Future Sex: Cyborg Bodies and the Politics of Meaning

This article investigates the visual representations of futuristic, technologized bodies in advertisements. Why is an investigation of body images that do not exist of fundamental importance? While posthuman bodies may not have a corresponding reality in the world, these images present the future, complicating the meaning of the often under-examined concepts of (i) technology and (ii) humanness itself. This article spans areas as diverse as psychoanalysis, philosophy, fin de siècle literature, comic book strips, and art history. Technology emerges not as a mere tool that humans use, but a repository for human fears, fantasies, and desires; a distinct and powerful aesthetic that has evolved over time; and an ontology—a way of being in the world.