Feminist perspectives

Question 1

What are the statistics surrounding women using the internet?

Answer 1

• Pinterest and instagram have over 70% female users
• 13% of the contributions to Wikipedia are by women
• In the 2013 list of Britain’s top 100 influential twitter users, it contained only 17 women
• Women represent under a fifth of IT members, 21% of computer analysts and 14% of software professionals

Question 2

What does Haraway (1985) argue?

Answer 2

That women should be included in all forms of technological knowledge as they are excluded from technological advances as women cannot be essentialised. She compares the power women could have to cyborgs as they can rise above gender-bound ideals and dominant patriarchal discourses to construct their own identity

Question 3

What does Nakamura (2011) argue?

Answer 3

That women from ethnic minority backgrounds are gaining an increasing presence in digital communication and enables their interests. This can be seen through practical and emotional online support networks such as the Everyday Sexism Project founded by Laura Bates to show the pervasiveness of sexism

Question 4

How are women abused on social media?

Answer 4

• Women and children have become more vulnerable because of globalisation as the legal system is controlled by men prioritising social development rather than the safety of children
• The internet has made it easier to hide human trafficking networks
• CEOP found that there were 18, 887 reports relating to child sexual exploitation leading to 192 people arrested from online child exploitation
• feminists point out that online forms of abuse reflect the rate and societal patterns alreading existing through men largely exploiting women so the internet offers new ways of undetected exploitation

Question 5

What is the fourth wave of feminism argued by Cochraine (2013)?

Answer 5

It emerged from 2000 - 2010 which is defined by the importance placed on technology as a method for communicating and sharing ideas ad plans as a form of activism as they were previously defined as a muted group

Question 6

What are the issues raised in the fourth wave of feminism?

Answer 6

• Pornography
• Violence agaisnt women
• Sexualisation of childhood
• More awareness of the intersectional feminism with gender and other forms of identity being used together to create a new and unique experience of discrimination
• challenges the universal woman

Question 7

What did Ikmara Larasi do?

Answer 7

Started a campaign to address racist and sexist stereotypes in music videos which are reflected in blurred lines which were led to being banned in UK campuses because of the sexist lyrics

Question 8

What did Jinan Younis do?

Answer 8

She co -founded a feminist society at school after experiencing online abuse from male peers. She wrote an article on it which was viral helping to encourage feminist societies worldwide helping to reduce the problems felt by the negative impacts of being a woman

Question 9

What does Chittal (2015) argue?

Answer 9

That hashtag feminism is a new phenomenon which is engaging women of all ages to respond to examples of sexism and misogyny through online campaigns such as #metoo creating collective actions such as online campaigns for change

Question 10

What does Jane (2017) discuss?

Answer 10

The gendered cyberhate has become more relevant in the 21st century. In amnesty international research across eight countries in 2017, 23% of women said they experienced online abuse or harassment and one third had changed the way they express themselves online. This can be supported by Demust who found 200,000 aggressive tweets using the terms slut and whore sent in a 3 week period in 2016

Question 11

What does Tuchman (1978) argue?

Answer 11

The concept of symbolic annihilation is used to describe how women are marginalised and misrepresented in the media through downplaying their positive achievements and positions of power

Question 12

What is Mulvey’s (1975) view on media?

Answer 12

The concept of the male gaze to used todescribe how the cameras in films eye up women allowing women to judge their body from a male perspective. She draws upon the psychoanalytic theory through scopophilic instinct (pleasure in looking) and voyeurism (pleasure in looking without being seen) as well as fetishisation of specific body parts or attitricutes to further dehumanise women such as in films and TV shows as well as social media, online pornography, advertising and video games. This can lead to women internalising this objectification

Question 13

What does Dworkin (1981) argue?

Answer 13

Pornography is a form of sexual exploitation that harms women through demonising female submission, contributes to violence against women, and silences their voices

Question 14

What does Kramarae (2015)?

Answer 14

They critique the language used in online and offline communities as it reinforces male dominance through controlling marginalised women by the underlying patriarchal structures of digital technology. Whilst it highlights the damages from online harassment and abuse, Kramarae fails to recognise the positives of social media such as empowering women and challenge gender norms

Question 14

How does Boellstorff (2008) link to gender?

Answer 14

• It allows experimentation through cross - gender or androgynous or cyborg avatars to escape the constraints of gender
• Gender stereotypes and inequalities can manifest in virtual spaces leading to harassment and discrimination

Question 15

What does Green and Singleton (2009) argue?

Answer 15

That digital tachnology particularly the internet can be seen as feminine technology as the flexibility challenge traditional hierachal structures to destablise patriarchy and to help women form new online identies to resist sexist representations through the role of the smart phone to facilitate female friendships and communities. On the other hand, they also argue mumsnet and facebook reinforce patriarchal norms and expectations as online communities create limited change alone. This is because they may feel expected to perform a disproportionate amount of emotional labour in online spaces

Question 16

What did Amnesty international (2018) highlight?

Answer 16

6,500 high profile women from across the world received 1.1 million abusive tweets between them which is equivalent to one every 30 seconds. These often had derogatory language such as slut and whore which participants stated affected their mental health and wellbeing

Question 17

What are the positives of feminist interpretations?

Answer 17

• Platform for feminist activism about gender equality, feminist issues and patriarchal norms
• Connecting and empowering women through online communities
• Challenging stereotypes about the presentation of women

Question 18

What is the main negative of feminist interpretations?

Answer 18

They don’t recognise how the internet reinforces and heightens stereotypes and inequalities through online harassment and abuse