Author: Taylor L.

Haraway’s essay “Cyborg Manifesto” introduces a vision of a post-gender world where identity is fluid. Fluid identity in the essay encourages the fluidity between gender and humans/machines. Similarly, Janelle Monáes’s album Dirty Computer discusses ideas of fluid identity. Monáe explores how fluidity across gender, race, and sexuality can be both a form of resistance as well as a target for oppression. Haraway’s essay is set in a post-human and post-gender society while Dirty Computer is set in a dystopian society where non-conforming individuals are oppressed. Specifically, gender and sexuality are highlighted throughout the album. While Haraway doesn’t pose those two concepts as central themes, they discuss cyborg resistance in which the oppressed groups must defy social norms to be liberated. Both works emphasize that liberation comes through challenging boundaries and societal norms. 

In her album Monáe created characters called “ dirty computers” that represent individuals who defy societal norms whether it be race,gender,or sexuality. These characters must resist their oppressor to keep their unique differences. In contrast, Haraway depicts a world where the boundaries of those intersectionalities are already being challenged.Both the album and the essay introduce visions of cyborg resistance that encourage identity fluidity.These multifaceted works illustrate how resistance is how you battle oppression. The marginalized groups would remain marginalized without resistance and would therefore perpetuate dystopian societies.Although these works have different settings and character types,they have overlapping themes.

Given that Monáe is an African American queer artist, this album is probably a representation of her story. Sexuality is and has always been a debate that puts non-conforming people in a group that subjects them to oppression. African Americans are also historically marginalized and oppressed. Monáe used this album to express her personal struggles in a way that includes African Americans and queer people in the cyberpunk genre.

The novel Neuromancer by William Gibson and the film BladeRunner illustrate the essence of the cyberpunk genre. The cities in both of these works of art can be characterized as sprawling with neon lights, decaying environments, and melancholic atmospheres. In terms of high-tech elements in the cities, we will find digital screens all around as well as an overwhelming amount of machinery. While neon lights are prominent in the cities, there is still a lot of darkness. To really tie in the dystopian “vibe”, the creators of these works also incorporated low-life elements such as sad music, poor lighting, and rain that perpetuate a sense of despair around the cities. In addition, they both include multicultural influences in their cityscapes. It makes sense that different cultures are included because big cities are typically extremely diverse. With so much movement and technology, cultures become intertwined.

Although both works have many similarities within their settings, there are still a few differences to note. First and foremost, Neuromancer is set in cities called Chiba City and Night City and BladeRunner is set in a futuristic Los Angeles. This is important because we have an image of what Los Angeles looks like as a point of reference but not of the other cities because they’re made up. BladeRunner focuses more on the aspect of skyscrapers and the separation between the wealthy and the oppressed replicants while Neuromancer emphasizes a more functional, fragmented, urban environment. Neuromancer also has the element of “Cyberspace” that BladeRunner does not.

In conclusion, both of these works did a great job of portraying dystopias through the settings. When I think of dystopian cities I think of dark, depressing, and cold environments. The technology aspect of the cities also plays a huge role in isolation which contributes to the dystopia. The elements of the cyberpunk genre are displayed perfectly and concisely.