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Hi y’all!

For my final project, my two woman improv troupe “Hudson Bae” did some jams revolving around our class content. Each song was made up on the spot, both lyrically and musically with just the topic to get us going.

Below is a lose description of my intentions, objectives, and sources for each song.

Cyber-Cyborg World

This song is meant to illustrate the idea of cyber feminism serving as an online space to create that which creators wish they were seeing IRL. Secondly , I loved playing with the idea that futuristic technology is as complicated and far off as equal rights. This concept was inspired by Claire L. Evans article "An Oral History of the First Cyberfeminists." Motherboard (Vice).

Slow Jams M.L.M

This song was all about multi level marketing companies and techniques. I felt this was relatable , accessible and pretty head on for a gender specific economy that takes place largely in a digital arena.e tow Throughout the song we try to briefly talk about the real life markets, supply and demand, and gender expectations that cause women to gravitate toward digital markets. These concepts were largely derived from Radhika Gajjala’s peice "Digital Media, Race, Gender, Affect, and Labor."

(Un)like Me

This song stems from Sara Ahmed’s article "Affective Economies.", and the idea that individuals gravitate toward those who are like them online. Furthermore that we can turn on those who are unlike us online. This concept plays a large role in knowledge production online, what we as users are exposed to, and what we as users veer away from affecting our opinions, spaces, and lived realities.

Thanks for the fun and thought provoking semester!

jwhall-blog

Week 14

I think we should understand cyberfeminism as just another strong platform for women to speak out against rights and issues they believe in. The internet is the most powerful thing right now and it can be such a good tool to express things. The internet is powerful and wether the issue be good or bad theres always the chance to spread knowledge on such issues. Wether its the hashtag, transgender blogs, female empowerment, online dating, and/ or different movements such as black girl magic, free the nipple, or the sad girl theory these things all mean something to women and are known because of the internet. The issues at hand are pivotal to what we are going through now. We should think of cyberfeminism as a online space to be heard, to make a difference, to document now, and so much more. Cyberfeminism is important to the future because we will have documented key things that have happened in our time. As Kember said, “The first consists of taking stock, of re-reading and of bringing forward, particularly those silenced, forgotten or marginalized areas of feminist debate so that we may avoid the tendency to repeat ourselves or indeed to make ‘turns’ that are predominantly or in part returns to concepts, categories and methodologies we have known.” I think this is a very important aspect because it only leaves improvement for the future to move forward and not backwards. She also mentioned something else that resonated with me, “Bearing in mind that anthropologists as well as novelists, feminists as well as scientists are storytellers and that writing long exceeded the word to include cells, sounds and media-making – I don’t think we have reached the full potential or implications of this approach.” Feminists are storytellers and even though some stories may need filtering it still makes a difference and we make a print on the world.

Kember, Sarah. 2012. “Notes Towards a Feminist Futurist Manifesto.” Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology 1.

britaneebee-blog

Hi there!

Yeah, examining the power of the internet as a platform of knowledge production and cultural production is pretty wild! I think often youngsters can just assume the internet as this normative part of our lives, when in reality its a huge driving force of social norms, social activism, social conformity, and social resistance. This massive ability of the internet presents such new concepts, and really pushes theorists to consider how our IRL identities translate into a hyper-visible and invisible space. I love your bit about storytelling, because in truth all passage of any knowledge or concepts is through story telling. I think that point even lends to the larger picture of the initial creation of cyber feminism; which was to allow for those who’s stories were not being told a place to tell their stories. This includes both their lived experiences, and what they WISH was their lived experience. Additionally, its so important, in my opinion, for feminism to always be evaluating ITSELF and its approach and its own inclusivity and accessibility, which I feel totally resonates with Kember’s comments about avoiding the tendency to repeat our self. Well thought out post, friend!

iknowbutidontknow

The Appropriation of Black Culture

In my college career, I have focused mainly on the plight of Native Americans and the appropriation of their cultures. So this week I thought it was very interesting to focus on the appropriation of black culture because I feel like if I were paying more attention, I would notice this phenomenon daily. The appropriation of their culture has been almost a cultural norm since before Elvis Presley became a giant in the music industry with him basically stealing music from less popular black artists.

