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.
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