Gender in Science paper

LBS/WGSS 3860. Fall 2016 Gender in Science Farner

1

TERM PAPER Write a 6-8 page paper, typed and double-spaced, on one of the topics below. In your paper, make sure to provide an introduction to the topic, including a brief summary of what you will say about it (usually it is best to write the introduction last since only at that point will you know what conclusions you have arrived at). The topics ask you to engage in various kinds of research, including the analysis of movies and/or texts, and to base your own interpretation and opinion on the result of such research. As such, there are no correct or incorrect answers to the questions raised by the topics suggested. The quality of your paper will to some extent depend on the accuracy and completeness of your analysis of relevant passages of movies and/or texts, on how well you support your views and conclusions by textual and/or other evidence, and, if applicable, on how convincingly you argue against possible alternative interpretations and positions pertaining to the topic you are writing about. For a paper to be excellent, it will also have to include some original contribution from your side and cannot be merely a summary of what others have already written or observed. Such originality can take many forms, such as asking and discussing questions that go beyond what has been said in the classroom or in the literature, bringing a new perspective to a text that has already been explored in other ways, analyzing and discussing a text that has not been subjected to analysis before, drawing new textual comparisons, coming up with new criticisms of theories or suggesting new solutions to theoretical problems, generating new data (for example, in form of surveys) and subjecting such data to analysis and interpretation, etc. Please submit your paper with a cover page that includes your name, course number and section, and the number of the topic you are writing about. This information should appear only on the cover page but not on any of the other pages you submit. For this paper, it is important that you clearly indicate all quotations and that you provide a list of references. This list has to include the sources for all quotations as well as the sources for all the views you mention that are not originally yours, including the readings and movies on the course syllabus. Permissible (but not required) additional sources for this assignment are further secondary scholarly literature, movies, television shows, novels, and news articles. Movies and episodes of television shows that you refer to must be available on DVD or streaming services, such as Netfilx or Amazon. You may also develop your own term paper topic. If you choose to do so, your topic must be approved by me by Thursday, November 17. Term Papers are due in class as hard copy during the final exam and as upload on Moodle on Tuesday, December 6.

1. Metropolis, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien all feature what inventor Rotwang in Metropolis might call “man-machines”. All these human creations exhibit traits that resemble human traits and all of them exhibit traits that associate them with a particular gender. What are these traits and which gender are they associated with? All the “man-machines” are the product of science and technology. To what extent do they reflect long standing prejudices regarding the respective abilities of men and women to engage in science and research? To what extent do they reflect scientific claims regarding natural male and female qualities, such as those proposed by Darwin and by some more recent theories based on Darwin’s theories of natural and sexual selection? To what extent do the representations of “man-machines” in these movies contradict such traditions and scientific claims?

LBS/WGSS 3860. Fall 2016 Gender in Science Farner

2

2. Metropolis, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien all feature scientists or astronauts. To what extent

does their portrayal represent traditional prejudices regarding the abilities of men and women to engage in science and research and control technology? To what extent does their portrayal reflect scientific claims regarding supposedly natural male and female qualities, such as those proposed by Darwin and by some more recent theories based on Darwin’s theories of natural and sexual selection? To what extent do the representations of scientists or astronauts contradict such prejudices and scientific claims? The movies above are listed in chronological order, according to their release dates. In your view, is there an overall discernible tendency towards a less biased and more equal representation of scientists or astronauts in these movies?

3. 2001: A Space Odyssey features a super-computer (HAL 9000) with a male voice that turns

against humans. I Robot (USA, 2004) features a super-computer (V.I.K.I.) with a female voice and a female face as interface that turns against humans. 2001 features an inferior unit of technology, a voice recognition system, with a female voice and interface while I Robot features Sonny, a robot with a male voice who is supposed to receive daily downloads from super- computer V.I.K.I. Do the projections of these gender-specific traits onto technologies of various capacities and importance cancel each other out or is there an overall tendency to associate a technology that has more favorable traits with one gender and a technology with less favorable traits with the other gender? How is David Bowman, the male mission commander in 2001 portrayed in dealing with HAL once HAL oversteps his bounds? How is Dr. Susan Calvin, the female scientist and robopsychologist, portrayed in dealing with Sonny and V.I.K.I., once they overstep their bounds?

4. Alien, directed by Ridley Scott and released in 1979, has a reputation for breaking many stereotypes in the representation of women and gender roles in Hollywood movies. In your view, to what extent is this reputation justified and to what extent does the movie fall back onto prejudicial, traditional forms of representation? How does Prometheus, released in 2012, also directed by Scott and revisiting themes related to Alien, compare to Alien in terms of gender representation? Discuss in detail whether the movie constitutes an advancement in the unbiased and fair representation of gender, whether it indicates stagnation, or whether it amounts to a set back.