Naw Magazine’s Sherisa Kuffour wrote a very interesting piece named “The Appropriation of Black Culture is not just a Fad,” where she discusses how cultural appropriation of black culture is ever present in the fashion industry and how it’s there to stay. The phrase “everybody wants to be black until it’s time to be black” is something Kuffour says is a truism in the creative industry. I relate this to how some white people get dreads because these certain groups of people don’t understand fully take into account how black people literally couldn’t get hired at certain places if they had dreads, but white people want them because it’s trendy.

Even popular words like relating to your group of friends as a “squad” or using “fleek” to describe your makeup has origins in African American vernacular. Adopting these words without caring about the origins is damaging to the black community and it is prudent to give credit where it’s due. Doreen St. Felix asserts that, “Cultural sharing is ancient. That the speed and relative borderlessness of the internet makes cross-platform, global dissemination seem like a consequence of tech is a convenient amnesia.” We all need to collectively be aware that this exists and that the appropriation of black culture needs to be recognized as a pressing issue.

http://nawmagazine.com/black-culture-appropriation-not-fad/

britaneebee-blog

First off, your studies sound way cool. Next, appropriation is one of my favorite topics to theorize. I think it’s really interesting to critically think about why appropriation is problematic, or more directly why it is hurtful. I say appropriation is one of my favorite topics because it is so multi faceted, and every time I feel I am getting a grip on understanding and committing to an opinion on the phenomenon, I learn more that lends to broadening my understanding or conceptualization. I think its important to consider appropriation is appropriation because it is another instance of a dominant group carelessly stealing from a non dominant group, and then reaping all of the social and economic benefits. Often these concepts, objects, or adornments are sacred in someway (often that they have withstood colonization or white supremacy in one way or another) which really adds to the hypocrisy and issue with concept, object, or adornment being carelessly used (often by white people). Its interesting that you mentioned you were in some ways unaware of the appropriation of black culture. The wild thing is once its pointed out to you it is all over: This points to an interesting phenomenon of the marketability of concepts, objects, or adornments belonging to black culture, but most profitable when marketed by white people to white culture - super interesting to dive into why that is! Nice post, thanks for all the food for thought.

Week 13 Post

Online platforms that allow youth to produce are numerous, whether this be through text, images, or media. In Black Teens Are Breaking The Internet And Seeing None Of The Profits, Doreen St. Felix discusses the ubitqitus occurrence of black youth producing trending phrases or media and reaping non of the monetary or credential benefits. This article delved further into a capitalist structure which paves the way for exploitation of individuals who produce media. I felt this article was multi-faceted in that it was discussing an internet society of exploitation, cultural production theory, and the intertwined occurrence of the specific exploitation of black bodies, ideas, and actions.To me this is where it really got mucky. The internet and its various platforms do provide visibility for marginalized communities, this in itself can be used in empowering ways by youth. However, the internet, as discussed in Felix’s article is a fast paced breading ground for cultural production and consequently appropriation. The more this concept was discussed, I interpreted it to mean, the exploitation of the culture produced by people of color is nothing new, internet is. This article has so much to work with and think through with its many moving parts and trufully I feel my understanding and theorizing of its components is only scratching the surface. Still the immaterial labour of youth, specifically youth of color is easy to spot when considering our modern slang, dances, jokes, and phrases. From “Do it for the vine!” to “On Fleak” to the Whip and Nay Nay to the Get Out Challenge, the internet serves a a production site to the immaterial labour of youth which is then capitalized by business, marketing campaigns and popular culture.

jwhall-blog

Post 12

I think “cam girl-ing” is labor just like any other job. Just because its not the traditional 9-5 doesn’t make it less labor. It is still a job that you are being paid for and probably don’t want to do sometimes, just like any other job. The women doing it are “laborers” because they are doing something and being paid. I liked this film a lot it, it represents every day women and their struggles and the film makes it so the situations are relatable or have some aspects that you can understand. I think this is important because people are usually so quick to judge so this film does a great job preventing that. Also most people think it is wrong to “cam” but this film paints it in a different light, that its not something dirty but something they chose to do and that theres nothing wrong with that. As Sean Dunn says, “Oh no, they shouldn’t be doing this—somebody’s got to save these girls. What’s gone wrong?” The further I dug around, the further from the truth that sentiment could’ve been, because they don’t need help—they are empowered through this work and are gaining independence.” I like the way he said that. Women are providing for themselves and choosing how they want to do that and there is nothing wrong in whatever they choose.

britaneebee-blog

Hi Jwhall!

