Gray, Kishonna. 2016. “Race, Gender, and Virtual Inequality: Exploring the Liberatory Potential of Black Cyberfeminist Theory.” In Producing Theory in a Digital World 2.0, edited by Rebecca Lind. Bern: Peter Lang.
"No longer are mainstream media the only disseminators of messages or producers of content. Everyday people have employed websites, blogs, and social media to voice their issues, concerns, and lives." p.175
"access itself neither ensures power nor guarantees a shift in the dominant ideology." p.175
"regardless of how much content women create, the Internet will never have the power to dismantle society's dominant structures." p.176
"Black cyberfeminism may address the critique that traditional virtual feminist frameworks do not effectively grasp the reality of all women and may help theorize the digital and intersecting lives of women (Gray, 2013)" p.176
"the conceptual frameworks intended to capture the virtual lives of women cannot deconstruct the structural inequalities of these spaces. Cyberfeminism, technofeminism, and other virtual feminisms may address women in Internet technologies, but they fail to capture race and other identifies that must also be at the forefront of analysis." p.176
"cyberfeminism is a notion that the Internet has liberating qualities that can free us from the confines of our gendered bodies (Bromseth & Sundén, 2011)." p.176
"We cannot just forego our bodies in virtual spaces, because much of our real-world selves are emitted into these spaces." p.176
"The continued sexism permeating gaming culture is part of a larger culture in technology that devalues women as full participants." p.177
"Conflicting constructions of Black womanhood only serve to reify who is and who is not eligible for full inclusion into womanhood. Black women have long had their identities constructed by outside forces, by masculinity, and by other entities not valuing Black women's agency." p.178
"because Internet technologies still embody hegemonic ideologies and privilege Whiteness and masculinity, the potential to resist dominating structures of oppression may be slim (Kress, 2009)." p.178
"The goal of a cyberfeminist perspective is to combat how women on a global scale are affected by the growing communications and technology fields and how within these spaces there can be opportunities to resist and reconstruct." p.179
"cyberfeminism addresses the complexity of the intersection of gender and power in digital technologies, becoming a medium allowing effective resistance and equality (Daniels, 2009)." p.179
"technofeminism is a theory constructed in response to the broad scope and utopianism of original cyberfeminism, utilising a social science approach to technology to understand the interconnectivity of gender and technology, not just in its ability to produce a reality where women can shed their worldly attributes and become anyone they desire, but as an emancipatory notion that encompasses both the positive aspects of technology and the pitfalls experienced by those women who are consumed by the modes of production." p.180
"Technofeminism holds that technology can best be understood as both a foundation and a product of gender relations." p.180
Collins (2000) and the four perspectives unique to the standpoint of Black and marginalised women:
1. Self-definition and self-evaluation
2. Interlocking nature of oppression
3. Embracing intellectual thought and political activism
4. Importance of culture
p.181
"particular advantages present themselves with the diffusion of information technologies: Women can create a control virtual spaces largely unregulated by the hegemonic elite. These spaces have the potential to foster the development of a group standpoint negating the impact of dominant ideology." p.182
"The power to manipulate images of Black women in such a way creates oppressive imagery that appears "natural, normal, [and] inevitable" (Collins, 2000. 5)" p.182
"Social networks, virtual communities, and other digital media are an extension of traditional communities, such as churches, families, and workplaces." p.183
"Intellectualism simply means the knowledge that one has about who one is... This knowledge of self propels one to the realisation of liberation." p.183
"For Black women as a collective, the struggle for a self-defined Black feminism occurs through an ongoing dialogue whereby action and thought inform one another." p.183
I find this gender studies course hypocritical; we read texts about empowering Black women and the importance of Black feminism, when the majority of us are white, including 99% of the teachers. What is the university doing to support the Black students on our course, who are directly effected by the oppression we read about, more so than the white students? What is the university doing to encourage and facilitate more Black women to reach higher education? What is our Gender Studies programme doing to include more Black women on the course? We can protest against the hegemonic discourse of White male privilege until we're blue in the face, and we can all discuss how amazing these Black female writers are, but until we, as individuals, as a department, as a university, do anything to change the fate of individuals, not just a metaphorical group, how much of what we are talking about is just words?
