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[jwhall-blog]

Week 15 Final Project Jessica Whall

https://youtu.be/vLNHPyw7Ktg

References:

"#SocialMediaAnxieties: A Zine on Digital Failure and Attachment" (2014)

[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.

[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.

[ajonesy4791-deactivated20171128]

Blogs have gained so much popularity in recent years. I have even found myself following certain bloggers on youtube more often than anything else. However, I don’t think i have ever watched any transgender bloggers. To my surprise, there are several. I focused on Jazz Jennings who has been in the public eye for some time now (https://www.youtube.com/user/jazzmergirl/videos) Jazz Jennings is one of the youngest publicly document transgender. She had gained her popularity with an interview on 20/20 with Barbara Walters. Jazz has used her platform to speak about being a trans female through the use of her vlogs. At the early age of two years old, Jazz knew that she was a girl. As soon as she started to crawl, she gravitated towards girly objects. It was not long until her parents came to the realization that she was indeed a trans child.

Blogs are often produced with a sense of intimacy and authenticity, and allow for a direct address with a face to face conversation (Horak). I feel that this is important so non-trans people can truly see that “those” people are no different from anybody else.

[jwhall-blog]

I agree with you when you said blogs help so everyone can see how trans people are no different.  Its also nice to be able to here how people who are trans feel about certain things and can tell their experience so that people who don't know about it can at least be educated.  Even if trans people do feel differently about certain things they can say it and have people listen and understand where they're coming from wether they agree or not. I think the internet is a good platform for anyone to get how they think and feel out because even if the feed back is negative at least the thoughts and feelings are out there and have been listened to. I had not really seen any transgender blogs either before this but now that I have watched a few I think it really is a good thing and maybe people will learn to be more accepting and tolerant. 

[jwhall-blog]

Week 10

I feel that online dating as discussed in the article by Marie Hicks, has a way of objectifying women.  Women post pictures of themselves and wait for the men to come along who deem them attractive and the dating rituals begin.  Although each member creates an online profile most members have the tendency to lie or stretch the truth about themselves to appear more attractive.  Not to mention, most people don’t see themselves in the same light that others see them so although they “think” they are one way, in actuality they are nothing like there self-description.  If we are to be completely honest, it is the pictures that are posted that are the most important.  Physical attraction is the very first step in any potential match.  This, in itself, is denigrating to women.  How this affects the self-esteem of the women members of these sites, I would imagine is only negative.  To be passed up, not chosen, by the male members when there are literally thousands of them, would appear to me to be an awful experience. As Marie Hicks says in her article, Computer Love: Replicating Social Order Through Early Computer Dating Systems,” As constructed in the Anglo-American world it was not revolutionary, and it came of age during a time period when discrimination against women and widespread racial segregation meant that computerized systems tended to extend structural discrimination rather upending it.”  

[jwhall-blog]

Midterm

My design represents police brutality against Africa Americans.  I chose this as my topic because I  think in the media lately this is a huge issue. I think this a cyber issue because when something like police brutality happens of late the first place everyone hears or even sees videos of it is on the inter-web.  This is also where you see every ones thoughts, opinions, and sides.   Racism has become more of an issue of late with the election and with multiple cases of police brutality against the black man. This issue needs to be brought to light because racism is wrong, treating people unfairly or unequally is wrong, and not accepting someone for who they feel they are is wrong. We should be seeing less of these problems not more.  Here is a quote from Sara Ahmeds text, ""We can consider, for instance, how the language of racism sustains fear through displacement, and how this surfaces through bodies. Take the following quote from Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks: My body was given back to me sprawled out. Distorted, recolored, clad in mourning in that white winter day. The Negro is an animal, the Negro is bad, the Negro is mean, the Negro is ugly; look, a nigger, it’s cold, the nigger is shivering because he is cold, the little boy is trembling because he is afraid of the nigger, the nigger is shivering with cold, that cold that goes through your bones, the handsome little boy is trembling because he thinks that the nigger is quivering with rage, the little white boy throws himself into his mother’s arms: Mama, the nigger’s going to eat me up.18""

This says to me that it comes from a place of fear.  I think this issue relates to women's activism because all the people who are though of as not equal to the white man need to act and stand together.  People fear anything different from them and I think if people take a stand a join together, there is enough of the accepting people who promote happiness and well being over those we are negative.  People just need to stick together and voice their opinions.  I hope people can see from the figure I created, the same physical qualities in each picture and that leads to the bigger picture as well, the fact that this has been going on for so long and there needs to be change.  There were so many cases of police brutality it was hard to limit the amount for my artifact, it was disturbing.  That in itself made me want to choose this topic to spread some light on.

