ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the philosophy of technology, psychoanalytic thought, and feminist theory to outline ways of 'dehomogenising' some of these concepts of technology. The slogan is aligned with feminist grass-roots and official efforts to break down gendered occupational segregation by encouraging women to train in non-traditional areas, such as mechanical and technical trades. The tendency to generalise from a particular technology to fields of technical practice or to technology in general, does not arise merely as an error of thinking, but is in a sense 'built in' to technologies themselves. The possibilities for feminist empowerment in this rather scary but also enticing technological configuration are explored by the United States (US) feminist theorist Donna Haraway in an influential essay commonly known as 'The Cyborg Manifesto'. Some commonly recognised forms of cyborg technics appear at the limits of embodiment, where the body/tool distinction breaks down. Cyborg phenomena are also found at the limits of hermeneutic relations.
