Processed Lives: Gender and Technology in Everyday Life

Processed Lives focuses on technology's interaction with the social concept of gender. Much of the book deals with the technology of cyberspace--not surprising, given the subtitle's pointed reference to everyday life, which for most people concerned with cyber matters means something to do with the Internet.

For example, the editors chose Nina Wakeford's essay on feminist networking and interaction on the World Wide Web, as well as excerpts from videos produced by teenage girls in a gender and technology workshop. Although the emphasis is on online interactions, all forms of technology are fair game. Judith Halberstam's insights into the effects of public bathrooms on gender views will certainly raise eyebrows as it raises questions.

Other essays take on embryonic fertilization, surveillance systems, UFOs and "the new technologies of race." A group calling itself the Barbie Liberation Organization does some home transplant surgery between G.I. Joe and Barbie that defies easy description.

This collection isn't limited to traditional verbal discussions. Included are visual works by several artists, including Ericka Beckman's images from the film Hiatus and Joyan Saunder's and Liss Platt's excerpts from the experimental videotape Brains on Toast--a satirical examination of theories on gender and sexuality. Don't expect a comfortable resolution at the end, either, but it's long past time for people to be asking the essential question in this book: who actually benefits from technology, and why?