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Apr. 9th, 2003 02:41 pmI'm in the office alone so I'm procrastinating. Evil Laura. (In my defense I worked my ass off on Monday).
Anyway, this morning I had to do a presentation for my "Women in the Media" class about a bunch of assigned articles dealing with women and cyberculture. A lot of it was very interesting (particularly the stuff from 1995; it's so amazing how different the net was back then!) Some of it was irritating (Donna Harraway's "Cyborg Manifesto" is so ridiculous; why the hell would anyone choose to write like that?).
Most of the articles focused on the net as "male territory," a place created by and for men in which women are outsiders. Only one of the articles mentioned fandom, which mentioned it in passing and in stereotypical terms (as if all fans are teenage boys or men with no lives). Some of the theory was based in fact; at the time these articles were written, the vast majority of internet users were male. However, I rather doubt that's true anymore; it's certainly not true in the communities that I frequent. So in my presentation I tried to counter these claims by pointing out contradictory evidence, such as livejournal (it is a traditionally "feminine form," both in its function as a journal and as a method of communication). I gave examples of women who entered cyberculture because of traditionally "feminine" interests but who moved from consumers to creators (such as a girl who creates a fan site for her favorite band, learns programming, and becomes a web designer). Most of the articles described how the net is created by men, therefore it's optimized for use by men, so I gave examples of forms that are created by women (such as various Buffy forums, fanfic sites, livejournals, yahoo groups, etc).
Anyway, much of the class discussion revolved around the dangers of the internet; it isolates you from others, it's a very poor method of communication because you can't see the other face to face, it's dangerous for children, it isolates you from your physical self, blah blah blah. The class tended to speak of people who are heavily involved in the internet as if we are a bunch of emotionally disturbed freaks with no lives. This really irritated me, of course, because I've found the net to be an incredibly rewarding place where I've been able to get to know people very well and to connect with them on a very personal level; in fact, a level that is difficult to reach in "real life" because of the barriers of distance, physical appearance, preconceived stereotypes, etc. Online, you are communicating with your *thoughts*, without all that superficial nonsense of the real world, and when done properly it can be an such a wonderful experience.
Anyway, I tried to explain this, and I think a few people understood (the professor agreed with me), but most people just kind of looked at me funny. Is this something I'm supposed to keep quiet, like a dirty little secret? Should I be embarrassed about the time I spend online? I hear things like this from others, "I haven't told my real life friends that I have a livejournal," or "No one knows that I write fanfiction," or whatever. I don't get that. I don't see anything wrong with communicating via the internet. If there was something wrong with it, I wouldn't do it. I'm not embarrassed or ashamed. I love being part of this community, and I think it's a wonderful place.
Anyway, this morning I had to do a presentation for my "Women in the Media" class about a bunch of assigned articles dealing with women and cyberculture. A lot of it was very interesting (particularly the stuff from 1995; it's so amazing how different the net was back then!) Some of it was irritating (Donna Harraway's "Cyborg Manifesto" is so ridiculous; why the hell would anyone choose to write like that?).
Most of the articles focused on the net as "male territory," a place created by and for men in which women are outsiders. Only one of the articles mentioned fandom, which mentioned it in passing and in stereotypical terms (as if all fans are teenage boys or men with no lives). Some of the theory was based in fact; at the time these articles were written, the vast majority of internet users were male. However, I rather doubt that's true anymore; it's certainly not true in the communities that I frequent. So in my presentation I tried to counter these claims by pointing out contradictory evidence, such as livejournal (it is a traditionally "feminine form," both in its function as a journal and as a method of communication). I gave examples of women who entered cyberculture because of traditionally "feminine" interests but who moved from consumers to creators (such as a girl who creates a fan site for her favorite band, learns programming, and becomes a web designer). Most of the articles described how the net is created by men, therefore it's optimized for use by men, so I gave examples of forms that are created by women (such as various Buffy forums, fanfic sites, livejournals, yahoo groups, etc).
Anyway, much of the class discussion revolved around the dangers of the internet; it isolates you from others, it's a very poor method of communication because you can't see the other face to face, it's dangerous for children, it isolates you from your physical self, blah blah blah. The class tended to speak of people who are heavily involved in the internet as if we are a bunch of emotionally disturbed freaks with no lives. This really irritated me, of course, because I've found the net to be an incredibly rewarding place where I've been able to get to know people very well and to connect with them on a very personal level; in fact, a level that is difficult to reach in "real life" because of the barriers of distance, physical appearance, preconceived stereotypes, etc. Online, you are communicating with your *thoughts*, without all that superficial nonsense of the real world, and when done properly it can be an such a wonderful experience.
Anyway, I tried to explain this, and I think a few people understood (the professor agreed with me), but most people just kind of looked at me funny. Is this something I'm supposed to keep quiet, like a dirty little secret? Should I be embarrassed about the time I spend online? I hear things like this from others, "I haven't told my real life friends that I have a livejournal," or "No one knows that I write fanfiction," or whatever. I don't get that. I don't see anything wrong with communicating via the internet. If there was something wrong with it, I wouldn't do it. I'm not embarrassed or ashamed. I love being part of this community, and I think it's a wonderful place.