I completely agree with you. Women who are engaged in “informal work” are providing labor just as any other recognized and validated job or career. It takes finesse, skills, emotional and physical labor, and time that deserves fair compensation. I think it is really important to examine social structures that first:provide a need for informal labor of “cam girls”; and second: the social structures that invalidate and shame the work of cam girls. In the united states, women still face social obstacles, negating women’s ability to reach positions that pay as highly as positions men often occupy, in addition to the fact women often are paid less than their male counterparts once they do enter equivalent positions. To put it simply, the economy works against women and their economic advancement. At the risk of oversimplifying, this concept paves the way for informal work. Due to societal obstacles and oppression which keep women from earning necessary income, informal work serves as a necessity to some humans. Secondly, as a means of control and ensured inferiority, women were never granted the same social acceptability of their sexuality as men were and are. That is to say women are not to be as sexually entitled as men. Therefore, any act of extramarital sexuality, paid or unpaid is deemed “wrong” or “whorish”. This work is invalidated in response to women's lack of sexual entitlement and autonomy, as well as to discourage other women from getting similar ideas. The rhetoric which shames cam girls shames women's sexual and economic autonomy and entitlement. Nice job picking up on the finer points of the video!

vintagewinegrump-blog

Trans Women Are Not Women???

Ivan Fahy, an Irish model who identifies as gender expressive, androgynous, and non-binary, is a trans vlogger who uses such mediums as Facebook, Tumblr, and YouTube to break down gender norms and social boundaries around sexuality. Just a quick note that Ivan uses the male pronoun and as such I will use the male pronoun to refer to Ivan. In the YouTube vlog entitled “Trans Women Are Not Women???”, he discusses his views on the topic of transwomen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4jw993cjsk

and argues that they are indeed women despite arguments by some feminists that transwomen are not women. His viewpoint is expressed through experiences and privilege, noting that women from varying cultures experience diversity and thus not all women experience womanhood in the same way.

Ivan’s activism for transwomen through is expressionism of modeling, vlogging, and by hosting numerous workshops on such subjects as being LGBT, anti-homophobic, and transphobic bullying are synonymous with feminist activism; whereby, he focuses on abolishing gender role expectations for different races, classes, and genders. He parallels transwomen and women’s experiences of sexism, misogyny, gender-based discrimination, sexualization, and objectification as similar discriminations and mutually inclusive. He demonstrates quite well resistance, activism, and community amongst transwomen while recognizing the rejection of transwomen experiences by exclusionary feminist theorists.

In my opinion, he falls short on his theory of male privilege. I assert his views of white, male privilege are unsophisticated. He emphasizes that although he is a white male and has access to male privilege, he does not identify with cis normative male roles; therefore, he must sacrifice male privilege. He is unable to be himself in expressionism of clothing and make-up choices which are female gender markers to society and this is used against him. As a way of passing or being perceived as to belonging Ivan need only remove markers of female portrayal. Society will recognize Ivan as a white male and thus will bring about gender cohesiveness and will remove gender confusion from societal view. In other words, once Ivan is visibly male and this agrees with his being male at birth the roles are in agreement and he will once again be white, male and privileged according to society.

Ivan Fahy lets individuals know that trans people can construct and have control over the way they present. He creates a sense of community, empathy, and acceptance to viewers that may otherwise be vulnerable by encouraging the individual to take control over shaping themselves and their domain (Horak, 2014, p. 582).

Reference

Fahy, I. (2017, March 22). Trans Women Are Not Women??? [YouTube]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4jw993cjsk.

Horak, L. (2014). Trans on youtube intimacy, visibility, temporality. TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly. 1(4), 572-585. doi:10.1215/23289252-285255.

