VI. Sex/Gender
Sociology 4JJ3: Sociology of Internet/Cyberspace Instructor: Carl Cuneo, KTH-608

Questions:

• Gender: If the Internet is a hostile environment for women, why are women one of the fastest growing sectors of the population joining, and participating on, the Internet? (Fact: Between 1994 and 1997, women as a percentage of all users of the World Wide Web increased from 5% to 31%, while men dropped from 95% to 69%).
• Pornography: If there are strong community standards opposed to pornography, why are pornography sites on the Internet (Usenet, Web, Listservs, Chats, MUDS, MOOS, etc.) growing so fast in participation and popularity? If individuals publicly oppose or are silent about pornography, why do they privately access pornographic sites from their computers at home, work, and school?
• Digital Organizing: If feminist, labour, and green groups view computer technologies negatively, why do they conduct many of their activities (including communications and grassroots organizing) via computers and the Internet?

Resources:

1. Dale Spender, Nattering on the Net: Women, Power and Cyberspace. Garamond Press, 1995.
2. Lynn Cherny and Elizabeth Reba Weise (eds.), Wired_Women: Gender and New Realities in Cyberspace. Seal Press, 1996.
3. Sadie Plant, "On the Matrix: Cyberfeminist Simulations", Chapter 11 in Rob Shields (eds.), Cultures of the Internet: Virtual Spaces, Real Histories, Living Bodies. Sage Publications. 1996.
4. MacKinnon, Richard. "Virtual Rape". Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 2(4). June, 1997.
5. Witmer, Diane F. "Risky Business: Why People Feel Safe in Sexually Explicit On-Line Communication.". Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 1997 Jun; 4(2).
6. Witmer, Diane F. and Katzman, Sandra Lee. On-Line Smiles: Does Gender Make a Difference in the Use of Graphic Accents? Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 1997; 2(4).
7. Leslie Regan Shade, "Gender Issues in Computer Networking" (1993)
8. Ellen Balka, Women's Access to On-line Discussions about Feminism.
9. Doctress Neutopia, "The Feminization of Cyberspace" (1994)
10. Karrie Jacobs, "RoboBabes: With most video games geared toward the aggressive adolescent male, what's the incentive for females to cruise the information superhighway?" I.d. MAY 01 1994 v 41 n 3, p. 38
11. Pornography
    1. Marty Rimm, "Marketing Pornography on the Information Superhighway" A Survey of 917,410 Images, Descriptions, Short Stories, and Animations Downloaded 8.5 Million Times by Consumers in Over 2000 Cities in Forty Countries, Provinces,and Territories
    2. Censorship and the Net: Yahoo's Cyberporn Index
    3. Nicole Nolan, "Sex and the Single Geek", This Magazine. May/June, 1996, pp. 25-29

GENDER RESOURCES
• Index to Feminism and Women's Studies
• Feminism and Women's Resources (Winnipeg, Canada)
• Women and Computer Science (Resources)
• Women's Wire
• Feminism and the Net (National Organization of Women)
• UseNet Discussion Groups and WebChats
  • soc.feminism - moderated discussion of feminism and feminist issues.
  • alt.feminism - like soc.feminism, and different.
  • alt.feminism.individualism