Cyborg embodied MachiNes

There are several consequences to taking seriously the imagery of cyborgs as other than our enemies. Our bodies, ourselves; bodies are maps of power and identity. Cyborgs are no exception. A cyborg body is not innocent; it was not born in a garden; it does not seek unitary identity and so generate antagonistic dualisms without end (or until the world ends); it takes irony for granted. One is too few, and two is only one possibility. Intense pleasure in skill, machine skill, ceases to be a sin, but an aspect of embodiment. The machine is not an it to be animated, worshipped, and dominated. The machine is us, our processes, an aspect of our embodiment. We can be responsible for machines; they do not dominate or threaten us. We are responsible for boundaries; we are they. Up till now (once upon a time), female embodiment seemed to be given, organic, necessary; and female embodiment seemed to mean skill in mothering and its metaphoric extensions. Only by being out of place could we take intense pleasure in machines, and then with excuses that this was organic activity after all, appropriate to females. Cyborgs might consider more seriously the partial, fluid, sometimes aspect of sex and sexual embodiment. Gender might not be global identity after all, even if it has profound historical breadth and depth. [Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. Routledge, 1991

Within my second life explorations to date, I continue to find myself feeling out of place---I find the more I experience Second Life, the less I believe that woman as cyborg is free to experience the fluidity of gender. I was in Barcelona and discussion around the park seemed to center around sexual relations. In this screen shot you can see a conversation people were having about how men are always initiators of sex. Second Life may allow me to play a man avatar or be a dinosaur, but each "choice" of avatar I designate comes with a set of norms. If one intentionally abandons such norms there will be punishment from other members of the community. As a fat avatar I was made fun of. There are multiple horror stories of targeted gendered harassment, or being harassed because you are a "newbie" and you do not pass for a legitimate second life character.

One character was putting cages around female avatars and demanding money, to read more click here.
The issue that originally made me interested in second life was the rape on second life.
When someone joins Second Life at first and is not computer savvy such issues such as being caged, or raped, or harassed happen. People with a higher cyber literacy level have a huge advantage within Second Life. As I play Second Life I find myself nervous that people will make fun of me. I am highly aware of my status as non-computer expert and as a woman. I think soon I need to create another avatar to see if people respond differently to me.