Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
skip to main content
10.1145/2559206.2578874acmconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication PageschiConference Proceedingsconference-collections
research-article

Fifty shades of CHI: the perverse and humiliating human-computer relationship

Published: 26 April 2014 Publication History

Abstract

This paper presents a critical lens on the nature of the relationship between people and contemporary technology. Specifically, the form and language of erotic BDSM romance fiction, a genre that deals specifically with the nature of power in relationships, and which has proved extremely popular recently, are used as a means for provoking reflection on the nature of power in the human-computer relationship. Three sexually explicit scenarios are presented, in which technology is portrayed in a dominant and controlling role, highlighting the often subservient and apologetic nature of human interaction with technology. We suggest that readers offended by graphic and explicit descriptions of sexual behaviour do not read further than this abstract.

References

[1]
Ballard, J. G. Crash. Jonathan Cape, 1973.
[2]
Barker, M. Consent is a grey area? A comparison of understandings of consent in 50 Shades of Grey and on the BDSM blogosphere. Sexualities, 16, in press.
[3]
Bell, G., and Dourish, P. Yesterday's tomorrows: notes on ubiquitous computing's dominant vision. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 11 (2007), 133--143.
[4]
Bleecker, J. Design Fiction: A short essay on design, science, fact and fiction. Near Future Laboratory, 2009.
[5]
Blythe, M. The hitchhiker's guide to ubicomp: using techniques from literary and critical theory to reframe scientific agendas. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing (2013), 1--14.
[6]
Bonomi, A. E., Altenburger, L. E., & Walton, N. L. "Double Crap!" Abuse and Harmed Identity in Fifty Shades of Grey. Journal of Women's Health, 22 (2013), 733--744.
[7]
Dourish, P., and Bell, G. Resistance Is Futile: Reading Science Fiction Alongside Ubiquitous Computing. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, (2013), 1--10.
[8]
Dunne, A., & Raby, F. Design noir: The secret life of electronic objects. Springer, 2003.
[9]
Friedman, B. Value-sensitive design. Interactions, 3 (2006), 16--23.
[10]
James, E. L. Fifty Shades of Grey. Vintage Books, 2011.
[11]
Kirman, B., Linehan, C., Lawson, S., & O'Hara, D. CHI and the future robot enslavement of humankind: a retrospective. In Proc Ext. Abstracts CHI 2013, ACM Press (2013), 2199--2208.
[12]
Light, A. HCI as heterodoxy: Technologies of identity and the queering of interaction with computers. Interacting with Computers, 23 (2011), 430--438.
[13]
Light, A. HCI as Heterodoxy: The Queering of Interaction Design. In Proc. CHI 2010 Workshop on Critical Dialogue: interaction, Experience and Cultural Theory, 2010. http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/events/experiencingcriticaltheory/Light-Heterodoxy.pdf
[14]
Nathan, L. P., Klasnja, P. V., & Friedman, B. (2007, April). Value scenarios: a technique for envisioning systemic effects of new technologies. In Proc CHI 2007, ACM Press (2007), 2585--2590.
[15]
Sellen, A., Rogers, Y., Harper, R., and Rodden, T., Reflecting human values in the digital age. Commun. ACM, 52 (2009), 58--66.
[16]
Sellers, S. & O'Hara, D. (Eds). Extreme metaphors: Interviews with J. G. Ballard 1967-2008. Fourth estate, 2012.
[17]
Sengers, P., Boehner, K., David, S., and Kaye, J. J. Reflective design. In Proc Critical Computing 2005, ACM Press (2005), 49--58.
[18]
Sterling B. Shaping Things. MIT Press. Cambridge, MA, 2005.
[19]
Sterling, B. Design Fiction. Interactions, 16, ACM Press (2009), 20--24.
[20]
Sterling B. Fantasy Prototypes and Real Disruption. Keynote NEXT Berlin, 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VIoRYPZk68
[21]
Tsaros, A. Consensual non-consent: Comparing EL James's Fifty Shades of Grey and Pauline Réage's Story of O. Sexualities, 16 (2013), 864--879.

Cited By

View all

Index Terms

  1. Fifty shades of CHI: the perverse and humiliating human-computer relationship

    Recommendations

    Comments

    Information & Contributors

    Information

    Published In

    cover image ACM Conferences
    CHI EA '14: CHI '14 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
    April 2014
    2620 pages
    ISBN:9781450324748
    DOI:10.1145/2559206
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

    Sponsors

    Publisher

    Association for Computing Machinery

    New York, NY, United States

    Publication History

    Published: 26 April 2014

    Permissions

    Request permissions for this article.

    Check for updates

    Author Tags

    1. bdsm
    2. design fiction
    3. erotica
    4. values sensitive design

    Qualifiers

    • Research-article

    Conference

    CHI '14
    Sponsor:
    CHI '14: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
    April 26 - May 1, 2014
    Ontario, Toronto, Canada

    Acceptance Rates

    CHI EA '14 Paper Acceptance Rate 1,000 of 3,200 submissions, 31%;
    Overall Acceptance Rate 6,164 of 23,696 submissions, 26%

    Upcoming Conference

    CHI 2025
    ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
    April 26 - May 1, 2025
    Yokohama , Japan

    Contributors

    Other Metrics

    Bibliometrics & Citations

    Bibliometrics

    Article Metrics

    • Downloads (Last 12 months)23
    • Downloads (Last 6 weeks)4
    Reflects downloads up to 08 Feb 2025

    Other Metrics

    Citations

    Cited By

    View all
    • (2021)Utopian futures for sexuality, aging, and designInteractions10.1145/346020428:3(6-8)Online publication date: 27-Apr-2021
    • (2020)Troubling DesignACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction10.1145/339719927:4(1-36)Online publication date: 26-Aug-2020
    • (2020)'Pataphysical SoftwareProceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3357236.3395526(1859-1871)Online publication date: 3-Jul-2020
    • (2018)Playful Research Fiction: A Fictional ConferenceFunology 210.1007/978-3-319-68213-6_10(157-173)Online publication date: 19-Jul-2018
    • (2017)"They're Just Tixel Pits, Man"Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3025453.3025762(5439-5451)Online publication date: 2-May-2017
    • (2017)Implications for AdoptionProceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3025453.3025742(265-277)Online publication date: 2-May-2017
    • (2017)On Speculative EnactmentsProceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3025453.3025503(5386-5399)Online publication date: 2-May-2017
    • (2016)Pushing the Limits of Design FictionProceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/2858036.2858446(4032-4043)Online publication date: 7-May-2016
    • (2016)MetadatingProceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/2858036.2858173(685-698)Online publication date: 7-May-2016
    • (2016)Resistance is FertileProceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/2851581.2892572(365-374)Online publication date: 7-May-2016
    • Show More Cited By

    View Options

    Login options

    View options

    PDF

    View or Download as a PDF file.

    PDF

    eReader

    View online with eReader.

    eReader

    Figures

    Tables

    Media

    Share

    Share

    Share this Publication link

    Share on social media