Kabootar

Posthumanism is the concept of an accelerated evolution and re-evaluation of how we perceive bodies beyond the physical constraints of current humans. Posthumanism, as it pertains to queerness, allows for individuals to experience emancipation by virtue of existing beyond the gender binary, in the slash between human/non-human. This thesis explores the possibilities of a posthuman queer utopia that is focused on joy and desire, by analyzing science fiction narratives and making use of postcolonialism and queer theory.

I aim to present a more hopeful response to the particularly dystopian cyberpunk media landscape available, challenging current conversations

around the technological Anthropocene.

by virtue of existing beyond the gender binary, in the slash between human/non-human. This thesis explores the possibilities of a posthuman queer utopia that is focused on joy and desire, by analyzing science fiction narratives and making

use of postcolonialism and queer theory. I aim to present a more hopeful response to the particularly dystopian cyberpunk media landscape available, challenging current conversations around the technological Anthropocene.

Posthumanism is the concept of an accelerated evolution and
re-evaluation of how we perceive bodies beyond the physical constraints of current humans. Posthumanism, as it pertains to queerness, allows for individuals to experience emancipation by virtue of existing beyond the gender binary, in the slash between human/non-human. This thesis explores the possibilities of a posthuman queer utopia that is focused on joy and desire, by analyzing science fiction narratives and making use of postcolonialism and queer theory. I aim to present a more hopeful response to the particularly dystopian cyberpunk media landscape available, challenging current conversations around the technological Anthropocene.

arrival (2016)

1.the roast of western tech utopianism

In mainstream cyberpunk media, fictional cyborgs are often coded in typically masculine or feminine ways. In Alex Garland’s 2014 science fiction film

Ex Machina, the character of an advanced artificial intelligence named Ava acts as an extension of the fantasies of her creators, framed as an object of male desire, tied to the physical appearance of a young and conventionally attractive white woman inescapable from objectification despite her posthuman form. As opposed to the anthro-pomorphic cyborg, depictions of aliens in media tend to be more gender ambiguous. In Denis Villeneuve’s 2016 science fiction drama Arrival,

the alien visitors or ‘heptapods’ from the future have a more subversive physical form.

1.the roast of western tech utopianism

tied to the physical appearance of a young and conventionally attractive white woman inescapable from objectification despite her posthuman form.

1.the roast of western

tech utopianism

In mainstream cyberpunk media, fictional cyborgs are often coded in typically masculine or feminine ways. In Alex Garland’s 2014 science fiction film Ex Machina, the character of an advanced artificial intelligence named Ava acts as an extension of the fantasies of her creators, framed as an object of male desire, tied to the physical appearance of a young and conventionally attractive white woman inescapable from objectification despite her posthuman form.

Does the white concept of a cyborg uphold the very categories it aims to dismantle?

of the cyberpunk subgenre with a more feminist utopian perspective in which we may embrace humanity’s kinship with nature and machines. The cyborg in this future would resist any kind of clear identification by being in a perpetual

state of changing or evolving.

Does the white concept of a cyborg uphold the very categories it aims to dismantle? A Cyborg Manifesto by Donna Haraway (1991) - essential reading in discussions of techno-feminism and transhumanism - advocates for a posthuman society beyond the boundaries of man and woman or human and machine. Haraway discusses new ways to confront globalised capitalist patriarchy through the cyborg form, comparing the scientific rationality and violence of the western, masculine and apocalyptic side of the cyberpunk subgenre with a more feminist utopian perspective in which we may embrace humanity’s kinship with nature and machines. The cyborg in this future would resist any kind of clear identification by being in a perpetual state of changing or evolving.

Does the white concept of a cyborg uphold the very categories it aims to dismantle?

A Cyborg Manifesto by Donna Haraway (1991) - essential reading in discussions of techno-feminism and transhumanism - advocates for a posthuman society beyond the boundaries of man and woman or human and machine. Haraway discusses new ways to confront capitalist patriarchy through the cyborg form, comparing the scientific rationality and violence of the western, masculine and apocalyptic side of the cyberpunk subgenre with a more feminist utopian perspective in which we may embrace humanity’s kinship with nature and machines. The cyborg in this future would resist any kind of clear identification by being in a perpetual state of changing or evolving.

