Cyborg feminism is the idea that “women are suspended in multiple entanglements that blur the boundaries between nature and technology, where one is always in the process of becoming the other,” which I find interesting because anymore it seems like everyone regardless of gender/identity could be described as floating between nature and technology. However, in specific regard to “Ready Player One” it’s easy to draw a line right to Aech who, in a way, breached that blurred space between the two areas and stepped firmly into technology. At her mother’s behest, and because of her race and sexuality, Aech was more comfortable in OASIS because she was able to create the avatar and persona that would most successfully propel her forward in life and based again on her mother’s experience, make her more accepted by others.
On the other hand, Art3mis though she was female, but was white, was able to create an avatar that closely mirrored what she looked like in the physical world without fear of repercussions based solely on those two bits of information. She was able to straddle the worlds of nature and technology and find success and peace (as much peace as could be had in a basically apocalyptic world) in both. That said, both women used technology to step away from nature to be absolutely who and what they wanted to be in an artificial place; I think in a way since Aech and Art3mis were able to engage in OASIS it was a definitely way to step back from their role and responsibilities as women in a physical world and step into a less complicated place.
After watching the TED talk, “We Are All Cyborgs Now,” I thought the most interesting thing about that was how, towards the end of the video, Case said that our use of the internet is humanizing us even more than we already are because it brings us closer to one another but in the case of “Ready Player One” the internet is de-humanizing in a way; users of OASIS were able to create the perfect “them” by specifically modulating their avatar in looks, speech, etc…and as we all know, everyone on the internet is not honest about who they are. In fact, it can be outright dangerous to be completely honest and open on the internet. I think in a way the internet is advantageous to women because it allows us to mask who we are and may be treated differently on the internet than in the physical world and believe this idea goes back to cyborg feminism and women existing between two worlds.
Jennifer Wenning 