Of Sex, Cylons, and Worms: A Critical Code Study of Heteronormativity

Abstract

When their Slash Goggles algorithm is functioning, Cylons can perceive the homoerotic sexual subtext all around them. Cylons are cybernetic organisms from the television program “Battlestar Galactica” and the “Slash Goggles” algorithm is a creative codework by Julie Levin Russo written in Zach Blas’ fictional anti-language transCoder. These are code artworks commenting on popular culture and seeking to disrupt what Blas calls the heteronormativity of computer source code. In order to seek out the heteronormativity of source code, I don these lenses for examining another piece of sexually charged code, the AnnaKournikova worm.