(WST394 Post 11)

britaneebee-blog

Hey! I really feel your analysis of Ivan’s white male privilege is spot on. I think this topic can be really personal and evoke strong emotions for many people. Because a trans experience is so personal, I hesitate to theorize on it. However I will, because that is academia and that is what we are here to do. I think your break down of “passing” whether that is his intention or not is an interesting piece to add to trans visibility or even invisibility theorizing. Something my friends and I have been thinking through on this topic (specifically because of this class and homework) is this idea of comparing struggles, which I am not necessarily against and will admit I find myself doing. Since I have tried to eliminate comparing struggles (such as the trans womens struggle to the cis womens struggle) it has helped me theorize clearer and be more empaathetic to all identities.. Its interesting to think of inter sectional identities in this equation because I would still argue he has white male privilege when obtaining the platform and skills to give these workshops on inclusivity. This weeks readings really raised questions of the grey areas of privileges and the grey areas of inclusiveness. I think even the rhetoric of “some feminists do not believe trans women are women” is problematic to identities as well, in that there is, in essence, a sense of othering. Furthermore, how can we expand our ideas of identities when we are still generalizing identities and experiences only when it suits our arguments? I mean, this is food for thought for myself I do these things too in my activism and academia. Overall, cool to hear his point of view and to process it. Thanks for sharing!

SUBSCRIBE to Kat Blaque : http://bit.ly/1D3jwSF A lot of people have been comparing Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who claims to be black, to Caitlyn Jenner...

Kat Blaques vlogging serves as a space of cyberfeminst creation in that it expands what feminism activism and thought is to include. Kat’s youtube is a site of resistance in that she resists the dominant ideals and pressures of the space a trans person is to occupy and the visibility they are to be allotted. Furthermore, Kat’s vlog represents affect in the discussion she encourages and the community she creates. I do feel feminism is a living theory - it grows and expands with the context of its time. In that same way, Kats vlog serves as a site of cyberfeminst creation in that it nurtures a larger sphere of feminism thought, discussion and action. Her youtube is a point of resistance in that she is in control of her own narrative, and the narrative of her community. This control of narative is an act of resistance against social structures that work to silence the trans community, as discussed in "Back to Blaque: Meet the Trans YouTube Queen of the Underground." . Most noticeable tho, I think is the affect of this space and conversation. This space provides a community for trans people to see themselves represented in, discuss, and ultimately exist freely. I don’t think her vlog falls short in this perfect view of the goals of cyberfeminism in that its her space and doesn't have to stand as a platform of social change and framework for theorizing etc . However some thoughts I had while watching a few of her videos are it “What does it really mean to be inclusive?” “What does this look like at a daily level in our lives, our ballots, and our hearts?” “How do we build bridges to understand those who are not like us and haven't had the same experiences?” “Can we expect this of others if we do not do so ourselves.” Frankly, I feel she unintentionally (while simultaneously hypocritically) othered many identities. Which, arguably, is indicative of a critique for feminsm itself, if we are gettin real here.

breannahworthy-blog

Social Media Self

One immediate affect that came to me after this week’s readings was the differences between Facebook and Twitter. I specifically leave all my inappropriate humor, and quick judgmental and without purpose rants to twitter. As for Facebook, my Facebook represents my perfect me. Only the best pictures, best quotes, encouraging statuses, and anything that exemplifies that I am making the right moves in life. I use to think that I created the two platforms like that because of my selection of “friends” on each social media platform. My Facebook includes family, co-workers, old classmates, and potential employers and my twitter contains peers of my age and social background, celebrities, and online personalities. However I wouldn’t say that one site represents the fake me or the real me. Both are me just different layers of me and levels of appropriateness. In the article by Tanya Kent she speaks on the re-appropriation on social media elements that make a reflection to self. For myself I play a word game that requires me to share what level I am on the game in with my Facebook friends in order for me to receive helpful hints. However sometimes I don’t want to share it on my page because I feel like I am annoying people or that my game is corny. I may not want everybody to know that I am playing that game. Or another element is the like button which Facebook has recently changed up. Sometimes people post sad things or even things that require more emotion than just a like. If a person post that their child is in the hospital, I don’t want to “like” it. Or if my friend post that she just broke up with her boyfriend, again I don’t want to “like” it but I still may want to show my acknowledgement that I seen her post and that I am here for her. They changed that in the app updates allowing users to use different emotions to pick on a status. Such has sad, laughing, love, and more. This week’s reading made me more cognitive on how I am really represented through my social media pages.

