Has anyone seen the show Teen Titans before? Amazing show by the way. But Victor Stone was just an ordinary human boy who excelled at football, and has a pretty neglectful father. Always hell bent on research, his father was never really there to support Victor in his achievements. Then one day Victor got into a fatal accident and his father tried to save the remnants of his body by fusing his remaining parts with machines. Simply put, after the augmentations Victor began to live strictly in the shadows with huge hoodies on because he was embarrassed of what he was or how people would react to him until the Teen Titans found him. (I really tried to find a good video on the backstory of Cyborg, but I could not find anything so instead please enjoy this clip from Iron Man) https://youtu.be/-zya4vJ-kQE?si=FU99o8O7etvV8Soa
But are Cyborgs really that scary? Haraway would say that augmentations are on a spectrum and the boundary lines between human and machines are already blurry. So in a way, Haraway would be calling you a hypocrite if you oppressed someone just on the basis that they are cybernetic. With our rapidly growing medical technology what is the difference between cyborgs and humans? Humans get teeth implants, pacemaker implants, and even arm/leg implants, and yet we still envision cyborgs as the danger to society. I think that this is perfectly shown in The ArchAndroid’s Many Moons because the song is about self realization and identities. Cindy Mayweather, an android, is able to have multiple personalities and on a spectrum just like humans. Nothing is ever white or black and I think that Haraway’s stance on her Cyborg Manifesto can also be put into practice on how we treat others. If nothing is every white or black, then that means every aspect of our lives in on a wavelike spectrum; so who are we to belittle or ostracize someone just because they present themselves in a different wavelength than ourselves.
In the album, Cindy Mayweather is a beacon of hope for people who are still fighting the battle of injustice today. To the “other” groups who have been put down and abused just because society cannot handle such brilliance. Haraway also rejects rigid views of gender and sex identities as well, so the album can help to uplift anybody from any group no matter what race, gender, class, or sex.
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