Technology and human rights are two major factors that steer the course of history. All humans are born with basic right that should not be infringed upon, but technology creates new aspects of life that include very debatable rights. The rights and wrongs of these rights is hard to determine because they are not natural, and a big reason for this conflict is caused by religion and gender. Most current religious ideas tend to clash with the abilities and decisions people should have the right to make. In the episode San Junipero, Kelly’s decision to be euthanized and join Yorkie in eternal afterlife is conflicted by her very religious parents and status as a woman.

San Junipero is a virtual reality system where those who are dead or alive can enter. It is run by computers and robots that monitor everyone’s uploaded conciseness’s. Yorkie is a lesbian woman who spends her time in San Junipero. She becomes incapacitated in a car wreck after telling her parents she is gay. Kelly likes to party and have fun in San Junipero, and she usually goes to many clubs throughout the decade. When the two of them meet, they have a very intimate relationship. Yorkie loves Kelly, but she wishes Kelly was able to spend more than five hours a week with her. In her elder years, Kelly decides to be euthanized in order to join Yorkie in San Junipero for eternity. Due to the skewed ways of a developing society, Kelly must marry her nurse in order for him to sign the euthanasian papers because of her religious background.

No human should have rights taken away based off gender, sexual orientation, or religious back ground. Yorkie’s parents do not accept her own sexual orientation and Kelly must marry another man just so she can be with Yorkie in eternal life. Both Yorkie and Kelly struggle with their own personal rights because of who they are as a person and where they come from. “Most if not all human rights are claim rights that impose duties or responsibilities on their addressees or dutybearers. Rights focus on a freedom, protection, status, or benefit for the rightholders” (Nickel 12). Nickel clearly states human rights are focused on freedom, protection, status, and benefits. This can be interpreted by the fact human rights are evolving with society and technology. A perfect example of this is the ending of slavery in America because there is no more slavery, but it has left an impression on society resulting in racism to be a very big issue today. The overall mindset of a society must shift with the concrete changes of the world to achieve a world of freedom. In a perfect world, Yorkie’s parents accept her sexual orientation and Kelly has the option of euthanasia at her own free will. It can be expected that eventually no one will be judged or treated differently based on gender, heritage, sexual orientation, and race.

Technology is easily the main the main culprit to human rights issues. While it usually makes our lives much easier and efficient, It is not all good. Technology adds many more things to keep up with in life, from the latest cell phone to a software system capable of holding human consciousness. These innovations are great, but they add a grey area in terms of human rights. As technology becomes more prominent in society, it is hard to understand who has the rights of what and why. “While technology is increasingly a key component both to understanding the problems facing society in a digital world and to enhancing instruments to serve human rights, technology per se is not the most effective entry point when exploring means to facilitate more effective cross-sector engagement. Discussions that begin with technology tend to focus on the potential or the threats that technology tools pose to human rights defenders and their work” (Acquisti 6). This discusses the new realm of rights technology creates. Technology needs to be well regulated due to its power. More often than not, it is very helpful in society, but in the wrong hand or under the wrong world leaders, it can take us no where. In San Junipero, Kelly and Yorkie are able to live forever youthful and happy thanks to technology. Kelly originally could not join Yorkie in euthanasia because of her religious background. Her only way of getting to San Junipero is by marrying her nurse so he can let her go forth. It’s evident that gender and religion still play a large role who makes what decisions in life. One can only hope that when this technology is real, all people will have their own free will.

Human rights and gender play a huge role in San Junipero. Yorkie and Kelly both struggle with living with their own sexual identity. In a perfect world, no person should have any rights taken regardless of anything. All human beings are born with their own free will, and this must be protected. Technology is an important aspect in life, but it must be well secured and run to avoid it being used against humans. Yorkie and Kelly’s lives convey the perfect example of a world with so much technology yet has so far to go in the realm of human rights. They end up happy together, but only because of a loophole in their own society. Technology and human rights together can make the world an eternal heaven or hell. 
