Cyberfeminist Project Proposal the Cyborg

Cyberfeminist Project Proposal

The cyborg is a condensed image of both imagination and material reality, the two joined centres structuring any possibility of historical transformation. In the traditions of 'Western' science and politics -- the tradition of racist, male-dominant capitalism; the tradition of progress; the tradition of the appropriation of nature as resource for the productions of culture; the tradition of reproduction of the self from the reflections of the other - the relation between organism and machine has been a border war. The stakes in the border war have been the territories of production, reproduction, and imagination.

Donna Haraway, (1991, pg 151)

Cyberfeminism is not founded in the idea that as a group cyberfeminists or feminist must band together to fight the inequalities, disembodiment and disenfranchisement of women, it is alternatively a development of a personal and global view that redresses inequalities through embodiment and enfranchisement into action. As a cyberfeminist fighting the system means making it better not complaining about how it is wrong. Though most would argue that creating a better system must include addressing the inequalities and shortcomings that exist it is the cyberfeminist that believes that most are aware of the inequalities and continuing to analyze them, rather than seeking out ways to change them is counterproductive. The general argument of cyberfeminism also demonstrates that there is a strong desire to reject the traditional and flawed structures and systems that are patriarchal and in many ways not user friendly for women and replace them with systems and structures that meet women's needs. One particularly difficult question within this work is the system of information communication technology is a system that is largely structured by masculine ideals in infrastructural ways an in ways of ideas, eg. The proliferation of disembodied images through the web, the anonymity that exists giving people permission to act and speak in a manner that is not protective or respectful of women and their value and therefore should not be seen as an avenue for change in the cyberfeminist, post human world. (Rosser, 2005) (Shade, 2002, p. 80)

Yet, it should also be argued, as this work will do that the internet is a fluid tool, more fluid probably than any other piece of technology that has ever been available to the world, and is also a relatively new development and technology still shaping itself and building patterns and processes for it use. If without question this resource is rejected by the cyberfeminist or feminist culture the sure response by the internet will be to create itself in such a manner as to only meet the needs of the patriarchal society. Benston also points out in her 1988 article Women's Voices/Men's Voices that access to information and technology for men is often provided through existing structures that meet their needs, especially in the workplace or in the education system, while women are often challenged to access information and technology by virtue of their gender and construct in the world. Feminists and cyberfeminists have an opportunity to help this resource evolve as a resource that meets the needs of women, as consumers driving the way that search engines travel through cyberspace and/or individual websites connect you to opportunities, or as a developer of ideas (through blogging or website design) and/or services on the internet through the need for resources for women. This is something we can begin to change, today, to make the world a better place and it is therefore essential that the best ICT's are available to Women's Center staff and patrons for change to take place. The recent drive toward connectivity of public places to technology, such as those cases which build systems and subsystems for utilization by patrons of say, public libraries, or on university campuses in the basements of buildings student accessed computer centers are helpful; but not always convenient to everyone and a resource center such as a women's center, and especially a publicly offered women's center must offer a hub for accessing this ripe potential for change.

This work proposes that experiences in one of the traditional resources available to women, i.e. women's centers must be fully capable of allowing all parties who use them all the opportunities that new technology brings for constructive communication on the issues in need of change, personal development for enfranchisement and embodiment and even the simple opportunity to utilize the existing structure of the internet to build life changes, just as it has for so many other disenfranchised individuals and groups. The proposal demonstrates the demand for Information Technologies within the context of Women's Centers. As a nontraditional student, the personal experiences I have had are vast, in that I have simply had more of them, but I have also recently become aware of a shortfall in the system, that being the fact that many Women's Centers are disenfranchised by the limited resources that allow access to the internet. In my experience, as a worker in a women's center, technology is archaic and in serious need of upgrade. My work was constantly stifled by the fact that in my position, as a worker in a Women's Center I had the technology of the turn of the century to work with, e.g. A telephone and a notepad. I could inform individuals in need of assistance that there were resources available for them on the web, whatever their given problem, but the web was an unreachable entity, as there were no computers and no means for either myself, other workers or the guests of the Women's Center to access the web to utilize those resources.

Proposal:

This proposal demonstrates the goal of helping Women's Centers obtain the best Information Communication Technologies available to date and to then train those who use women's centers to effectively use such technology, first through training staff and second through offering workshops to train patrons in technology use and utilization.

Review of Need

As a first step to the project a review must be conducted with regard to available resources in women's centers, including local, regional and educationally sponsored women's centers. The project will begin with the local women's center and potentially spread to other locations. I will contact local women's centers and review their available technology, finding out what they have and what they need. Looking into issues of infrastructure, if the location is internet ready, or if logistical issues need to be addressed such as networking cables and/or a local hub for wireless of wired access. I will then determine what actual technologies are best for the situation, eg. laptops, pcs, broadband, wireless or DSL networks and systems.

Locate Resources will then find resources within the community that are directed toward creating free access of information, such as companies that grant for ICT hardware and software and also those that provide high speed internet access to public locations, either through donation or minimal fees and those who provide free wireless access to publicly utilized spaces, of which there are many.

Allocate Funding:

Once resources have been located and needed technology has been identified. I will begin a fundraising campaign to realize the allocation, hopefully through existing granting infrastructure, already in place at the local women's center. As much as possible I will solicit for in kind donations of technologies and services, and as a last resort I will write a grant to equip the center with funding to purchase such equipment and services.

Perceived Benefits of Connectivity

On a personal level cyber connectivity is essential to personal and professional development within this culture, as the individual is constantly offered the need for the utilization of the internet and yet is not offered as resource an appropriate of user friendly manner in which to access it. This will continue exponentially unless action is taken. The individual will become unable to communicate or understand the technology and then even if it is available they will be unable or afraid to use it.