britaneebee-blog

Breannah, I really liked your connections of the ideas of multiple facets of ourselves, and how each platform serves a different purpose to us. I have the similar experience with my insta versus my FB. Insta is more risque artistic version of me, and FB is more everyday coworker and Mormon family friendly version of me. Niether is an unrealistic representation , but rather a controlled representation of how I want to be seen in reference to my audience. Similarly, many social theories suggest we see ourselves through the lens of how others see us, so following that logic, we are controlling how others see ourselves to control, in essence , how we see ourselves. Furthermore, it's interesting to think of how the internet has created a new form of emotional support and social scripts. Our everyday norms are translated into mutually understood signs and symbols - likes, loves, and emojis. Your post really got me thinking about what I hide and why, as well as what I display and why.

Within this weeks readings consisted many frameworks to theorize our online presence, appeal and response. Sarah Ahmeds states “ emotions do things, and they align individuals with communities...-through the very intensity of their attachments.”. I felt this thread of comments paired with the sources this week. First, discussing some concepts found in American Reflexxx, this comments thread embodies the idea of safety when your identity is concealed. That is to aliken the commentators to the mob of followers, who are all protected by their lack of unique identity in the space, as well as presuming there will be individuals on their side. Second, in Interview:American Reflexxx, the creators state they feel the crowd is at all times afraid of the masked human, because she knows something they don’t, and or because she is different from them, and even equated to something less than human. We can see a similar representation of this in the comment thread comparing gay people or gay relationships to the masked human, wherein some commentors feel gay occupation of space is “lowering our standards” or comparable to “drugs, violence or promiscuity”. Also as American Reflexxx creators Signe and Alli discuss, the likes on these comments serve as a rating system of who is most agreed with, even arguably equating to who is winning. Furthermore, keeping Ahmed’s article in mind, we can see the conversation turns emotional, tense, disrespectful, or short the more people begin to feel their attachments are threatened. This thread is first initiated by the comment conveying her attachment to religion and heteronormativity and is later countered by someone saying “she is ridiculing a group of people I love and care about...” showing a converse attachment. We can see groups aligning by their likeness. This week, I did wish I had a better understanding of Ahmeds article because I was so intrigued by it, also, it would be interesting to learn more about the alignment that comes not from shared opinion or attachment but shared space.

I chose to create my info-graphic on this topic for many reasons. I chose this topic because it was shocking to me when I first learned of it. Although I’m not easily bothered by the topic of death or health complications, I remember being so upset because, to me, this is so angering that our maternal mortality rates (MMR) are so much higher than other developed countries, and yet I still know plenty of people who will say the United States is perfect - there is no sexism or racism and we should be repealing ACA. I will often meet women who feel they are in no way oppressed, and this led me to ponder what it means to be oppressed, and what do I become if I insist this upon her. Essentially, I began to wonder: if a women doesn't feel oppressed, is she? Obviously, there is tons of room for argument supporting women face oppressive forces daily, even if they don’t see, feel or believe them. However, the data in my info-graphic is representative of the first time I was committed to the decision that even if a woman doesn't feel oppressed, she is. This might seem really simple, like, duh, but I finally felt impassioned to push on the dominant rhetoric in my conservative home town and have a constructive conversation about how one might feel, versus the inevitable and tangible consequences of oppression and inequality in one’s life. Also, I chose this topic because it is intersectional, which is a qualifying aspect of third wave feminism, and is vital to the visibility cyber feminism aims to achieve. Visibility which was discussed in depth in "'We Are the Future Cunt': CyberFeminism in the 90s.", claiming cyberfeminism creates a reality we wish to see in our real lives. This data is extremely poignant to racial and ethnic disparities women face in contemporary US society. On a large scale, the high rates of MMR in the United States compared to other nations is due to its lack of Universal Health care, something all other developed countries in the world have.This is even further exacerbated by income inequality, and women's ability to receive healthcare. All of this becomes much more magnified through a lens of ethnicity, where there lies greater income, nutrition, health, and medical access disparities. Furthermore, these numbers highlight ever present discrimination women of color face in obtaining their own health care and even authority over their own bodies in healthcare. As discussed in "Race, Sexuality, Cyberactivism and the Legacy of Rashawn Brazell.", Cyberfeminsm aims to give a platform to that which the media, political, and judicial systems ignore, and I feel the issue of extremely high Maternal Mortality rates aligns with that description. This info-graphic aims to spread awareness of the abnormality of MMR in the US, get people thinking about how this affects their lives, what they can do, and what this means for the reality of the society we live in - all while being easy to share online.