However, A Cyborg Manifesto fails to question the universality of cyborgs

to comes from a privileged position of assuming all communities would benefit from shedding their racial or ethnic identifiers as a means to challenge western hegemonies. A world entirely

rid of race and gender would imply an erasure of centuries of historical oppression and persistent systemic disparities against certain cultures

and communities. Since there is no singular universally shared history,

it is difficult to propose a universal emancipatory experience.

However, A Cyborg Manifesto fails to question the universality of cyborgs and consider how much space cyborg technology really holds for disabled bodies, people of colour or queer people. A problem arises in Haraway’s imagining of a genderless future as it also extends to the idea of a world without race – a flattening of different categories of identity - which seems to comes from a privileged position of assuming all communities would benefit from shedding their racial or ethnic identifiers as a means to challenge western hegemonies. A world entirely rid of race and gender would imply an erasure of centuries of historical oppression and persistent systemic disparities against certain cultures and communities. Since there is no singular universally shared history, it is difficult to propose a universal emancipatory experience.

However, A Cyborg Manifesto fails to question the universality of cyborgs

and consider how much space cyborg technology really holds for disabled bodies, people of colour or queer people. A problem arises in Haraway’s imagining of a genderless future as it also extends to the idea of a world without race – a flattening of different categories of identity - which seems to comes from a privileged position of assuming all communities would benefit from shedding their racial or ethnic identifiers as a means to challenge western hegemonies. A world entirely

rid of race and gender would imply an erasure of centuries of historical oppression and persistent systemic disparities against certain cultures

and communities. Since there is no singular universally shared history,

it is difficult to propose a universal emancipatory experience.

As the modern gender binary is a western system, developed

and enforced through colonialism, it is imperative to explore postcolonial viewpoints to broaden the concept of a post-gender cyborg, recognizing the implications of transhumanism for subaltern communities, their participation in posthuman discourse and access to new innovations in a hypothetical future. Technological advancements, instead of shifting away from essentialized constructs of gender, may have further cemented existing western power structures that privilege certain bodies over others. In our present reality under the reign of western tech monopolies with technology predominantly built and controlled by men, lives are tracked and commodified through data and what once began as an information superhighway is now riddled with censorship, advertisements and manipulative algorithms, making it challenging to conceive of a positive technological future over a more obvious dystopian one.

As the modern gender binary is a western system, developed and enforced through colonialism, it is imperative to explore postcolonial viewpoints to broaden the concept of a post-gender cyborg, recognizing the implications of transhumanism for subaltern communities, their participation in posthuman discourse and access

to new innovations in a hypothetical future. Technological advancements, instead of shifting away from essentialized constructs of gender, may have further cemented existing western power structures

that privilege certain bodies over others. In our present

reality under the reign of western tech monopolies with technology predominantly built and controlled by men, lives are tracked and commodified through data and

what once began as an information superhighway is

now riddled with censorship, advertisements and manipulative algorithms, making it challenging to conceive of a positive technological future over a

more obvious dystopian one.

As the modern gender binary is a western system, developed and enforced through colonialism, it is imperative to explore postcolonial viewpoints to broaden the concept

of a post-gender cyborg, recognizing the implications of transhumanism

for subaltern communities, their participation in posthuman discourse and access to new innovations in a hypothetical future. Technological advancements, instead of shifting away from essentialized constructs

of gender, may have further cemented existing western power structures that privilege certain bodies over others. In our present reality under the reign of western tech monopolies with technology predominantly built and controlled by men, lives are tracked and commodified through data and what once began as an information superhighway is now riddled with censorship, advertisements and manipulative algorithms, making it challenging to conceive of a positive technological future over a more obvious dystopian one.

ex-machina (2014)

blade runner 2049 (2017)

famously pro-natal techbro

kick ii album cover - arca (2021)

kick ii - arca (2021)

As opposed to the anthropomorphic cyborg, depictions of aliens in media tend to be more gender ambiguous. In Denis Villeneuve’s 2016 science fiction drama Arrival, the alien visitors or ‘heptapods’ from the future have a more subversive physical form.

As opposed to the anthropomorphic cyborg, depictions

of aliens in media tend to be more gender ambiguous.

In Denis Villeneuve’s 2016 science fiction drama Arrival,

the alien visitors or ‘heptapods’ from the future have

a more subversive physical form.

There have also been many depictions (or speculations) of queer intimacy in miniature paintings from the Mughal Indian period such as the intricate images below portraying a tenderness between members of the royal Mughal court. Historians will say they were really good friends, I'd like to think otherwise.

