In the “Cyborg Manifesto” by Donna Haraway, the author speaks of a world where individuals do not have to worry about gender conformity in society. The essay proposes that in a more ideal world, gender should be a construct that is viewed as fluid and not something that is a deciding factor of self-identification. This is a key concept of post-humanism. Janelle Monae explores this theme of non-conformity (and post-humanism) within her album “Dirty Computer”. The second song on the album, “Crazy, Classic, Life” talks about wanting to break the rules and be free from the norms of life. One of example of this is seen in the second verse of the song, “I don’t need a diamond ring / I don’t wanna waste my youth / I don’t wanna live on my knees / I just have to tell the truth.” This section of the song is about the want to not follow the societal norms of marriage. It is expected of people to get married in their twenties and start families, but Janelle Monae expresses that she desires something else for herself. She goes on by saying that she does not want to live a submissive life, further driving the point of wanting to be her own individual instead of what society wants for her be. Monae’s expression of wanting to be her own person and not conform to what is expected directly relates to the ideal world that Donna Haraway wrote about. When Haraway wrote her essay in 1985, she wanted to break the mold for how society viewed woman and how this would be possible by removing the preconceived notions of what this identification means and looks like. Janelle Monae’s album (released in 2018) contains a more broad take on these same themes and additionally moves beyond gender non-conformity exclusively and more into a post-humanist view that relates to the entire identity of the person.
Breaking the Mold
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