Works Cited

Trends in maternal mortality: 1990 to 2013. Estimates by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, The World Bank and the United Nations Population Division. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2014.

Tumblr Post #6

In Race, Sexuality, Cyberactivism and the Legacy of Rashawn Brazell, Marie Varghese states “We have to create a space where we can tell our own stories”. This sentiment along with many other points made in her article lead me to theorize on how current feminist activism has been shaped by the tools of the internet. Specifically, one can see feminist activism within the Black Lives Matter movement. The Creation of a Movement informs this movement was initially begun after Alicia Garza posted the hashtag responding to George Zimmerman being found innocent of any wrong doing in the killing of Treyvon Martin. From there, the movement was propelled by Alicia, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. Varghese describes blogging, nowadays the internet in general, as a space people of marginalized identities can turn to when the media and judicial system do not assist with visibility or justice. This is also exemplified in the Black Lives Matter movement both in its inception as well as its objective. Alicia started the hashtag out of frustration of yet another act of violence towards a person of color that was to go unpunished and widely unknown, and created the movement to bring viability and action to the issue. The use of the internet was fundemental to both the creation of this movement, and the continuation, with much of its rallies and protests being shared through social media. Finally, Varghese makes a point to emphasis the bloggers are “personally affected by the daily instances of homophobic, racist, and sexist violence against queer communities of color”. This distinction is important in that it highlights the internet’s allowance of a platform for individuals within the advocating community to speak for themselves and have control of the stories and experiences they wish to tell and how they want them told.

itsyvillalobos-blog

Post #5: Virtual Worlds, Lived Realities

An example of an online space where the intersection of the “virtual” and the “real” becomes increasingly blurred is the Instagram pages of certain women who can be considered cyber feminists. This space helps the viewer imagine that a “corporeal cyber feminist,” as discussed in the article written by Jessica E. Brophy is one that “rejects leaving the body behind and rejects viewing cyberfeminsim as a simple extension of the body” (Brophy 138). Instead of leaving the body behind or simply making it an extension of one’s body in the sense that it’s just something we interact with cyberfeminsim incorporates both things to voice and speak out in support or against certain issues like body acceptance. Certain Instagram pages do this with the person in charge of it speaking out against things like societal expectations by portraying things that many times people believe are not beautiful, like thicker women in body con dresses, because society has implemented in them this idea of what beautiful is or isn’t. One page in particular that stands out when it comes to creating an experience that incorporates the body and the internet in the Cyberfeminist movements is that of bodyposipanda. Bodyposipanda (https://www.instagram.com/bodyposipanda/) is an Instagram page conducted by Megan Jayne Crabbe, a public figure who uses the Internet to spread images and ideas of body positivity and body acceptance amongst all people. Not only does Megan Jayne Crabbe spread images portraying these ideas of body positivity and acceptance, but she writes posts on both her Instagram and personal blog that leave her audience with not only powerful words, but a clear and positive image to go along with it. By using Instagram to spread body positivity and acceptance Megan Jayne Crabbe rejects leaving the body behind and rejects viewing cyberfeminsim as a simple extension of the body” (Brophy 138) and combines both things to spread a truly amazing message.

britaneebee-blog

Hi itsyvillalobos! Nice post, I really like the example of bodyposipanda, I looked around her insta and she is so fly! I’m hyped to know this exists! I totally appreciate her contribution to the larger movement of body positivity, which is challenging a thin, white, standard of beauty. I appreciate this being seen through a lens of cyberfeminism considering most of my ideas of body norms DO come from the internet (aside from tv and movies which I watch little of) . I especially liked her blog post about a thick person and a thin person being able to “be friends” because ultimately, all female bodies have similar gender expectations in their socialization which are problematic to women. Its interesting here to think of how the internet can be used as a tool to recognize a shared bodily experience and a shared cyber experience as well as using this tool to learn the unearned benefits and privileges a person with a body that fits the normalized standard of beauty receives.