I'd like to think otherwise.

2.can the subaltern slay?

'Race is no more mythical and fictional than gender
- both are powerful fictions.' Lugones, 2007

In contemporary western techno-utopian landscapes, the escapist mode of posthuman thought fails to acknowledge humans as multiethnic and multicultural. Colonized cultures have historically been seen as in need of civilizing (a la “the white man’s burden”) while simultaneously being viewed as incapable of becoming fully human. Would the subaltern be recognized as human in the technological Anthropocene before they can become posthuman? Can colonized communities choose to self-identify in ways that reject western definitions of human or posthuman?

2.can the subaltern slay?

'Race is no more mythical and fictional than gender
- both are powerful fictions.' Lugones, 2007

2.can the subaltern slay?

'Race is no more mythical and fictional than gender - both are powerful fictions.' Lugones, 2007

In contemporary western techno-utopian landscapes, the escapist mode of posthuman thought fails to acknowledging humans as multiethnic and multicultural. Colonized cultures have historically been seen as in need of civilizing (a la “the white man’s burden”) while simultaneously being viewed as incapable of becoming fully human. Would the subaltern be recognized as human in the technological Anthropocene before they can become posthuman?

Can colonized communities choose

to self-identify in ways that reject western definitions of human or posthuman?

To apply a postcolonial perspective to posthuman bodies, I expanded my research to genderfluidity in South Asian mythology evidenced in historical and ancient art.

Non-western spiritual understandings and interpretations of gender emphasize the impermanence and mutability of physical forms and the disconnection between the identity and the body. One example of a gender ambiguous deity in eastern mythos

is Kuan Yin, a bodhisattva who embodies both masculine and feminine presentations. Originally emerging from India as a masculine figure called Avalokitesvara

Kuan Yin’s depiction was eventually integrated with the feminine bodhisattva Tara as Buddhism spread to Tibet and China around the first century CE. However, to conclude that Kuan Yin transitioned from

a “male” form to a “female” one would be

an oversimplification of their ever-shifting state, as they continue to be represented as both/neither in Buddhist art.

To apply a postcolonial perspective

to posthuman bodies, I expanded my research to genderfluidity in South Asian mythology evidenced in historical and ancient art. Non-western spiritual understandings and interpretations of gender emphasize the impermanence and mutability of physical forms and the disconnection between the identity and the body. One example of a gender ambiguous deity in eastern mythos is Kuan Yin,

a bodhisattva who embodies both masculine and feminine presentations.

One example of a gender ambiguous deity in eastern mythos is Kuan Yin, a bodhisattva who embodies both masculine and feminine presentations. Originally emerging from India as a masculine figure called Avalokitesvara, Kuan Yin’s depiction was eventually integrated with the feminine bodhisattva Tara as Buddhism spread to Tibet and China around the first century CE. However, to conclude that Kuan Yin transitioned from a “male” form to a “female” one would be an oversimplification of their ever-shifting state, as they continue to be represented as both/neither in Buddhist art.

Originally emerging from India as a masculine figure called Avalokitesvara, Kuan Yin’s depiction was eventually integrated with the feminine bodhisattva Tara as Buddhism spread to Tibet and China around the first century CE. However, to conclude that Kuan Yin transitioned from a “male” form to a “female” one would be an oversimplification of their ever-shifting state, as they continue to be represented as both/neither in Buddhist art.

Guanyin wood carving, China (9th century CE)

It may be productive to expand our concept of trans identity with examples from mythology that transcend past the male/female dichotomy by rising above the material particularities of gender presentation in hopes to attain something freer, more abstract.

To the left is Nepalese artwork depicting the Hindu god Vishnu in his combined form with his consort Laksmi. Other recurring examples in mythology include Ilā, an androgyne who alternates between male and female forms every month and Ardhanarishvara - the half-man, half-woman manifestation of Shiva (below).

The image above is Nepalese artwork depicting the Hindu god Vishnu in his combined form with his consort Laksmi. Other recurring examples in mythology include Ilā, an androgyne who alternates between male and female forms every month and Ardhanarishvara - the half-man, half-woman manifestation of Shiva (below).