[ajonesy4791-deactivated20171128]

Comments

Todays society revolves around the use of social media. Sites such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, etc have allowed for people to create situations and openly voice their opinions. When I personally view the comments section on things such as a YouTube video, a majority of the time I find them to be extremely vulgar, degrading, and most of the time unnecessary. This is one of the main reasons I tend to not frequent the comments section on certain sites. With the internet being as popular as it has been for the past 8-10 years, we have grown accustomed to feeling entitled to accessing other peoples information (Avedisaian, 2015). This has eventually evolved to others thinking it is their place to trigger very real emotional responses. After reading through these articles, I immediately though of Lauren Bushnell, the winner of last season “The Bachelor”. I have often times visited her Instagram page and seen comments in regards to her body and what they thought of it. For example, in this video (https://www.instagram.com/p/BRJ1ciejJoM/?taken-by=laurenbushnell) there are comments left on her page such as “she has become disgustingly thin. People can defend it and pretend it’s something else but pretty obvious to me as to what’s going on”, “don’t lose anymore weight!!!!!!!!”, and “someone give her a damn cheeseburger and fries”. These people are expressing their emotions towards the video posted and how she was not fitting to their ideal body.

[jwhall-blog]

When I read the assignment for this week I had a similar thought process to your post.  Comments left on youtube videos and Instagram pictures are just mean. You hear a lot now about women bringing each other up and being supportive since we all go through similar obstacles but thats not necessarily the case when it comes to social media.  People are just down right mean with what they say and they think it is their place. Comments should be filled with positive things and uplifting things and if you don't have those things to say people should just keep scrolling on.  I like how you said people feel like it is their place since they have access to the information but people choose to look at or follow the people they are rudely commenting on.  Why don't they just not follow these people and not comment on their things? this is a frustrating thing to me about the internet.

[jwhall-blog]

Midterm

[jwhall-blog]

Post 6

I think one of the most influential tools of the internet is the hashtag.  You can literally make any word a hashtag on instagram and then you can click the hashtag to see other posts that have used that hashtag such as #freethenipple.  Then if you click that you can either A. find out what it means or B. see other posts like it.  This is very important because thats how information spreads.  I had no idea what that movement was until I saw the hashtag on instagram.  I saw a no makeup hashtag and looked into and found out a bunch of people are taking a stand and not wearing makeup to combat people and companies that say you need the makeup to look beautiful.  Major stars such as Alicia Keys, Gwyneth Paltrow and more are all doing.  Although there are plenty of girls who already don't wear makeup but it is nice to see when celebrities do it as well because they have such a platform and influence over people.  Social media is such a huge part of this generation it may as well be the younger generations news paper; which is why they hashtag holds so much power.  I also saw #freethearmpit the other day and even if some people do not agree with this at least its bringing attention to the issues and gets people discussing different issues.  I also saw the hashtag #standwithPP which delves into deeper issues then just the cosmetic hashtags I listed earlier. The hashtag is a powerful thing in this day and age.

[jwhall-blog]

#5

I think an example of an online space where the intersection of “virtual” and “real” become blurred would be Facebook. I think for younger kids such as middle school and even high school that when your on the internet you say or do things you wouldn't actually do. I think for older people it can be a platform for arguing about politics, race, ect. As Brophy says, “Ironically, many users experience heightened personal attacks and discrimination in cyberspace.”  Some would say its liberating to be able to say things and take one different feelings because you can be anything or anyone on the internet. I think  there is another side to it that can be more dangerous taking on different personas and saying things that you might not say in “real” life.  As Brophy says,   “anonymous freedom to ‘try on’ genders or sexualities without social recourse is often cited as one of the most liberating dimensions of life online; however, a user may reify and enact stereotypes, thereby reinforcing the normative understandings of gender, sexuality, race or ethnicity. This, in theory, can recreate and reify the same limiting norms which may have encouraged the user to experiment with gender and sexuality in the first place.” Which I interpreted to mean that even though its liberating and feels goof ultimately is it doing anything to take on other genders and such? Or does it take you right back to where you started.  You just need to be yourself and in the virtual and the real. Things will happen in real life should be shared online as a platform to voice feelings and concerns, but you will find the same problems in real life that you do on the internet and vice versa. The internet can be an embodies experience because you can embody someone else, a different race, gender, or persona.  The internet lets you embody anything you want.