Let me just start off by saying – I’m going wild about this week’s topic. I suppose an online space of resistance is essentially any space that is actively resisting oppressive social forces. These spaces can be diverse and therefore hard to pin-point, because, essentially any space that has an overarching culture of resisting, or is self-proclaimed to be resisting, is a space of resistance. To make things even more complex – RESISTANCE IS MURKY! For me, when it gets down to the nitty gritty, gender accommodation (meaning accommodating to expected gender performances or gender norms) and resistance can be microscopic individual choices, or colossal macro choices or movements – and they can often look A LOT like each other. To contextualize my yarn ball of thoughts, take into account Lucy Watsons article How girls are finding empowerment through being sad online. This piece dives into Audrey Wollen’s reclaiming of sadness and distress by women, arguing the reverse of an essentialist viewpoint of women to be overly emotional, etc, but instead claiming that women allowing themselves to be sad and to be seen as sad is instead liberating (read: resistance instead of accommodation). Like, that’s a lot. Wollen, at one point calls out current feminism saying “I felt kind of alienated by contemporary feminism, because it demanded so much of me (self-love, great sex, economic success) that I just couldn’t give.” Help – it’s so relatable. This quote identifies a drawback of performing resistance online (or at all) in that acts of gender resistance can unintentionally create new standards, expectations, and norms that women may feel inclined to subscribe to – creating a true rock and a hard place dilemma. To bring this all back down to earth (breathing heavy), a current space of resistance I am all up in is Pantsuit Nation. This space honestly kept me afloat from November 9th till early December. This secret facebook group is a cyber-community complete with storytelling, support, and organizing. That is not to say there are not downfalls. It is accessible only to those who are invited, meaning – ya gotta know somebody who knows somebody. Additionally, many members have called attention to its exclusion of POC and people who are non-able bodied in regards to its leadership (admins) and IRL events. This serves as an example of the perpetuation of oppression, even in a well-meaning space, only to further support there is more work to do.

abigailtasu-blog

Inequalities perpetuate on the internet because people are on the internet, and since the internet is, in a way, a projection of ourselves, sexism and racism are reflected there. Furthermore, the anonymity that the internet can provide furthers the blatancy of the inequality by removing consequences from any hate speech that can be posted. 4chan and Yik Yak are great examples of this. 4chan is a free for all platform where anything can be posted anonymously from anywhere in the world, gathering ideas, including the bigoted ones. Yik Yak operates on a location based service, where anonymity is preserved, but if these messages, like the ones at Colgate University, target certain people or groups, there is an additional fear of being surrounded by the people spouting the hate speech.

In addition, when new technologies (such as virtual reality porn) emerge, there is potential for growth and development from creators who can take advantage of this new innovation and stand out in using it in inclusive and different ways. To further the example of VR porn, Erika Lust is making feminist VR porn in a way that defies typical porn tropes. However, access to this porn requires certain technologies such as VR equipment and internet itself, which is inherently limiting access to many marginalized groups who would be key audiences for her work and similar projects.

A technology embodying this idea of exclusion while projecting inclusion can be reflected is many mainstream video game culture. Beyond harassment that comes from other users, marginalized people such as women, POC, and LGBTQ+ individuals experience a lack of representation in the games themselves. The author of this article [link] discusses gaming with a female avatar in World of Warcraft, but many games give few options to be physically represented as a character that represents their identity, often relegating female characters to sexualization. Furthermore, the price of video games is a high burden on lower-income families, and she worries that outreach efforts to involve girls in video games will only do so to involve middle to upper class white women.

britaneebee-blog

Hi abigailtasu!

I was totally thinking about Yik Yak this week with cyber-tecch reproducing inequalities, too!

That podcast had me like.

