Josephine Anstey In Novel Conditions The CrossDressing Psychiatrist

Josephine Anstey In Novel Conditions: The Cross-Dressing Psychiatrist Allucquere Rosanne Stone, The War of Desire and Technology at the Close of the Mechanical Age. MIT Press, 1995, Chapter 3

Josephine Anstey cultural assumptions • subjectivity is […] constituted in relationship to a physical substrate p 65 • we know what a body is p 65

Josephine Anstey Historical Context • 1982 Compu. Serve • pre-internet electronic information services (also The Source, Prodigy) • CB Simulator for chat (pioneer) • Public/Private Spaces

Josephine Anstey Sanford Lewin • NY psychiatrist opens account in 1982 • Used “handle” Doctor • Private conversation with woman appears deeper and more intimate • She has mistaken him for a women psychiatrist • 1982 and feminism • If he is a woman, can help more, gain insight

Josephine Anstey Julie Graham • Lewin’s 2 nd Compuserve account • Lewin creates a “persona” for Julie • NY neuropsychologist but after a severe accident is mute, paraplegic & disfigured (can’t meet in RL) • Online community becomes her lifeline

Josephine Anstey Julie Flourishes Online • • • Atheist Smokes Dope Bisexual ->flamboyantly sexual -> netsex Starts women’s discussion group Becomes friend, advisor, confidante Warns friends against online fakes

Josephine Anstey Julie veers out of control • Rides with police and spots drunk drivers • Whirlwind romance with cop, John • Marriage - online reception - J&J online • Professional success - conferences etc. • Friends become suspicious - is Julie a disabled woman with a fantasy life?

Josephine Anstey Lewin gets nervous • “deeply engaged in developing a whole new part of himself …” p 76 • -> not controlling Julie’s emergent self, direction, ideas • Decides Julie must die • John (also Lewin) deluged with sympathy • Can’t kill her

Josephine Anstey Lewin joins the chat • Lewin’s second solution is to have Julie introduce him to the online community • But Julie’s friends don’t like him • Meanwhile the Julie deception unravels, slowly people realize she doesn’t exist

Josephine Anstey Reactions • Mourning (for the friend) • Violation & Betrayal (support and friendship all a lie) • Attempts to be friends with Sanford - the inner person that’s really there

Josephine Anstey Stone Analysis • In RL we change personalities but always grounded in a real body • Western attachment to the idea of a true self attached to a real body • Virtual persona as mask for underlying identity, what underlies underlying ID? • What are the implications of flexible and multiple selves • What is presence without a body?

Josephine Anstey In terms of communication what’s new about networking? • Nothing • “Everything. Computers arenas for social experience and dramatic interaction, a type of media more like public theater, and their output is used for qualitative interaction, dialogue, and conversation. Inside the box are other people. ” p 15