Negotiating Gender Online
Podcast:
In this week’s podcast I focus on Taylor’s article, “Where the Women Are.” I discuss how identity is negotiated online and how this affects women in the real world. I question Taylor’s claim about women being able to explore safer places online. I end by relating the complexity of appearance online to the real world.
Music is "Find Your Gone" By Wolfsheim
(17 votes)
Comments
Well Done.
Very well done podcast. It really caused my to take a deeper look at online games and communities, how they represent women, and how safe women really are one these differerent sites. While I am not a gamer myself, I do know of plenty of women who are. One of my best friends plays WoW all the time, and she has been trying to get me to try it out. I share the same concerns that you bring up in your podcast about how women are completely objectified in their avatars, resulting in comments from others like "Nice Boobs!" Tying in Julian Dibbell's "A Rape in Cyberspace" article was a good touch and really solidifies your arguement. It reminds us just how dangerous the internet, and MMORGs can really be. Both women and men need to remember that things can quickly go too far and, despite how safe it might seem, people can still be damaged by what others say and do. So what can be done to change this and make the the internet and MMORG sites more accesible to, and safer for, women? It is possible, or will there always be people on these sites that will pose a threat to others in some form or another? Good job on a great podcast.
Great job!!
Jenna! Very interesting podcast! I think you are on to something very interesting here, not only that you precisely understand the complex relationship between the real and the virtual world, but the social complexities that exist in both of these entities. I think you’re right that virtual world – such as Facebook – does not provide a complete “safe zone” for women, or really anyone to explore their own identity. You’re right, we still have to be worried that someone will make rude comments, attack us, or, even more troubling, fail to abide by social protocol. I like how you make the parallel between how this affects the user; even though this occurs on cyberspace does not mean that the people who control these characters are not being physically affected. I think it was interesting to bring Dibbell’s argument into this podcast; by focusing on how the rape occurred and changed both the culture of the game and the characters, really makes you wonder how different our social interactions are online as compared to in the real world. I understand that you are talking more about online games, but I will make a reference to one of my friends on Facebook: she told me the other day as I was talking about our class that she gets way more harassment online when she puts up her photos than when she just goes out to a bar. Why? She informed me that people feel that users – as Dibbell eludes to in her argument – feel way too comfortable online because they don’t think that what they do or say has consequences or doesn’t affect people. This just goes to show you that, as you state in the onset of your podcast, that the virtual world, while it has provided many ways to explore identity, is not necessarily free from harassment or bullying.
Great job once again, Jenna!!!
Steve