Bodies, Identity, and Digital Corporeality
This chapter presents a contrast to earlier theories of virtual reality in which online identities were celebrated at the expense of the body, often depicting the body as redundant. Indeed, in cyber theories, the body has been referred to as “the meat,” which reinforces an older, outdated notion of mind/body dualism. This chapter seeks to show the absolutely central role of the body in the production of identity in a digital media environment by focusing on new technologies that “draw out” the body as the site of digital engagement. Technologies designed for gaming, fitness, and wearability, for example, immerse the body ever more closely into a digital, networked environment. Improvements in the ergonomics of our everyday interface devices (mice, trackpads, keyboards) likewise respond to the ever presence of the body that is “made material” through digital discourses that are interacted with through such devices. New forms of engagement such as the touch screen and Google Glass likewise “turn” the focus of digital media away from the idea of disembodied identity towards an ever-increasing emphasis on the everyday bodily experience of engaging with online worlds. This chapter demonstrates the ways in which digital technologies are deployed in the “materialization” of the body as a project to be worked upon.