Cybergrrrls - Girl Internet Identity
As a 13-or-so-year-old girl, pop culture was an integral part of my identity. I loved music, but had difficulty bonding with other girls over it. My friends either didn't like the same music as me or weren't as passionate about it as I was. Different types of music went along with different types of cliques and I wasn't a part of any of them. I looked to the internet to feed my pop culture and music obsessions, whether it be perusing fan sites for artists, posting on message boards, or listening to music online.
I remember visiting a lot of artist fan sites created by girls and talking through various internet venues to girls from around the country, bonding over our love for certain musicians. It is only now, reflecting upon the importance of the internet within girl culture, that I realize how important these rituals were to me. This huge part of my identity existed almost entirely within this virtual reality, as Foucault would put it in an "other space" or a "heterotopia." (Reid-Walsh, Mitchell 178) This interest and these activities provided stability and comfort for me, through what was a rough time. Being 13 sucked, but I found sanctuary in my music-internetness and belonging in the sense that other people shared by interests, thoughts, and passions.
At the same time, in this internet pop culture world I encountered even further affirmation that there was something "wrong" with me, voluntarily inundating myself with unrealistic images of what girls and women should look like and be like. Female musicians were "perfect" and "pretty" (This is how I perceived the ones that I enjoyed at the time) and I was not.
I wish that I had encountered, in addition to these images, prompts to critically analyze media, such as those on about-face.org. If girls were taught these skills at a young age, they would be so much better off and not just in terms of body image. I recently read a book entitled "My Mother Wears Combat Boots", a parenting book by a punk mom. I cringed at a lot of her parenting techniques, but applauded a lot of them too. One of the best ones that she used with her daughter was teaching her, from a very young age, to critically analyze media. From the quotes by her 5-year-old daughter, this girl seems brilliant as a result and is constantly asking such great, insightful questions about the world around her. We, as a society, need to do this for our girls.
I do have some issues with about-face.org, despite thinking that much of the website is awesome. I understand the intention of listing the "gallery of winners", in addition to the corporations with sexist ads, but do we really need to be listing "good" corporations marketing toward women? I applaud that they aren't producting sexist ads and that some of them are even bucking expectations, but I really doubt that most of them care about the women they are marketing to. They are trying to sell a product and if they think this is the way get women to buy it, they'll do it. This is in addition to the fact that a large amount of corporations who don't produce sexist ads still harm women in some way, often hidden in the background. Part of critically analyzing media is recognizing that all ads are trying to sell something to you, as part of a demographic. Girl culture doesn't need any more brand loyalties than already exist within it.
I think that the internet can be a grounds for girl resistance, as well as another form of media to be wary of. Girls producing their own websites, and creating media of their own, turns it all on its head and is definitely an awesome development. As a girl, I never would have had any clue how to produce a website, so I think it's great that girls are producing this media on their own.
I remember visiting a lot of artist fan sites created by girls and talking through various internet venues to girls from around the country, bonding over our love for certain musicians. It is only now, reflecting upon the importance of the internet within girl culture, that I realize how important these rituals were to me. This huge part of my identity existed almost entirely within this virtual reality, as Foucault would put it in an "other space" or a "heterotopia." (Reid-Walsh, Mitchell 178) This interest and these activities provided stability and comfort for me, through what was a rough time. Being 13 sucked, but I found sanctuary in my music-internetness and belonging in the sense that other people shared by interests, thoughts, and passions.
At the same time, in this internet pop culture world I encountered even further affirmation that there was something "wrong" with me, voluntarily inundating myself with unrealistic images of what girls and women should look like and be like. Female musicians were "perfect" and "pretty" (This is how I perceived the ones that I enjoyed at the time) and I was not.
I wish that I had encountered, in addition to these images, prompts to critically analyze media, such as those on about-face.org. If girls were taught these skills at a young age, they would be so much better off and not just in terms of body image. I recently read a book entitled "My Mother Wears Combat Boots", a parenting book by a punk mom. I cringed at a lot of her parenting techniques, but applauded a lot of them too. One of the best ones that she used with her daughter was teaching her, from a very young age, to critically analyze media. From the quotes by her 5-year-old daughter, this girl seems brilliant as a result and is constantly asking such great, insightful questions about the world around her. We, as a society, need to do this for our girls.
I do have some issues with about-face.org, despite thinking that much of the website is awesome. I understand the intention of listing the "gallery of winners", in addition to the corporations with sexist ads, but do we really need to be listing "good" corporations marketing toward women? I applaud that they aren't producting sexist ads and that some of them are even bucking expectations, but I really doubt that most of them care about the women they are marketing to. They are trying to sell a product and if they think this is the way get women to buy it, they'll do it. This is in addition to the fact that a large amount of corporations who don't produce sexist ads still harm women in some way, often hidden in the background. Part of critically analyzing media is recognizing that all ads are trying to sell something to you, as part of a demographic. Girl culture doesn't need any more brand loyalties than already exist within it.
I think that the internet can be a grounds for girl resistance, as well as another form of media to be wary of. Girls producing their own websites, and creating media of their own, turns it all on its head and is definitely an awesome development. As a girl, I never would have had any clue how to produce a website, so I think it's great that girls are producing this media on their own.
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