Introduction

This introduction explores the ways in which some prevalent forms of feminist discourse have failed to break away from binary conceptualisations of male and female, self and other, and general and specific underpinned by essentialist understandings of womanhood and gender. This has meant that some feminisms have tended to imagine men and women as homogenous groups which tend to result in exclusionary feminist politics, partly by placing so much emphasis on the other and the assumed caregiving capacity of women to be selfless. This tendency has created inhospitable political environments for women who do not fit into established notions of femininity and is unconducive to conceptualising women as autonomous selves. In response to this, the book proposes new approaches to feminism and gender theory by drawing together the biopolitical work of Giorgio Agamben and Gilles Deleuze as well as key feminist, gender and queer theorists such as Judith Butler, Monique Wittig and Jack Halberstam. Agamben’s theory of “suspension” can be valuable in conceptualising gender identity as both specific and plural while Deleuze’s concept of “becoming-woman” allows us to better understand how women’s being in the world initiates forms of “becoming” that transform it in potentially emancipatory ways. The chapter discusses the significance of the female robot (or gynoid) in science fiction texts as a figure of becoming that is valuable for conceptualising the gender theory and philosophy which the book brings together. Finally, the chapter introduces a new term, “becoming-gynoid,” which outlines how the female cyborg body, in line Donna Haraway’s work can be used in conjunction with Deleuze and Agamben’s philosophy to explore new avenues in feminism and gender theory.