The Techno–Barbie Speaks Back: Experiments with Gendered Hormones

Tools

Lim, Bryan; Christianson, Adam; Nicholls, Emily Jay; Aldridge, Alexandra and Dymock, Alex. 2023. The Techno–Barbie Speaks Back: Experiments with Gendered Hormones. Paragraph: The Journal of Modern Critical Theory, 46(1), pp. 30-45. ISSN 0264-8334 [Article]

Preview

Text
Techno-Barbie (Clean).pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial.
Download (215kB) | Preview

Official URL: https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/para...

Abstract or Description

In Testo Junkie, Preciado briefly introduces the figure of the ‘techno-Barbie’. Contrasted with his own Testogel-fuelled pornographic experiments, the possibilities of oestrogen or progesterone seem somewhat uncharitably foreclosed upon. Though Preciado draws our attention to the gendered politics of chemical enhancement and hormonal justice, it begs the question: where do we draw the line between experimentation and chemical domination? We engage with the figure of the techno-Barbie to explore our own experiments with hormones and gendered agency in the boundaries of advanced biocapitalism. Drawing on a range of allied texts, we explore the ambivalences of our own hormonal experimentation. What kinds of hormonal experiments are allowed to be cast as such? In response to this all-encompassing theory of domination, we ask: how might the techno-Barbie speak back?

Item Type:

Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.3366/para.2023.0416