Two ladies sharing a tender moment, Govardhan (1615-1620)

Two ladies sharing a tender moment,
Govardhan (1615-1620)

Jahangir welcoming Shah Abbas, Abul-Hasan, (1618)

Jahangir welcoming Shah Abbas,
Abul-Hasan, (1618)

‘Hermaphrodite’ Shiva in a relief in the cave of Elephanta, India (6th century CE)

‘Hermaphrodite’ Shiva in a relief,
Elephanta caves, India (8th century CE)

Tapestry depicting Kuan yin,

Japan (1994)

Tapestry depicting Kuan yin

Japan (1994)

Kuan yin wood carving,

China (9th century CE)

Laksmi-Narayana, Nepal (18th century CE)

in the subordination of other women and of men of colour). Coloniality has defined the world’s population in binaries of

modern/traditional, civilized/primitive, occident/orient – wherein

the colonised identity is often the inverse or negative image of the coloniser. The act of remembering painful histories over a utopian expulsion of the same can allow for a better understanding of the persisting impacts of colonialism that continue to shape our definitions of power, gender, race and sexuality.

In Heterosexualism and the colonial/modern gender system (2007), Maria Lugones details the colonial process of alienating colonized communities from their ideas of gender identity by crafting and imposing a binary gender system, with different arrangements of power in place for colonized men and women compared to their colonizer counterparts (white women in colonial settings engaging in the subordination of other women and of men of colour). Coloniality has defined the world’s population in binaries of modern/traditional, civilized/primitive, occident/orient – wherein the colonised identity is often the inverse or negative image of the coloniser. The act of remembering painful histories over a utopian expulsion of the same can

allow for a better understanding of the persisting impacts of colonialism that continue to shape our definitions of power, gender, race and sexuality.

In Heterosexualism and the colonial/modern gender system (2007), Maria Lugones details the colonial process of alienating colonized communities from their ideas of gender identity by crafting and imposing a binary gender system, with different arrangements of power in place for colonized men and women compared to their colonizer counterparts (white women in colonial settings engaging in the subordination of other women and of men of colour). Coloniality has defined the world’s population in binaries of modern/ traditional, civilized/primitive, occident/orient – wherein the colonised identity is often the inverse or negative image of the coloniser. The act of remembering painful histories over a utopian expulsion of the same can allow for a better understanding of the persisting impacts of colonialism that continue to shape our definitions of power, gender, race and sexuality.

To apply a postcolonial perspective

to posthuman bodies, I expanded my research to genderfluidity in South Asian mythology evidenced in historical and ancient art. Non-

western spiritual understandings and interpretations of gender emphasize the impermanence and mutability of physical forms and the disconnection between the identity and the body.

Queer temporality ~ In a world organized around the cishet, the queer subject deviates from the straight line to generate an alternative life course. Compared to the socially constructed linear time that interlinks heterosexuality and capitalism and imagines one's future in terms of reaching certain points through life, non-linear queer time is

not defined by the conventions of family, careers, and reproduction.

careers, and reproduction.

[a utopia of my own ^]

full essay here if ur bored

José Esteban Muñoz echoes this concern of queerness crystallizing into a fixed, normalized identity in Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity (2009). Muñoz addresses queer utopianism with optimistic attempts at bringing the future into our conceptual grasp through alternative ways of seeing and being to eventually create a new world. In stating that ‘Queerness is not yet here’, Muñoz implies that the essence of queerness lies in its constant state of evolving, resisting the application of a linear temporality towards an end goal

of winning tolerance or inclusion. Queerness connotes a human that does not yet exist, disrupting established ideas of what humans are and speculating the potential for how we can evolve.

grasp through alternative ways of seeing and being to eventually create a new world. In stating that ‘Queerness is not yet here’, Muñoz implies that the essence of queerness lies in its constant state of evolving, resisting the application of a linear temporality towards an end goal of winning tolerance or inclusion. Queerness connotes a human that does not yet exist, disrupting established ideas of what humans are and speculating the potential for how we can evolve.

While defending the utopian urge in picturing futures, it is important to caution against the abstract escapism of a naïve utopia that lacks historical consciousness such as those proposed by modern western techno-utopianists. The utopian method works at the level of affect as well as intellect – the process of building and communicating a utopia involves desires and feelings just as much as it does knowledge, and queerness can be a structured mode of desiring through which we can feel and build futures.

The utopian method works at the level of affect as well as intellect – the process of building and communicating a utopia involves desires and feelings just as much as it does knowledge, and queerness can be a structured mode of desiring through which we can feel and build futures.

