Feminist Law Prof Anita L. Allen (Penn) has posted to SSRN her essay “A Dialogue Among Dolls: The Case for Cyberfeminism.” Here is the abstract:
Four dolls, two plastic and two biological are seated around a small table inside a Starbucks coffee shop at an upscale shopping center outside Dayton, Ohio. They are all enjoying skim lattes. It is a Saturday. These same four dolls, along with their husbands and dates were guests at a dinner party the previous Thursday.
This opinion essay was prepared for the Revealed I Conference at the University of Ottawa in October 2007. It takes the forms of a one-act play. I suggest that (1) some women are not in a position to capitalize on what the internet has to offer and may be confined in traditional, pre-internet lifestyles that cut them off from technology; (2) the internet is not an unqualified good, though it opens up avenues of social experimentation, commercial exchanges, medical education and spiritual healing. Women are not necessarily more powerful, free or safe because of the internet.
The full article is available here.
-Bridget Crawford
The doll talking put humor as an ally of serious. The abstract can be misleading. But reading the whole essay added to the sad, sad MySpace story is a reminder (though I’m sure some vehemantly disagree with this) that technology is neutral. We humans decide it’s use. Freedom, empowerment, knowledge and the rest must be sought. There is no single bad or good to any technology, so it is up to us to make good. Being denied access or skills is a human act that can be addressed if we want to. As George Carlin said when talking about sin, “ya gotta wanna!” Same goes with the use of the “Net”