I'll start off by saying I wasn't able to follow completely what this entire book was about. The author is explaining in it how the field of science is being used like a fiction book at times to give us information. She uses examples of how books and movies that involve primates give us a false knowledge about them, and how that is affecting how we view different primates and treat them.
Examples were given about how this has led to our choice to send chimpanzees into space, or to demonize gorillas if a human goes into their controlled habitat in a zoo and ends up getting attacked.
Haraway explains one of the points of her book when she says the main argument is "about an Order, a taxonomic and therefore political order that works by the negotiation of boundaries achieved through ordering differences (12). She was referencing also how humans want to use racial and gender differences to create separations amongst people and other species. It is as if we strive to set ourselves apart from other primates because we don't want to face that we have evolved from them. Haraway also tackles this view with respect to religion, and how creationism has factored into it.
I see how we view visual differences amongst other humans and species as an immediate way to classify them in the hierarchy we create as Haraway discussed. But what happens when this visual identification is not available? Online we are not always able to see the person we are talking to, and most of the time all we see what they have typed out on the screen. I can't help but wonder how much this really effects our ability to identify with the other person. If you take out our ability to judge them at first glance we then get to know them for who they really are, by their thoughts and attitude. By doing this we are bypassing our habit of classifying immediately and I think we're better off because of it.
Haraway may be talking about this in reference to primate species and how we can learn more about them if we take them for who we are, but I believe we can say the exact same thing in respect for other people. The internet and the anonymous interactivity it provides allows us to evolve even further and treat humans equally regardless of their physical traits.
Works Cited
Haraway, Donna. "Primate Visions: Gender, Race, and Nature in the World of Modern Science." American Historical Review 96.3 (1991): 1-15. EBSCOhost. Local University Library Service, Washington State University Lib. 3 Feb 2010 http://ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu:2060/scripts/wsuall.pl?url=http://ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu:2056/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9110140255&site=ehost-live
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I don't know if the judging part is really taking out of the equation, we have a way to do it even in cyberspace, we judge someone's grammar or speak style and we form images of what they look like and what their personalities must be, and all this just based on their keystrokes.
ReplyDeleteI was confused at first as you were talking about a book, and I thought this was an article -- sure enough, the citation is for an article. Thank you for citing properly! Only a few people did. As for the parts of the essay you pulled out, described, and commented upon, you did a good job.
ReplyDeleteOur society puts people into categories all that time because it is easier. We like things simple and with these categories it's like a shortcut.
ReplyDeleteI took a class where we talked about this (in regards to psychology). One of the first questions a new parent is asked is "is the baby a boy or a girl?" From that class discussion I learned that we even talk to baby boys and girls differently.
Like you said, it is out of habit.
I like what you wrote. I agree with Laura. As much as I may not want to admit it, I'm guilty of judging people based on their abilities online, sometimes even more so than I would if I were to meet them in person.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I don't think we as humans will ever stop judging people for one reason or another...