Sadie Plant "The Future Looms: Weaving Women and Cybernetics" In Cybersexualities; edited by Jenny Wolmark; Edinburgh University Press, 1999 (pp. 99-118) Analyzing the Jacquard loom and its relationship to Babbage's difference and analytical engines, Sadie Plant rewrites histories of technology foregrounding the primary place of women. She connects the computer's foundation with the Jacquard loom to the historically gendered occupation of women, weaving. She further highlights the role of Lady Byron's daughter, Ada Lovelace, who worked as a mathematical assistant for Babbage, and recalls the foundational programming skill of Grace Hopper in COBOL code. Plant also relates the female body to a cybernetic matrix, software, and computers more generally, suggesting their equal correspondance as a tool for the self-definition and self-control of the masculine user. Using Luce Irigaray as a reference point, she demonstrates how man is psychologically and epistemologically dependant on the dual existence of women and technology as his two boundaries for self-construction. She conludes the essay by disavowing the passivity of women, and acknowledging that 'women have nevertheless woven their influence between the lines.' L.E. Fazen