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Transhumanism, Feminisim, and Vocaloids.
14 years ago
General
This started me thinking...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTXO7KGHtjI&feature=youtube_gdata_player
On rare occasions my thoughts on feminism and transhumanism tend to collide. Anime ,like porn, does a good job making the standard for beauty extremely high, but now its replacing actual Japanese pop stars. Here we have a Singer that can be anything the imagination desires, as short or as slender or as child-like as the demographic wants. My knee-jerk reaction here is to say 'This is being unfair to real people', but then my inner transhumanist points out where this desire and its popularity comes from.
I think it is sad when people try to widdle acceptable aesthetics down to a trend, especially when that trend is nearly impossible to achieve, but on the other hand I hate it when people look down on others trying to fit those aesthetics. For me, being a transhumanist means seeking out control of ones own body. However a person wants to alter themselves (assuming it isn't due to a pathological disorder) I think they have a right to it. Japanese fans love the Vocaloids because she is the closest they have come to a dream of their own aesthetics, an image of the world they personally hold dear. Whatever it may be, it is seemingly impossible standards like these that propel us forward.
I dream of a day I can choose to be the anthropomorphic cat In my avatar (updates pending). Do I think all the world would fall in love with me?, of course not. I'm not looking for acceptance from others, only hope for tolerance. Of course it is impossible now and perhaps forever, I know the reality behind these things and do my best to make due with what I have, but l have a right to my own yearnings despite their impossible nature. Maybe I can never get where I want, it only fuels my passions and hopes.
Even with my yearning to be something impossible I am faced with the need for painful pragmatic understanding. I think it is here, the lack of practical thought, that the problem takes root. People torchure themselves and demean others when expectations can't be met. Girls wanting to be impossibility thin kill themselves every day with insane diets and anorexia, for example. Dreaming isn't the problem, forcing it into reality can be. We shouldn't blame a bit of escapist fiction, porn, or even a holographic pop star for the cruel things we do, but the impatience for our dreams cause stupid decisions. So you'll have to hold forever a desire, welcome to the real world. Instead of crying, how about trying to find the science needed to safely alter the body or at least support those with the potential. The Right brothers didn't resolve their dream of flight by straping wings to their arms, they built a fucking plane.
So one day the vocaloid may be a solid android, maybe it will be A ghost in the shell. Don't knock the dream, its how we learn to fly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTXO7KGHtjI&feature=youtube_gdata_player
On rare occasions my thoughts on feminism and transhumanism tend to collide. Anime ,like porn, does a good job making the standard for beauty extremely high, but now its replacing actual Japanese pop stars. Here we have a Singer that can be anything the imagination desires, as short or as slender or as child-like as the demographic wants. My knee-jerk reaction here is to say 'This is being unfair to real people', but then my inner transhumanist points out where this desire and its popularity comes from.
I think it is sad when people try to widdle acceptable aesthetics down to a trend, especially when that trend is nearly impossible to achieve, but on the other hand I hate it when people look down on others trying to fit those aesthetics. For me, being a transhumanist means seeking out control of ones own body. However a person wants to alter themselves (assuming it isn't due to a pathological disorder) I think they have a right to it. Japanese fans love the Vocaloids because she is the closest they have come to a dream of their own aesthetics, an image of the world they personally hold dear. Whatever it may be, it is seemingly impossible standards like these that propel us forward.
I dream of a day I can choose to be the anthropomorphic cat In my avatar (updates pending). Do I think all the world would fall in love with me?, of course not. I'm not looking for acceptance from others, only hope for tolerance. Of course it is impossible now and perhaps forever, I know the reality behind these things and do my best to make due with what I have, but l have a right to my own yearnings despite their impossible nature. Maybe I can never get where I want, it only fuels my passions and hopes.
Even with my yearning to be something impossible I am faced with the need for painful pragmatic understanding. I think it is here, the lack of practical thought, that the problem takes root. People torchure themselves and demean others when expectations can't be met. Girls wanting to be impossibility thin kill themselves every day with insane diets and anorexia, for example. Dreaming isn't the problem, forcing it into reality can be. We shouldn't blame a bit of escapist fiction, porn, or even a holographic pop star for the cruel things we do, but the impatience for our dreams cause stupid decisions. So you'll have to hold forever a desire, welcome to the real world. Instead of crying, how about trying to find the science needed to safely alter the body or at least support those with the potential. The Right brothers didn't resolve their dream of flight by straping wings to their arms, they built a fucking plane.
So one day the vocaloid may be a solid android, maybe it will be A ghost in the shell. Don't knock the dream, its how we learn to fly.
By the way, have you ever tried to make an 'anime style' face in a game like Saints Row, or Oblivion. Unless you can completely destroy the skull and rebuild the entire head from scratch, anime features are HIDEOUS on 'real' faces. People just need to learn how to separate reality from fantasy. Fantasy is wonderful, but it's often so impractical to make real that it would turn dreams into nightmares.