Just as there is no singular way to be queer, there is no one way to

in mind, Sara Ahmed’s conceptualization of “queer” can work as an umbrella term that connects different non-conforming bodies. Queerness acts as a foundation for concrete hope and a disruption

of binaries and linear temporality. Uniting queer futurity with science fiction in art and media can be a means to explore the potential for modification and self-creation through the posthuman body that is constantly evolving. Ultimately, queerness and posthumanism have

a shared transformative nature and an inclination to a perpetual movement towards what might be.

Just as there is no singular way to be queer, there is no one way to be posthuman. This essay acknowledges the limits of attaching the posthuman onto a liberal humanist idea of the self in which human is shorthand for white, heterosexual bodies. It is important to recognize the overlap of coloniality, gender and shared historical as well as contemporary experiences of oppression. With these intersections in mind, Sara Ahmed’s conceptualization of “queer” can work as an umbrella term that connects different non-conforming bodies. Queerness acts as a foundation for concrete hope and a disruption of binaries and linear temporality. Uniting queer futurity with science fiction in art and media can be a means to explore the potential for modification and self-creation through the posthuman body that is constantly evolving. Ultimately, queerness and posthumanism have a shared transformative nature and an inclination to a perpetual movement towards what might be.

Just as there is no singular way to be queer, there is no one way to

be posthuman. This essay acknowledges the limits of attaching the posthuman onto a liberal humanist idea of the self in which human is shorthand for white, heterosexual bodies. It is important to recognize the overlap of coloniality, gender and shared historical as well as contemporary experiences of oppression. With these intersections in mind, Sara Ahmed’s conceptualization of “queer” can work as an umbrella term that connects different non-conforming bodies. Queerness acts as a foundation for concrete hope and a disruption of binaries and linear temporality. Uniting queer futurity with science fiction in art and media can be a means to explore the potential for modification and self-creation through the posthuman body that

is constantly evolving. Ultimately, queerness and posthumanism have

a shared transformative nature and an inclination to a perpetual movement towards what might be.

3.queerness is not yet here

Sara Ahmed’s Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others (2006) studies spatial arrangements of social structures and the potential for queerness to disrupt or reorder the world. Using the etymology of “queer” as a spatial term rooted in the Indo-European word meaning twisted or bent, Ahmed contrasts the nature of queerness with the normative “straight”. Beyond its contemporary use of defining gender or sexual orientation, the term queer can be applied to any non-normative body and the twisted perspective

with which they must navigate the world.

3.queerness is not yet here

Shifting focus from sexual orientation to the “orient” in orientalism, Ahmed discusses how racism and colonialism have made

the world ready for certain bodies. Like straightness, whiteness is assumed a neutral identity that

uses its “non-position” to consume, commodify or appropriate the racial other. Applying orientation to the context of man-made geography,

the west becomes the default starting point from which the world unfolds towards the “other side”

or towards the east.

Shifting focus from sexual orientation to the “orient” in orientalism, Ahmed discusses how racism and colonialism have made the world ready for certain bodies. Like straightness, whiteness is assumed a neutral identity that

uses its “non-position” to consume, commodify or appropriate the racial other. Applying orientation to the context of man-made geography, the west becomes the default starting point from which the world unfolds towards the “other side” or towards the east.

Shifting focus from sexual orientation to the “orient” in orientalism, Ahmed discusses how racism and colonialism have made the world ready for certain bodies. Like straightness, whitenes

is assumed a neutral identity that

uses its “non-position” to consume, commodify or appropriate the racial other. Applying orientation to the context of man-made geography,

the west becomes the default starting point from which the world unfolds towards the “other side”

or towards the east.

Queer and colonized bodies that fail to cohere have different points of access to the spaces they inhabit and therefore, different modes of disorientation. Ahmed points out a newly forming "homonormativity" and challenges the politics of assimilation into a normative world, where a queer body may attempt to follow the straight line to uphold certain institutions such as marriage and child rearing. However, it is important to acknowledge the possibility for queer bodies to follow certain lines such as creating a family while deviating from the white heteronormative mapping of the same experience.

as creating a family while deviating from the white heteronormative mapping of the same experience.

and challenges the politics of assimilation into a normative world, where a queer body may attempt to follow the straight line to uphold certain institutions such as marriage and child rearing. However, it is important to acknowledge the possibility for queer bodies to follow certain lines such as creating a

family while deviating from the

white heteronormative mapping

of the same experience.