Fiction and Alternative Living: A Short Reflection

Fiction and Alternative Living: 

A Short Reflection

In this week’s reading, we read articles about science fiction and alternative living. Materials on alternative living included Do-It-Yourself (DIY) by Catherine Vienneau, What Would a Non-Sexist City Be Like? Speculations on Housing, Urban Design, and Human Work by Dolores Hayden, The Windup Girl by Paolo Gacigalupi and an article on Out of This World and we watched specific scenes from Serenity, a science fictional movie.

         The DIY article talks about how individuals can use their own skills, knowledge and experience to do anything. The concept of DIY suggests that individuals can do whatever they want without getting assistance from experts or the so-called professionals. This article also suggests that there is an alternative way of doing something rather than the usual paradigm or system that is currently in place. Dolores Hayden’s article on “What Would a Non-Sexist City Be Like” argues that women have to be significantly included at the very core of city planning and architectural design within this current paradigm. She also argues that this current systems of professionalism is male dominated and as such marginalizes women who despite their distinct qualifications are low paid as compared to their male counterparts. The article on “Out of This World” discusses how actors and actresses of color have been marginalized in the mainstream film making industry and how the use of the Web as an open source has changed this paradigm.