Abstract

The queer body contains multiple identities which cannot be limited to fixed identity markers and binary opposites. The humanist privileging of the mind has seeped into postmodernist discourses and cybernetic theories which see the body being constructed through discourse and information being separable from embodiment, respectively. This paper will analyse Jeanette Winterson’s novel Frankissstein and Ted Chiang’s novella “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” to understand the role of embodiment in the conceptualization of queer identity. It will argue that Hayles's posthumanist theorization of embodiment in informatics can not only encapsulate the plurality of the queer identity but also draw the focus on the body in queer theorizations. It will also look at the discourses around sex robots to understand the complications of sexual identity, acceptable sexual behavior, and consent.