A as Jodi Dean has pointed out, it is necessary to avoid the stance of victim feminism. "Scary misconceptions of the Net...[can] prevent women from finding and using the already vast resources of the Net. Regulation is manifested on the Internet as the fear that networked spaces are necessarily hostile to women. It appears as the border that keeps out women, as well as racial and economic minorities" (1999, 1071). (Shade, 2002, p. 80)

This is especially true of the largest percentage of the population, a majority that is often treated as a disenfranchised minority, e.g. women. Without the understanding and ability to navigate the internet the individual woman will become even more disenfranchised from the system.

Additionally, on a more global note the group, e.g. women/cyberfeminists will lose a very current potential resource. The loss will be felt across the board and the internet will continue to develop in a way that is not conducive to women. It will simply become one more giant obstacle for women to navigate around or through, as it will not be inclusive of their needs or their abilities. Even in the purported technology rich Asian countries, women are still in need of special attention with regard to technology access and organization. Without such address Lui argues that the feminist agenda will falter and that real change will not be achieved until access is equal. (Lui, 2004)

As an aside, the gender that is most often associated with a strongly developed social skill surrounding multitasking, the internet as a structure should be more easily understood than almost any other modern structure, by women. The system is a vast spiderweb (that may even be to structured an analogy) of interconnected items and resources that are more multifaceted and fantastic than any one could completely understand in a short time. Internet skills are therefore, forgive the pun, hardwired into our gendered skill set and should be embraced rather than feared. Interestingly enough, this may even become a greater common ground between men and women as men become more adapt at utilizing technology to navigate mental capacities that women have through socialization and seemingly innate ability. (Kendall, 2002, p. 7)

Potential Pifalls

Though there are clear indications through research and even common sense that the positive potential of the abilty of all people to access a resource, such as the internet and the thchnology that drives it there are also many concerns and question raised by people who navigate the net every day, especially with regard to the potential dangers the net poses to consumers. The net is a distribution of ideas that are only slowly being limited by the morality that guides the real world. If you have ever read a true crime novel, than you will understand my meaning. True crime novels are enthralling descriptions of how the mind of sociopathic and homicidal individuals work, and yet real people are drawn to them like the flies that plague the corpeses the crimes have created. This may seem morbid, but in any discussion about the development of the mind we must answer the age old question of the dissemination of the darkness that exists in every mind but is not manifested due to social sanctions and challenges. This conflict arises with the question of the internet because so much of it is guided by dark thought, rather than by morally sanction thought and action. This gives a certain freedom but can potentially challenge the health and well being of an individual or group who is being exploited by or transgressed by this freedom of expression. Though this could be something as seemingly innocuous as the dissemination of medical facts that changes perceptions of the human form and especially the female form, such as is mentioned by Fantone in From Dissection to Digital Genetic Maps or it could be something as extreme as the ever growing pornography industry that seems to reconstruct itself at the face of every barrier or obstacle. "Those biblical and Porn Web sites sit there, side by side, pointing to promises and temptations that long predate the information age" (Washington Post Writers Group, July 6, 1998)." (Lipschultz, 2000, p. 55)

With the reality of universal access comes the development of a whole new set of challenges to the feminist goal. The nearly unconditional sense that many individuals have about the equalizing force of technology comes a whole onslaught of issues "as old as time" regarding the manner in which information can transform an innocent and further scar an infidel or in this case an entire group of disenfranchised and disembodied individuals.

Among cyberfeminists, belief in the myth of "equality" in the equally mythical realm of cyberspace is widespread. Electronic media theorists and commercial entities alike maintain that "differences" of gender, race and class are nonexistent in the Internet due to the disembodied nature of electronic communication.1 Because the hierarchies of RL (Real Life) are believed to be inapplicable to cyberspace, discussions of race have only recently been initiated in electronic media theory and criticism. In an influential 1999 publication, Beth Kolko, Lisa Nakamura, and Gilbert B. Rodman observe that in academic electronic mailing list participants studiously avoid and actively silence discussions of race.2 Kolko et al. argue that "outing race" would render more accurately the diversity of cyberspace but they do not specify how making race visible might change existing power relations. In their words: "Cyberspace has been construed as something that exists in binary opposition to "the real world, "but when it comes to questions of power, politics and structural relations, cyberspace is as real as it gets."

Fernandez, Domain Errors)

Real life occurrences of cyber stalking and discrimination can occur when any individual gives personal information, real or fictitious about themselves in a public format, such as a topical discussion forum or an internet connectivity tool such as AIM or ICQ (Instant messaging technology systems). This sort of personal and blind attack can be extreme and can cause an individual to seriously question the utilization of the internet as a way to connect to people one would otherwise never meet. It takes creativity and careful navigation to eliminate these potential threats to self, and often times that means isolating (or self censoring) the manner in which one uses the internet, often times simply eliminating the functions of connectivity to reduce risk.

Issues of sexual harassment and pornographic content online also affect access for women. Bell and de la Rue characterize online harassment as open hostility and harassment (sexual or not) directed towards women by men: "[The] open hostility towards women seems to be analogous to the experience of women entering traditionally male-dominated professions and trades" (1995). Online harassment more often occurs via private e-mail and in IRC (Internet Relay Chat) areas, and the nature of computer-mediated-communication (its slant towards anonymity, lack of personal contact, etc.) tends to encourage flamboyant, outrageous or nasty behavior (Brail 1996). (Shade, 2002, p. 80)