[rflow23-blog]

Resisting Inequalities Online

I found this particular unit quite interesting mostly because I resonated with the agenda cyber safe spaces are trying to push. I am honestly not one to vent my frustrations online, however, I really like the message behind each of these online spaces of “resistance”. In my view, the gist of what these online spaces provide for women is the ability to express themselves or portray themselves however they please. The range, in terms of what each safe space provides, is very large, and each is centered on opposing and/or embracing social prejudices and stereotypes. Participants and/or members of these spaces either own the offensive nomenclature given to them, or give sharp contrast to what would be expected or accepted as the norm. Take for instance, suicidegirls.com displays erotic images taken by the models themselves (usually tattoed, pierced, punk women), but also features a blog where each of the models speak up about their experiences and daily struggles. Considering this is a website that displays sexual images of women, it is quite unusual to find that hardly any of the blog posts are sexual, but rather intellectual expressions of themselves and their lives (Magnet, 581). Other social media sites that provide a safe space is that of Audrey Wollen and her “Sad Girl Theory”. This movement assures “femme” that they aren’t limited to the contemporary depiction of a feminist, it is their right to complain and cry about the unfortunate nature of being seen as the “lesser sex” (Watson, 2015). I find it great that so many are able to find a safe place to express themselves and be who they want to be, however, I do feel that although the cyberspace is an incredibly effective tool for pushing for equality or acceptance or whatever agenda, it is necessary to step out of the safe space and be an advocate. I do acknowledge a lot of social media sites are open and vocal advocates, but sometimes some remain within the confines of these safe spaces where people form support groups, but never actually reach out and speak up. Sometimes being an advocate for your cause may be as simple as doing whatever you want despite societal pressures and stereotypes. Whether it be “Black Girl Magic” or a completely different spell of your own, I think the best stance you can take in the face of opposition is being who you want to be (Hobson, 2016). 

Janelle Hobson (2016). “Black Beauty and Digital Spaces: The New Visibility Politics.” Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology.

Shoshana Magnet (2007). “Feminist Sexualities, Race and the Internet: An Investigation of Suicidegirls.com.” New Media and Society.

Lucy Watson (2015) “How girls are finding empowerment through being sad online.” Dazed.

Below is the logo and the Facebook page of the “Harmless Hugs” safe space initiative.

https://www.facebook.com/harmlesshugs/

[jwhall-blog]

I really like the end of your post when you said being an advocate for your cause can simply be doing whatever it is you feel like regardless of what any one said or thinks you should do. Watson says, “if we don’t feel overjoyed about being a girl, we are failing at our own empowerment, when the voices that are demanding that joy are the same ones participating in our subordination.”  I like this because I am a women and I should be able to celebrate, be sad, rejoice, ect. about being a women on my own terms and do that anyway I feel is right without others saying that I am failing at empowerment.  I am a women and as a women it is a hard time right now and I should be able to freely express that on any social media out let without any backlash. 

[ajonesy4791-deactivated20171128]

Week 4

In the article Feminist sexualities, race and the internet: an investigation of suicidegirls.com by Shoshana Magnet, she portrays the resistance online through women who do not fit ones typical image when envisioning sexual, nude photographs. However, these women display the image of punk women with a great deal of tattoos and piercings. The twist to the website is these explicit photos are not simply put for ones viewing pleasure, but have a more in depth meaning placed behind them by attaching a blog to the photo about life experiences they have endured (Magnet, 2007). Ultimately, this website is exclusive to a specific “type” of woman and is not equal to all. We see this all around — from websites to big name companies. While others are welcome to view the site, an individual must fit a certain image to be exclusively involved. Another example of this is Victorias Secret. Victorias Secret promotes women being sexy in their product, however, there is huge lack of diversity amongst their models. While anybody can purchase VS products, the representation of their products can be misleading. The models consist of tall, toned, light skinned girls. To me, this is the same concept that surrounds the idea of suicidegirls.com  On the flip side of Victorias Secret, is Aerie. Aerie is the lingerie brand for American Eagle that launched a game changing campaign with real models that were not airbrushed. They advertised flaws amongst girls with all different body types. While many girls fantasize about achieving the looks of a Victoria Secret model, it is not real. I feel that within society we need to normalize normal again. Varying body types, stretch marks, cellulite, different skin colors, acne, etc., is all normal! Yet we have these sites that are exclusive to girls that only fit a certain image. What type of company would you want to represent?

