I realize that this comes a bit late seeing as it's already Monday, and I really can't tell for certain if this has been discussed, but I thought I'll just put it out there since one of the questions in the Unit Outline for this week apparently piqued my curiosity.
Anyway, are online interactions inherently gendered? Do gender relations operate differently online compared with face to face interactions?
What does everyone think?
Personally, I feel that online interactions are gendered mostly through personal choice. Sure, there are ways to distinguish the gender behind someone blogging/talking/chatting online but to claim that it is the inherent ability of each individual to conform to gender norms online is, perhaps, an over-generalization. What I mean is, if a person so decided to, it is relatively simple to disguise his/her gender in cyberspace. In fact, I'm pretty sure that there are plenty of people out there that pretends to be of the opposite gender (no judgement here, just stating a point). I believe that to a certain extent, yes, online interactions can be inherently gendered. But more importantly, the level and amount of freedom and manipulation on cyberspace means that such inherent norms are easily rendered void.
As far as whether gender relations operate differently online when compared to face to face interactions, I'm inclined to agree with the statement. Come to think of it, how many of you remember when you said something to someone from the opposite sex online, that you would never have done face to face? I know I have. But of course, that is a simplistic view of things. Still, gender relations has definately undergone a transformation in cyberspace. Be it the empowerment of women or the reinforcement of patriarch values, I think the relative anonymity and freedom of cyberspace has certainly affected gender relationships.
So yep, just my two cents worth. I appologize if I ramble on and on at times..
On a complete side note, I actually know someone that broke up with his girlfriend via the internet. I just thought it was a perfect summation of how gender relations worked differently online. Well, because apparently, he mentioned that online, he could tell her the real reasons why he was leaving her, and it was something he couldn't do if she was standing in front of him. (Disclaimer: I do not agree with his actions.)
Again, I hope I didn't bore anyone too much. Hope to see some discussion going on in here!
Cheers!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
i get the feeling that the word gender is kind of just being flung around at the moment... like.. what am i saying... is there a limit to how deep one can look into these online identities?
I think it would be better if we just stuck with the presentations and the readings done weekly rather than throwing out random ideas. As you said this is already all over the place enough as it is.
Post a Comment