Ok. I hope this is a bit more cohesive and gives me a better vantage point for suggestion and comments:
In the physical world (aka meatspace) females are objectified in a number of ways. Young girls are bombarded with images and stereotypes of what being female should look like. From movies/t.v, magazines, and music videos women are objectified as sexy or sexual beings; more objects of desire rather than intellectual and strong beings. We see this same kind of objectification perpetuated in virtual spaces as well which further reinforces gender inequality in cyberspace. Because of this reinforcement in meatspace and in virtual spaces the movement for gender equality continues to run into barriers. Does the ubiquity of social media reinforce gender inequality or does it provide a platform for reform? I would like to explore and argue that virtual spaces, although providing a foundation for change and reform, still reinforces gender inequality that we encounter in meatspace.
I am open to suggestions, comments and any resources you might offer to this subject! :)
My suggestion here would be to focus on one particular virtual space and argue how it does reinforce gender inequality (or the opposite. Since this is a short paper, you will not have the space (or the time, or the resources) to make any argument about all virtual spaces, or all of social media -- social media sites are all vastly different, and operate within their own cultural norms (meaning, there are some social media sites that operate entirely in a specific country, and therefore are more closely tied to offline cultural norms than others).
ReplyDeleteYou would necessarily have to provide the context for your argument, the reasoning behind your selection of that particular space, the argument itself, then the evidence for that argument, all the while remembering to tie it back to major topics discussed (and using support from things we've read (or other things)).
Unfortunately I think you may be right about a platform in virtual space and its propensity to reinforce gender inequality that exists in meatspace.
ReplyDelete