VS

[jwhall-blog]

I think your example of Victoria Secret fits for this really well.  Its Ironic that the slogan on that photo is a body for everybody.  The girls they have lined up pretty much all have the same slender body type. Majority of girls would not fit into any of that. They show diversity in some different skin tones but definitely not body types. A lot of other clothing lines are like this as well such as Brady Melville which all of the clothes are one size fits all.  I’m not sure how a store could only sell clothing that one size fits all when all women are different sizes and shapes. I guarantee that there sizes do not fit “all”.  They market these clothes through Instagram and make all girls want them and then only make it accessible to the girls who git their one size.

[jwhall-blog]

Tumblr 3

I think a space where inequalities are reproduced is when it comes to different color foundations for certain makeup brands. This came to my mind because of something I saw on twitter recently. There was a makeup line that came out and it had mostly darker skin tones and someone with a lighter skin toned commented on it saying it was unfair because there were no lighter colors.  Others were commenting back saying plenty on makeup lines carry lighter colors.  Hannah Rosefield said in The Politics of Emoji Diversity as a solution, “Another possibility would be to provide a wider colour palette, enabling users to choose from dozens of realistic skin tones.”  Even though they are referring to the small emoji color palette I think the solution could work for both.  Having all lines carry more colors for everyone to choose from. I neither agree nor disagree I think there are a lot of brands that carry enough of different colors but It could be a solution to avoid the controversy like the picture and comments below.

The comments on the pictures were just really a bunch of people going back and forth saying that there weren’t enough of each color.  The caption at the top of the picture says that all other brands carry enough of the light the other colors.  I don't think this tweet should've gotten the negative comments in the first place because its just someones opinion and women love makeup so if this is someones idea of a broad shade range then thats their prerogative and I’m sure there are other people who think other brands have a batter color range.  It’s twitter a place to express your thoughts and feelings and be open and liberated. This tweet came to mind when I read the prompt and the article in the case studies. 

[iknowbutidontknow]

Cyberfeminism + Traveling

TW SEXUAL ASSAULT + DRUGS + ALCOHOL

Though there is no official definition of cyberfeminism, upon reviewing the articles in class and also self reflecting about the topic, I came to the conclusion that a facet of cyberfeminism has to deal with creating a safe space for women to tell their stories without judgement and to create an open dialogue of the hardships women face. I came to this conclusion with the help of the Ted Talk with Kate Lazo.  In this weeks Tumblr post, I decided to talk about a facebook group I’m in called “Girls Love Travel” (GLT). GLT essentially is a page where women ask about travel recommendations, flight deals and sharing stories about their travels. Sometimes, women write a post on the GLT timeline to warn women of certain places and relate it back to their lived experiences in that specific place. Honestly, I think it is really honorable for women to tell their  painful stories solely just to warn women of the harsh realities that traveling can often times bring. 

Below are snap shots of the story: 

Now, this story is heartbreaking, but again I commend the author for getting her story out there to inform the women of this page of being mindful and careful of where they are going. Girls have to have each others backs, for the world for women is a lot safer for us when we are united. 

As we all have probably seen around the interwebs of a story like this, usually there are comments along the lines of, “This wouldn’t have happened if she weren’t drunk,” or, “She was asking for it,” but the women of GLT made no comments of the sort. Actually, they were all very understanding of the situation, offered advice and wanted to know the name of the hostel so they would never go there: 

I was shocked that the comments were ALL supportive and not judgmental of this awful story. I think this is why the GLT page is great, it’s women from all over the world uniting over their love for travel and the page provides a safe space to spread ideas and ask questions. 

In a little way, I feel as if this is one of the beautiful parts of cyberfeminism. Reading Where is Feminism in Cyberfeminism, I read the quote, “Subversive uses of the new communications technologies can facilitate the work of a transnational movement which aims to infiltrate and infect the networks of power and communication through activist, feminist, projects of solidarity, education, freedom, vision, and resistance.” I think this correlates well to what the GLT page is all about: women coming together to seek guidance and reassurance. 