As discussed in the “Reply All: #46 Yik Yak returns” students retold instances of faceless harassment directed towards them . For me, it was wild, but not unimaginable (as I too am an inhibitor of the internet) that these Yik Yaks got so violent. The anonymity that provided such comfort in being racist, entitled, ignorant and vile is what was most abhorrent and disgusting for me in the podcast. As the speakers did confirm, yes, they would find themselves wondering if those who had anonymously condoned and furthered racist violent speech were in fact sitting in the room right next to them.(Possibly similar to how I felt at school the day after trumps election). Looking deeper, for me, its important to recognize the internet is a feedback loop of society. It is creating us the same way we are creating it. However, the instance of Colgate and Yik Yak serves as a perfect barometer of where we are as a society, just because we aren’t saying bluntly racist things in daily life, we are all still being socialized through media and other various institutions to have the tools to recognize or perpetuate racism and this is apparent in online anonymity. Some questions I had while listening to this podcast is “Why is Yik Yak not like “wait....we gotta fix something” , and why do they allow for censorship around highschools, but not Colleges. Although, even more pressing is what can we do as individuals or institutions to protect from replication of inequalities online? For me, it starts with treating the symptoms IRL - a big huge task, indeed.

Tumblr # 2

In “We are the Future Cunt: Cyber Feminism in the 90′s” , Claire Evans posits Cyberfeminism loosely as thought, criticism and art. Evens clarifies we don’t quite know the exact definition of Cyberfeminism but we know what it is not. Still, throughout this week’s readings, I postulated a working definition of cyberfeminsm to frame my theorizing. Given its origin with VNS Matrix (among others) I concurred that cyberfeminism is that which uses the bustling internet to create a world of visibility for that which is not yet visible or recognized in society and its structures. Furthermore, cyber feminism is characterized by creating and organizing space for opinions, discussion, knowledge and action We see this today in the the #yesallwomen campaign. This campaign sought to bring awareness to both obvious and discrete harassment women face that those with male privilege may have never been aware of otherwise. Furthermore, this campaign created a community of women vocalizing that which is not widely accepted during IRL dinner conversation. This campaign was poignant, personal, political and possible due to the organizing ability of the internet.

While the internet has provided a unique platform for knowledge sharing and creating within a feminist community that is not to say our real life society doesn’t creep in. Evens reminds readers cyberfeminst participant’s “fears of being silenced, threatened or bullied” still persist online. I would suspect many of us in this class could recount stories of gendered harassment that took place within a technological arena, whether its turning down a tinder date request, or commenting on a feminist youtube video. Evans goes as far as to suggest misogyny follows users online regardless of anonymity and can then result in perpetuating misogyny IRL. Evans concludes that within a cyber age, a feedback loop is now operating between cyberspace and society.

Hi y’all!

I’m Britanee, my pronouns are she, her, hers. I’m a senior majoring in Sociology with emphases in social construction of identities, and minoring in WST. My current obsessions are Empire, water color painting, and Riga Tony’s, but my life long obsession is Beyonce and social justice. Maybe in that order.

I spend a heap of time on the internet, mainly for facebook and music. I have been trying to ween myself off facebook with little success for about two years. That being said, I have actually been consciously avoiding getting a tumblr for about 5 years as I am trying to spend less and less time on social media. So I’m brand spankin’ new to Tumblr and feeling pretty old for 24 as I’m asking my roommate for help navigating the site. I do blog on Blogger though, and a reader of mine recommended I get a Tumblr saying “You’d love it, it would make you so mad”, which was actually the same pitch someone gave me to try and get me to watch Tomi Lahren. To many peoples shock, I actually don’t love being mad all the time (albeit I lowkey am).

I am interested in the accessibility and reach of the internet and therefore its ability to be used as a platform for social change and knowledge sharing and production.Thanks to the internet, when I am unlovingly called an angry feminist I can just toss ‘em this link to start a teachable moment and kind conversation over the ideas and uses of anger. However, I do worry of the possibility of social media creating a false sense of progress when we surround ourselves with like minded friends and followers. Additionally I fear the internet may produce a false sense of contribution to change.By this I mean, for example, an internet user feeling satiated in activism by simply posting a political opinion articled instead of going out and voting (if they are able). I’m interested to learn more about this along with many other concepts over the semester.

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