Developing a corporeal cyberfeminism: beyond cyberutopia

Abstract

This article discusses -and rejects -cyberutopia, an idealized theory of internet use that requires users to leave their bodies behind when online. The author instead calls for a cyberfeminist perspective in relation to studying the internet and other new media, centrally locating corporeality and embodiment. The underutilized concept of intra-agency is then employed to develop liminality in relation to the experience of going online. The author then outlines different versions of cyberfeminism and endorses that which addresses the relationships between the lived experiences of users and the technology itself. The article concludes with a call for theorists to expand and enrich the concepts used to study new media.

A Postmodern Turn for Social Media Research: Theory and Research Directions for Public Relations Scholarship

“…Brophy, 2010;Fusco, 2001). Some postmodern critics, however, share a more dystopian perspective that belies this optimistic narrative, revealing instead how dominant neoliberal actors have exploited subaltern people and their resources in a quest for the "electronic wonderland" (Fusco, 2001, p. 188).…”

“…Postmodernists have argued that Internet media actually increases resource gaps, creating new classes of consumers and producers of technology around the globe-the foundation of the digital divide (Fusco, 2001). The dystopian perspective shines a light on how technology has enabled destructive social processes including war, imperialism via neoliberal globalization (i.e., "West to the Rest"), and exploitative labor practices for the production of the machines that enable social media (Brophy, 2010;Fusco, 2001;Sandoval, 1994). This process alienates those whose circumstances exclude them from the Internetpeople who live in places without web access; cannot afford computers or smartphones; or are illiterate in computers, reading, and/or writing.…”

“…The novelty and glitter of the Internet have blinded scholars to world citizens on the wrong side of the digital divide (Brophy, 2010;Colby, 2001). Scholars should seek to recognize and incorporate subaltern publics who have been left out of the "electronic wonderland" (Fusco, 2001, p. 188).…”

Pós-feminismo, misoginia online e a despolitização do privado

“…A misoginia que atravessa a Net é de facto um reflexo dessa tendência, apesar de a literatura académica nos fazer lembrar que a Net não opera num vazio social, espelhando antes as sociedades offline em que vivemos (Loader & Mercea 2012). Tal significa que os espaços virtuais recriam e reencenam estruturas sociais normativas (Brophy, 2010), por vezes sob a capa de promoção de uma aparente emancipação.…”

Feederism: Transgressive Behavior or Same Old Patriarchal Sex?

“…For example, Sadie Plant (1997) argues that technology will eventually eliminate gender distinctions, challenging and eradicating masculinity as we know it. On the other hand, dystopian cyber feminists argue that women will be constrained by the norms of the offline society while online (Brophy, 2010). Users of the web still have gender, race, ability, and size, and experience life according to these statuses in offline society; in fact, one"s body is what enables her to use the internet.…”