feminist perspective

• Statistics:

  • Women use social media more than men (pinteret and instagrams demographic of women is 70%)
  • Only 13% of wikipedia contributions are by women
• Feminists challenge the male dominated nature of digital media, emphasising the role of women, deminists and cyber feminists in developing DFC.
• Haraway: 'A cyborg manifesto'

  • Women should be included in all forms of knowledge relating to technology.
  • Women cannot be essentialised
  • She suggests that cyborgs may allow people to transcend or rise above gender-bound ideas of what it means to be a person.
  • So, technical advances offer the possibility for women to create new forms of identity not bound by traditional ideas or dominant patriarchal discourses about gender
• Nakamura - Women from a range of ethnic minorities are gaining an increasing presence in DFC which is used to enable their interests.
• Globalisation and the exploitation of women

  • Arlaccki - as national boundaries have become less significant, the illegal movement of people has become much easier to coordinate, and so people trafficking has risen
• Statistics for exploitation:

  • 790 children were subject to safeguarding or protection
  • almost 19k reports relating to child exploitation
• negative impacts of exploitation on women

  • physical, sexual, emotional abuse with short and long term effects
  • commodification of women
  • ability to share the eroticising of mens violence towards men
• Feminists acknowledge that men are also included in exploitation, however they point out that online forms of abuse reflect the rates & patterns already existing where, women experience violence at the hands of men
• DFC offers new ways in which women, children, and marginalised groups can be exploited
• Hughes - the type of sexual exploitation on the internet include; Bride trafficking, sex tourism, exchange of information on where to by prostitutes, and live sex shows.
• Key study: Establishing Britain as a world leader in the fight against modern slavery, Centre for social justice:

  • Slaves include UK nationals and those from abroad who are exploited in the sex industry, through forced labour, domestic servitude in the home, & forced criminal activity.
  • Exploitation takes place in factories, fields, construction sites, brothels, houses.
• in 2011, of the 2077 potential victims of slavery identified by the UK trafficking centre, 40% of the individuals were male. However, in 2011, 94% of trafficking in sexual exploitation were women.
• 4th wave of feminism: The importance placed on technology as a method for communicating & sharing ideas and plans.

  This has had a significant effect on many women who might previously have been unheard. Women in many parts of the world are not allowed to be educated or express their views, making their thoughts part of a muted group.
• 4th wave of feminism: new DFC are being used as tools that allow women to build a strong, popular reactive movement online.

  • example: Girls guides organisation introduced a campaigning and activism badge this year
• Evaluation:

  • Feminists are critical of the new opportunities that DFC gives to exploit women.
  • Some forms of new DFC are simply an extension of the older forms of traditional methods, which reflect patriarchal ideology