Tales of Precarious Digital Empowerment

Abstract

This critical cyber-autoethnography delves into the processes of adopting a wearable device, specifically a smartwatch. As I contemplate various moments during which my foreign body (by virtue of being an immigrant) relies on another foreign body (smartwatch) to feel at “home” in spaces ranging from hostile to uncomfortable, I articulate how the status of the wearable shifts from that of an accessory to an intimate interface. The narratives presented here center intersectionality by exploring the racialized and gendered dimensions of my immigrant experience in the United States by focusing on how my brown, female body processes/filters everyday microaggressions through my smartwatch. By joining my body with a digital device, that is, becoming a cyborg, I explain how my experiences of marginalization are qualitatively modified. Articulating the shifting privileges I enjoy in the form of economic stability and linguistic competency prevents fetishizing the digital and avoids technological determinism. In conclusion, this autoethnography uses the concept of the cyborg to map the connections between embodied experience; symbolic, sensory potential of digital devices; and intersectional identities.

“Enriching Lives within Sedimentary Geology”: Actionable Recommendations for Making SEPM a Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive Society for All Sedimentary Geologists

“…Scientists at all career levels often treat junior colleagues with far less respect than they do their peers or senior scientists. Members of one or more marginalized group(s) (Charleston et al, 2014;Crenshaw, 1990;Doshi, 2020;Miriti et al, 2020;Muhs et al, 2012) are particularly vulnerable to bullying, harassment, discrimination, prejudice, and abuse (Geocognition, 2019). For example, the workplace experience of a female scientist of color might be drastically different from that of her white male or female colleagues (Abedalthagafi, 2018;Doshi 2020;Muhs et al, 2012;NASEM, 2018;Sharon & Cheney, 2020;Skachkova, 2007).…”

“…Members of one or more marginalized group(s) (Charleston et al, 2014;Crenshaw, 1990;Doshi, 2020;Miriti et al, 2020;Muhs et al, 2012) are particularly vulnerable to bullying, harassment, discrimination, prejudice, and abuse (Geocognition, 2019). For example, the workplace experience of a female scientist of color might be drastically different from that of her white male or female colleagues (Abedalthagafi, 2018;Doshi 2020;Muhs et al, 2012;NASEM, 2018;Sharon & Cheney, 2020;Skachkova, 2007). It can take scientists years to recover from bullying and to get their careers on track, if they do not choose to leave their field of study entirely (Goodboy et al, 2015;Martin et al, 2015;NASEM, 2018;Poole, 2016;Twale & De Luca, 2008).…”