5. Compare the representation of sex and gender in Alien, directed by Ridley Scott and released in

1979, and in Gravity, directed by Alfonso Cuarón and released in 2013. To what extent does the portrayal of sexuality and gender in these movies represent or contradict traditional prejudices regarding the abilities of men and women in general? To what extent do the movies reflect or contradict traditional prejudices regarding the ability of men and women to engage in science and research and to control technology? To what extent do the movies reflect scientific claims regarding supposedly natural male and female qualities, such as those proposed by Darwin and by some more recent theories based on Darwin’s theories of natural and sexual selection? To what extent do the representations of scientists or astronauts contradict such prejudices and scientific claims? In your own view, to what extent does the very different representation of sex and gender in these movies reflect the cultural climate of the respective period in which they were made?

6. Interstellar (2014) makes many references to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), including long-

distance space missions, similar technologies, artificial intelligence, visually arresting transcendence of the space-time continuum, the musical score, etc. How do the two movies compare in their representation of gender? How is gender represented in 2001: A Space Odyssey? To what extent does Interstellar continue that representation, how and to what extent does it differ?

LBS/WGSS 3860. Fall 2016 Gender in Science Farner

3

7. Compare the representation of gendered technology in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Ex

Machina (2015). Analyze the relationship in which HAL and AVA stand towards their creators and their interactions with human beings. To what extent do these movies perpetuate traditional gender roles, to what extent do they break them? In Ex Machina, Caleb Smith asks Nathan Bateman regarding AVA, “Why did you give her sexuality?”, and claims that, “an AI [Artificial Intelligence] doesn’t need a gender.” Bateman denies this by suggesting that Smith cannot, “give an example of consciousness at any level, human or animal, that exists without a sexual dimension,” (46 minutes into the movie). Explain the reasons that Smith and Bateman give for their different positions. Whose view about consciousness and the mind is in the Cartesian (Descartes’) tradition, and whose view is in the Darwinian tradition? In your reasoned opinion, who is more convincing, Smith or Bateman, when in comes to the question of whether self- conscious intelligence is necessarily interwoven with sex and gender? Why do you think that the creator of HAL made him male, and why does Bateman makes all his creations female? How would you evaluate the moral status of the actions that HAL and AVA, respectively, ultimately take against their human counterparts?

8. The various movies that we have been watching suggest different aspects that are relevant when

it comes to the identity of a human or quasi-human individual. Metropolis suggests that identity has to do with having a body, 2001 suggests that it has to do with having intelligence or a mind, Gattaca suggests that it has to do with the relation of an individual to her/his genetic predispositions, The Handmaid’s Tale suggests that it has to do with having a past and memories and that, for some, it has to do with being a mother. Which of these suggestions do you find most plausible and why?

9. Some of the predictions regarding future technologies in 2001: A Space Odyssey are remarkably

accurate, but what should we say about the representation of gender in connection with science and space exploration? Does the movie portray the situation as it presented itself in the 1960s (the decade of its release), or does the movie for the most part anticipate the situation around 2001 or at present? What might have been the director’s intentions in including the scene at Space Station 5 in which the American scientist Dr. Floyd encounters a group of four Russian scientists, three of whom are females with Ph.D.s? Does the scene oppose or confirm traditional stereotypes regarding the role of women in science and space exploration? Give the reasons that lead you to your assessment.

Good starting points to research this topic would be:

Foster, Amy: Integrating Women Into the Astronaut Corps: Politics and Logistics at NASA 1972-2004, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011

Rossiter, Margaret: Women Scientists in America. Before Affirmative Action 1940-1972, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995; in particular chapter 13: Governmental “Showcase”?

Weitekamp, Margaret: Right Stuff, Wrong Sex: America’s First Women in Space Program, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004

Wertheim, Margaret: Pythagoras’ Trousers, Random House, 1995; especially the introduction and chapter 10: The Ascent of Mathematical Woman Wertheim, Margaret: Numbers are Male, Said Pythagoras, and the Idea Persists, in: The New York Times, Tuesday, October 3, 2006

LBS/WGSS 3860. Fall 2016 Gender in Science Farner

4

10. The Handmaid’s Tale portrays a society in which all technologies, including reproductive technologies, are entirely controlled by men and applied and withheld in the interest of men, with dire consequences for women. What are some of these consequences? Do you think that the unequal and unjust application and withholding of available or potentially available reproductive technologies according to male interests depicted in the movie is entirely fictional or does it have a basis in social and cultural reality? One possible approach to this topic would be to research to what extent financial, scientific, and

intellectual investments are made into reproductive technologies such as contraceptives and sexual performance enhancing drugs, and to what extent such investments may favor the interests of one gender over the other.

