Cyberfeminism
Christy Sheffield Sanford.22.0 Women in Cyberspace (Christy1, 4/3/99 12:46:19 AM)
http://www.heise.de/tp/english/pop/topic_2/4102/1.html This is an article about Lynn Hershman Leeson's, "Conceiving Ada," a film about 'the mother of all programmers,' Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852). She was an amateur mathematician who wrote the first computer language and predicted its use in music, poetry and art. I am loosely quoting from the article. There is a fascinating account of the computer techniques used to make the film.
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Sue Thomas (Sue Thomas, 4/3/99 10:15:31 AM)Thanks for this info Christy - it's fascinating. I'm very much looking forward to seeing this film.
Sue
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Christy Sheffield Sanford (Christy1, 4/4/99 4:21:06 PM)Glad it was an appreciated reference. And, here, you will find a reference to Carolee Schneemann, in the latest issue of Geekgirl, in Columbine's column. I find many of the most avant sites featured at Geekgirl. They don't just showcase women, but, as we know :-) many in the forefront are women. http://www.geekgirl.com.au/
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Sue Thomas (Sue Thomas, 4/4/99 11:51:30 PM)Thanks for this too! I'll take a look.
I do however always have a query over the 'women in cyberspace' issue because I would prefer to maintain that gender boundaries can afford to be more fluid here than RL.
There has for a long time been a joke about the number of men who read Cosmopolitan magazine in women's houses but would never buy it themselves, but in cyberspace of course they can register on any 'women's' list and nobody is any the wiser. I don't complain about this because I think it is liberating and acceptable, but such technical considerations make the notion of 'women in cyberspace' rather less dependable than it would be if we were all together in the flesh.
So, I approach this theme with interest but also warily and with a degree of skeptism!
Sue
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Barbara Steinberg (mariarosa, 4/5/99 11:33:28 PM)That's funny. The topic of women in cyberspace could be fluid becasue the woman could be a man. Well, if a man is portraying himself as a woman, should he not count as a woman? :-) I won't go there. :-)
I actually think women are making a mark on e-commerce, and industry is beginning to notice. It is being predicted that women are going to be doing the most shopping on the internet. There is a site, autoweb.com, geared specifically to selling cars to women over the web. I bought my Toyota Tacoma truck after doing research on autoweb.com. That is how I decided which model truck to buy.
And I suppose women's buying power influencing the way commerce is done over the net is an issue of cyberfeminism. Women shop differently from men, don't you think?
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Morten Wang (NettRom, 4/6/99 7:44:06 AM)can I pop in and write a little here? is it ok that I'm male? should I impersonate a female? no? good... :)
my first encounter with the male/female issue online probably happened when I first stepped into the BBS-world in August 1992. things probably were a lot different in Norway than in the US due to us not having free local calls and all that, but it still was an "online" community. at that time BBS's were something guys did, and those females who participated either were a girlfriend of somebody or the daugther of somebody. pretty simple. one thing that was different too was that you didn't find males impersonation females, and vice versa, something I believe happens more now. the community was a lot different, and much smaller, and tracking down somebody was easier, therefore I think people behaved differently, more polite and considered their actions before doing something.
there were some incidents though, one I remember a lot which happened sometime in the autumn of 1992. many BBS's exchanged messages in networks, and one network had an erotic group. the SIGOp of the group did a great job with maintaining it, talked to people when they stepped out of line. therefore it had a good atmosphere where people talked openly about their thoughts, comments where good and everyone tried to work for the better of the whole group. then, one day somebody stepped into it and sent off a request to one of the participants (a married woman) if she would consider meeting up with him and having sex. that was the end of that group.
a few years later I slowly got onto the Internet and I think things are a lot different. at first the Internet was a lot like the BBS's, the males dominated and things were based around the male culture. more or less like the Norwegian army/air force in my opinion. those females who showed up where immediately contacted by several males looking for a relationship and/or sex. I have no trouble understanding if females didn't want to participate.
the change has seemed to come slowly from where I've been sitting, but it's a change I welcome with open arms. I heard a few days ago that AOL now has just as many male members as females. it's a vital ingredient in the community. the women I mean. they have a different point of view, different reasons behind their decisions, and different experiences.
hmm... I suddenly went empty here, can't find any words... think I'll just end things abruptly. sorry if I've said anything wrong.