I think it is interesting how technology has changed that ways in which people travel, especially when it comes to women. Below is an interesting article on how the internet has changed how women solo-travel: 

http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/solo-female-travel-differences/

Though there exists concerns for men traveling, women have a lot more to be nervous about. 

[jwhall-blog]

When I was reading the posts for this week I was scrolling past yours and I saw the layout of one of the pictures looking like Facebook comments and instantly thought it was going to be a thread of negative comments about the girl.  I thought I will definitely have something to say regarding this and I do but I am pleasantly surprised to comment on the positivity and not people being so negative.  As you pointed out earlier most of the comments you would expect would say she got too drunk blah blah blah. I am definitely going to check out that Facebook group.  I think this is an amazing example of cyberfeminism and how women help women through the internet.  It is a sad story itself put the concern and the comments that are not judging and pointed make it also a good story/lesson. Girls helping other girls to protect themselves and be aware of these seedy places and what better place to do it then the internet.

[hardtimetravelstudent]

POST 2

This week we learned about the start of cyberfeminism. I really enjoyed the readings this week because it was very interesting learning about how the early internet was viewed and what the hopes were with regards to feminism and the internet. The work of VNS Matrix and their manifesto did a good job of introducing the cyberfeminism movement. With their art and with their game, VNS Matrix was able to present their message in a new way that people were likely to listen to.

Throughout all of the readings and then thinking about this week’s topic, the Free The Nipple campaign came to mind quite frequently. The Free The Nipple movement started after a film with the same title debuted. The movie focused on a small group of women who were trying to raise awareness of the unequal treatment between men and women around the world. The movie was a hit with their target audience and Free The Nipple was soon a movement that everyone seemed to know about. Followers and supporters of the movement took to social media to continue spreading the word about the issue. Regardless of whether or not you agree with or support the campaign, I believe Free The Nipple demonstrates cyberfeminism in today’s society. The following link (http://freethenipple.com) shows the home page of the Free The Nipple campaign. I recommend looking through the links provided through the home page to get a better understanding of their cause and the message they are trying to convey. I am very glad that I looked at this page because, in my opinion, social media has done this movement a disservice by distorting their message. Finally, I have included a picture that, to me, perfectly demonstrates the issue of gender inequalities that Free The Nipple is trying to make the public aware of.

[jwhall-blog]

This post was very insightful to me.  I have seen pictures of this movement on Instagram and other social media and had no ideas what it actually represented. I went to the website that you provided and read up on what the campaign stands for and I love it. I think this is a perfect example for cyberfeminism and I find it interesting that you think social media distorted it.  Isn’t a good thing that it is all over social media even if the exact message isn't clear? At least people are aware and have heard of free the nipple.  Or maybe it isn’t since people hear it and can get the wrong idea of what it is and think negatively? Either way I think the campaign grew immensely with the help of social media, it made me want to respond to your post and check out the website!  Also love the picture you chose!

[jwhall-blog]

Introduction

Hi, my name is Jessica Whall. My preferred gender pronoun is her. I am in my last semester at ASU and I am graduating with a BS in global health. I am 23 years old and am very interested in learning what this class is about.  This is my first time using tumblr.  I use the internet a lot.  Sometimes I'm on my phone and computer at the same time.  My phone is never not in my hand and I google almost everything.  I don't think there is anything necessarily wrong with that either, half of my internet use comes from when i’m at my job.  Also school is another reason I am on the internet as much as I am.  I like the internet because I feel like I have the answers to everything right at my finger tips and theres so much more to it then I’ve tried.  It is also an excellent creative outlet with all the things you can design, look at, get ideas from, ect.   As Julianne Escobedo Shepherd said,” The internet has a kind of collective beauty, and wisdom, and holds the possibility of actual soul-deep liberation.” I really like that sentence because it is so true and represents the good thing about the internet when there is so much negative.  I don’t think anything scares me about the internet but a negative aspect of the internet is that is is very distracting, which is why I think people talk and think negatively about it especially in younger people.  I am taking this course because I am interested in feminism and the internet and how they intertwine. I like that this class has to do with the internet because I feel like I will learn things that are relevant to what I like to do and what relevant in todays world. 

https://qz.com/416416/we-now-spend-more-than-eight-hours-a-day-consuming-media/