Helpful may be: Belluck, Pam: Scientific Advances on Contraceptives for Men, New York Times, 6/23/2011

Eldrigdge, Laura: What About the Boys? Or, Why is There Still no Pill for Men?, in: In Our Control: The Complete Guide to Contraceptive Choices for Women, New York 2010

Enserink, Martin: Let’s Talk About Sex – and Drugs, in: Science, New Series, Vol. 308, No. 5728, pp. 1578-1580, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2005

Pollack, Andrew: F.D.A. Approves Drug for Low Libido in Women, New York Times, 8/19/2015 Wilson, Duff: Push to Market Pill Stirs Debate on Sexual Desire, New York Times, 6/16/2010

Drug for Sexual Desire Disorder Opposed by Panel, New York Times, 6/18/2010 Orgasm, Inc. (Documentary Film), Director: Liz Canner, USA, 2011 (streams on Netflix)

11. Gattaca portrays a world in which genetic reproductive technologies are applied without any restriction and in which individuals who have not been subjected to such technologies are considered inferior to those who have been subjected to them. As such, the movie portrays a society that believes in a version of genetic determinism, similar to Dawkins’ suggestion that an individual body, “is really a machine blindly programmed by its selfish genes,” (Battle of the Sexes, p. 146). What are some of the traits that Gattaca envisions as easily improvable by genetic engineering? What could be said against the view that, (a) such traits are exclusively genetically determined, and in favor of the view that, (b) even if such traits have a largely biological basis, this does not mean that such a biological basis rigidly determines how such traits find expression in the phenotype of an organism? What does the movie itself suggest about the belief in genetically predetermined traits and the advantages and disadvantages of genetic engineering?

Helpful may be: Lewontin, Richard: The Triple Helix, Harvard University Press, 2000; especially chapter 1: Gene and Organism

Roughgarden, Joan: Genetic Engineering versus Diversity, in: Roughgarden: Evolution’s Rainbow, University of California Press, 2009

Sandel, Michael: The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering, Harvard University Press, 2007 Tooley, Michael: Moral Status of Cloning Humans, in: Humber and Almeder: Human Cloning, Humanities Press, 1998 Zimmer, Carl: Now: The Rest of the Genome, in: The New York Times, 10/11/2008

LBS/WGSS 3860. Fall 2016 Gender in Science Farner

5

12. Gattaca portrays a world in which reproductive technology allows parents to decide the sex of

their offspring. In the movie, the parents given this opportunity opt for a boy. How convincing is the reason that they give for their choice? What are other reasons that may influence their choice? Gattaca is fiction, but is there any evidence that parents in the real world tend towards choosing boys over girls if they have the opportunity? What technologies allow parents to know the sex of their offspring before birth? What are the consequences of a tendency to choose boys over girls? Discuss in detail whether parents should have a choice when it comes to the sex of their children. Helpful may be: Dawkins, Richard: The Selfish Gene, Oxford University Press, 1976, especially chapter 9:

Battle of the Sexes Lechtenberg, Suzie (producer): Misadventures in Baby-Making: A New Freakonomics Radio

Podcast, www.freakonomics.com/2011/10/26/misadventures-in-baby-making-a -new- freakonomics-radio-podcast/

13. In the The Handmaid’s Tale, Kate/Offred consents to participate in a ceremony in which

Commander Fred penetrates her. In Alien, an alien creature attaches itself to Kane’s head without Kane’s consent and impregnates him with its offspring. Also in Alien, Ash, the science officer who turns out to be a robot, attempts to suffocate Ripley by forcing a rolled up magazine down her throat. In your view, are these incidents of rape? Why or why not? In your discussion, consider whether rape is a specifically human trait and to what extent the answer to that question influences the categorization of the three incidences.

Helpful may be: Marks, Jonathan: Human Biodiversity, Aldine Transaction, 1995; chapter 12: Human Traits: Heritage or Habitus?

Roughgarden, Joan: Evolution’s Rainbow, U of California Press, 2009; chapter 9: The Theory of Evolution

14. Explain and discuss the difficulties faced by sex-verification using the cases of the athletes Maria

Patiño and Caster Semenya as examples. What are the various factors that are relevant in determining the sex of a human being, and how conclusive are these factors individually or taken together? Do you think that the male/female dichotomy is misguided when it comes to human sexuality? Why or why not? Do you think that sex is a natural kind or an artificial kind? Why or why not? Do you think that the pressure on male athletes to prove that they are male equals the pressure on female athletes to prove that they are female? If so why, if not, why not? How would you evaluate the recent decision by the International Olympic Committee and the International Association of Athletics Federations to determine the eligibility for women’s competitions in terms of ‘functional testosterone’? How would you evaluate the practice of having separate athletic competitions for men and women?

Helpful may be: Fausto-Sterling: Sexing the Body, Basic Books, 2000; chapter 1: Dueling Dualisms Dreger: Where’s the Rulebook on Sex-Verification?, New York Times, 08/22/09 Kolata: Men, Women and Speed. 2 Words: Got Testosterone?, New York Times, 08/22/08

Dreger: Redefining the Sexes in Unequal Terms, New York Times, 04/24/2011 Jordan-Young & Karkazis: You Say You’re a Woman? That Should Be Enough,

New York Times, 07/17/12 Macur: Fighting for the Body She Was Born With, New York Times, 10/07/2014

Vilan: Gender Testing for Athletes Remains a Tough Call, New York Times, 07/18/12