2013 Articles

Girls Get Digital: A Critical View of Cyberfeminism

Hinsey, Vera

As the Internet and digital technologies become ever more pervasive in the lives of young people, there should be a movement to engage critically with these technologies to determine how they are working as players in shaping and changing certain paradigms of society. At the onset of the digital culture, a group of women called VNS Matrix got together to talk about a new type of consciousness called Cyberfeminism. This article takes the basic tenants and theory behind their concept and applies it to some of the forms of “online feminism” which are flourishing today. The article looks at problematic issues of disembodiment, lack of accessibility, and anti-intellectualism which are being found in the digital world; while, also focusing on the many positive and constructive uses of the Internet in building feminism communities. As a location full of complexities, this article recognizes the Internet as an overwhelmingly important factor in the lives and consciousnesses of young people and yet the dangers behind its uncritical use. The author calls for a new type of engagement with cyberspace that seeks to remedy the areas where it is lacking and move into the future with a clear understanding of how it is an actor in shaping knowledge production.