"the notion of empowerment could decentralise the hegemonic power of the dominant culture and make space to use indigenous knowledge." p.184
"Marginalising narratives perpetuated through the media reinforce limited conceptualisations of women. Black cyberfeminists urge women to regain control of hegemonic imagery, and Internet technologies allow for this." p.185
"we must not create a one-size-fits-all understanding of oppression." p.186
"Black cyberfeminism requires understanding the diverse ways that oppression can manifest in the materiality of the body and how this translates into virtual spaces." p.186
"Ranking oppression only leads to further marginalisation of groups already on the periphery." p.186
"Women's struggle with technology is indirectly a struggle with masculinity, patriarchy, and male privilege; maginalised women also struggle with Whiteness." p.186
"Black women's experiences in physical spaces influence their participation in online settings." p.187
"A technology may have been created for one purpose, but Black women will employ it to fulfil their own needs, thus displacing the hegemonic establishment." p.186
"No longer are mainstream media the only disseminators of messages or producers of content. Everyday people have employed websites, blogs, and social media to voice their issues, concerns, and lives." p.175
"access itself neither ensures power nor guarantees a shift in the dominant ideology." p.175
"regardless of how much content women create, the Internet will never have the power to dismantle society's dominant structures." p.176
"Black cyberfeminism may address the critique that traditional virtual feminist frameworks do not effectively grasp the reality of all women and may help theorize the digital and intersecting lives of women (Gray, 2013)" p.176
"the conceptual frameworks intended to capture the virtual lives of women cannot deconstruct the structural inequalities of these spaces. Cyberfeminism, technofeminism, and other virtual feminisms may address women in Internet technologies, but they fail to capture race and other identifies that must also be at the forefront of analysis." p.176
"cyberfeminism is a notion that the Internet has liberating qualities that can free us from the confines of our gendered bodies (Bromseth & Sundén, 2011)." p.176
"We cannot just forego our bodies in virtual spaces, because much of our real-world selves are emitted into these spaces." p.176
"The continued sexism permeating gaming culture is part of a larger culture in technology that devalues women as full participants." p.177
"Conflicting constructions of Black womanhood only serve to reify who is and who is not eligible for full inclusion into womanhood. Black women have long had their identities constructed by outside forces, by masculinity, and by other entities not valuing Black women's agency." p.178
"because Internet technologies still embody hegemonic ideologies and privilege Whiteness and masculinity, the potential to resist dominating structures of oppression may be slim (Kress, 2009)." p.178
"The goal of a cyberfeminist perspective is to combat how women on a global scale are affected by the growing communications and technology fields and how within these spaces there can be opportunities to resist and reconstruct." p.179
"cyberfeminism addresses the complexity of the intersection of gender and power in digital technologies, becoming a medium allowing effective resistance and equality (Daniels, 2009)." p.179
"technofeminism is a theory constructed in response to the broad scope and utopianism of original cyberfeminism, utilising a social science approach to technology to understand the interconnectivity of gender and technology, not just in its ability to produce a reality where women can shed their worldly attributes and become anyone they desire, but as an emancipatory notion that encompasses both the positive aspects of technology and the pitfalls experienced by those women who are consumed by the modes of production." p.180
"Technofeminism holds that technology can best be understood as both a foundation and a product of gender relations." p.180
Collins (2000) and the four perspectives unique to the standpoint of Black and marginalised women:
1. Self-definition and self-evaluation
2. Interlocking nature of oppression
3. Embracing intellectual thought and political activism
4. Importance of culture
p.181
"particular advantages present themselves with the diffusion of information technologies: Women can create a control virtual spaces largely unregulated by the hegemonic elite. These spaces have the potential to foster the development of a group standpoint negating the impact of dominant ideology." p.182
"The power to manipulate images of Black women in such a way creates oppressive imagery that appears "natural, normal, [and] inevitable" (Collins, 2000. 5)" p.182
"Social networks, virtual communities, and other digital media are an extension of traditional communities, such as churches, families, and workplaces." p.183
"Intellectualism simply means the knowledge that one has about who one is... This knowledge of self propels one to the realisation of liberation." p.183
"For Black women as a collective, the struggle for a self-defined Black feminism occurs through an ongoing dialogue whereby action and thought inform one another." p.183
I find this gender studies course hypocritical; we read texts about empowering Black women and the importance of Black feminism, when the majority of us are white, including 99% of the teachers. What is the university doing to support the Black students on our course, who are directly effected by the oppression we read about, more so than the white students? What is the university doing to encourage and facilitate more Black women to reach higher education? What is our Gender Studies programme doing to include more Black women on the course? We can protest against the hegemonic discourse of White male privilege until we're blue in the face, and we can all discuss how amazing these Black female writers are, but until we, as individuals, as a department, as a university, do anything to change the fate of individuals, not just a metaphorical group, how much of what we are talking about is just words?
"the notion of empowerment could decentralise the hegemonic power of the dominant culture and make space to use indigenous knowledge." p.184
"Marginalising narratives perpetuated through the media reinforce limited conceptualisations of women. Black cyberfeminists urge women to regain control of hegemonic imagery, and Internet technologies allow for this." p.185
"we must not create a one-size-fits-all understanding of oppression." p.186
"Black cyberfeminism requires understanding the diverse ways that oppression can manifest in the materiality of the body and how this translates into virtual spaces." p.186
"Ranking oppression only leads to further marginalisation of groups already on the periphery." p.186
"Women's struggle with technology is indirectly a struggle with masculinity, patriarchy, and male privilege; maginalised women also struggle with Whiteness." p.186
"Black women's experiences in physical spaces influence their participation in online settings." p.187
"A technology may have been created for one purpose, but Black women will employ it to fulfil their own needs, thus displacing the hegemonic establishment." p.186
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