon? I will go with a cop out here and say it really depends on what strand of feminism is ones cup of tea. The character is iconic in a mainstream sense though,and that opened the doors for women characters in video games. If Croft was true to feminist ideals, would the mainstream appeal be there to make the character an icon and more importantly would those doors have been opened for women in video games?


Jones, Gerard (2002) Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes and Make Believe Violence. NY: Basic Books.

Kennedy, H. W. (2002). Lara Croft: Feminist icon or cyberbimbo? On the limits of textual analysis. Game Studies: International Journal of Computer Games Research, 2(2).

Mulvey, Laura (1975) "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema", Screen 16 (3):6-18.


*Less than a decade earlier Sega and Nintendo were hesitant to feature lead female characters for fear of losing their core demographic of boys and young men. It was Sony who tapped into the youth market successfully by taking the initiative. Kudos to Sony.

Black Swan

Postgenderism has been eroding the binary gender distinctions, and has been facilitated by the virtual world of advancing technology (Dvorsky, G and Hughes, J, IEET Monograph, 2008). Old binary male and female mutually exclusive categorisations have been viewed as limiting today's human potential for both sexes. Gender roles have been seen in rapid transition, where choice of preferences, career opportunities, etc., are expanding and overcoming the traditional walled-off limitations of yesteryear.

mzungu

Black Swan wrote: »

Postgenderism has been eroding the binary gender distinctions, and has been facilitated by the virtual world of advancing technology (Dvorsky, G and Hughes, J, IEET Monograph, 2008). Old binary male and female mutually exclusive categorisations have been viewed as limiting today's human potential for both sexes. Gender roles have been seen in rapid transition, where choice of preferences, career opportunities, etc., are expanding and overcoming the traditional walled-off limitations of yesteryear.

Social media climbed aboard with this a few years back. In 2014, Facebook updated gender identification from 2 - 58 (Bivens 2015). However, this has come in for criticism in some quarters for only paying lip service to multiple gender identity, mainly because to advertisers you will still be viewed as either male or female on Facebook's background databases for the purposes of targeted advertising. The only place there a users chosen gender identity will exist (and be shown) is to friends on Facebook.

Facebook are playing the postmodern game of multiple identities, it would appear it is merely a box ticking exercise and a purely corporate decision.

Bivens, R. (2015). The gender binary will not be deprogrammed: Ten years of coding gender on Facebook. New media & society. p467

Black Swan

To what extent does gender-swapping in computer gaming suggest that this is becoming an increasing factor of postgenderism? Do men who play the female role in games experience opposite gender authenticity, or some male virtual version of a female they fantasize about, or what? What about females who gender-swap?

Source: Jen Gerson (2016), Gender-swapping’ gamers: Why some men prefer to play with female avatars — and vice versa. Canada: National Post.

Fathom

"Opposite gender authenticity?" Played boy. Gamers knew gender. Disclosed. I failed. Practice makes perfect?

mzungu

Fathom wrote: »

"Opposite gender authenticity?" Played boy. Gamers knew gender. Disclosed. I failed. Practice makes perfect?

When assuming different gender roles in computer games, it has been observed that stereotypical content will be produced by the participant trying to pass themselves off as the other gender (Herring & Martinson 2004).

Herring, S. C., & Martinson, A. (2004). Assessing gender authenticity in computer-mediated language use evidence from an identity game. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 23(4), 424-446. Chicago

Fathom

mzungu wrote: »

When assuming different gender roles in computer games, it has been observed that stereotypical content will be produced by the participant trying to pass themselves off as the other gender

"Stereotypical content?" Participant becomes the elaboration of the obvious. Too male, or too female stereotypically. Dead give away. Consequently, suspension of disbelief for opposite gender authenticity shall be a challenge for novel authors and gamers.

mzungu

Fathom wrote: »

"Stereotypical content?" Participant becomes the elaboration of the obvious. Too male, or too female stereotypically. Dead give away.

Very true, in the attempt to appear as the other gender I can only imagine that the dialogue would comes across as painfully bad!

Fathom wrote: »

Consequently, suspension of disbelief for opposite gender authenticity shall be a challenge for novel authors and gamers.

I certainly think gaming can be used as an outlet for experimentation. Within the confines of the game universe, the gamer can use that narrative space to inscribe with "with his or her own intent" (Steinkuehler 2010 p61) that allows for a ideal outlet to explore identity.

Steinkuehler, C. (2010). Digital literacies. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(1), 61-63.

Fathom

mzungu wrote: »

Very true, in the attempt to appear as the other gender I can only imagine that the dialogue would comes across as painfully bad!

To what extent do opposite gender authenticity failures explain why male novel authors appeal to male readerships, and female authors to females, and not their gender opposites? For example, male authors may in like manner fail in the suspension of disbelief (Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1817) with females, and females with males.

mzungu

Fathom wrote: »

To what extent do opposite gender authenticity failures explain why male novel authors appeal to male readerships, and female authors to females, and not their gender opposites? For example, male authors may in like manner fail in the suspension of disbelief (Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1817) with females, and females with males.

I don't think there is anything in males failing to suspend disbelief in books written by female authors. For example, The Handmaid's Tale is up on Number 4 on the Amazon book charts and has no problem capturing the readers imagination. What I do think is happening is that it is taking a while for things to come around after having only male authors and thus male perspectives in novels for centuries. Change is happening, albeit slowly.

Fathom

mzungu wrote: »

I don't think there is anything in males failing to suspend disbelief in books written by female authors. For example, The Handmaid's Tale is up on Number 4 on the Amazon book charts and has no problem capturing the readers imagination. What I do think is happening is that it is taking a while for things to come around after having only male authors and thus male perspectives in novels for centuries. Change is happening, albeit slowly.

Times may be changing mzungu to "postgenderism." J.K. Rowling (Joanne) was obviously successful with Harry Potter. She suspected male gender bias in detective novels. Used pen name Robert Galbraith to write her successful crime series.