Week 9 Reflection

I found this class really interesting, I really enjoyed going through the history of feminism and learning about all the notable feminist scholars. Our discussion about the globalization of Feminism reminded me of a thesis paper I had to read for my Media Activism class. The thesis paper by Jin Han, a Masters Student at NYU’s College of Arts and Science, focused on the localization and re-globalization of global feminism. The paper discussed how in order to support and promote women’s rights in the world you can’t neglect local variation of feminism in different parts of the world. Han also analyzes how social media has impacted the globalization of feminism and how feminists should “apply feminist ideas and methodologies to local problems by taking local culture and languages into consideration.” One passage that really stood out to me in the paper was about the impact of social media and news on feminism.

“Third, feminists can use social media to promote gender equality. When producing information becomes available for users of social media, then feminists, grouped or individual, organized or unofficial, can report news on gender issues. Citizen journalism allows women to report what they have witnessed and what they are experiencing. They can create their own news and propose their own attitudes without being misunderstood or represented by others. For instance, in the past, many women who suffered from domestic violence couldn’t seek help from others and they had nobody to speak to, but now they can reach out to other people through social media.” (Han 7).

I agree and also disagree with this passage. I definitely think that social media has allowed minority groups to have a voice and be heard, but I also think that this can be used against them. Social media has allowed women to create groups and talk about gender issues which is amazing because anyone from around the world can participate. One example of this is the metoomvmt Instagram where people come together to share their stories and be supportive of one another. Furthermore, I also think that social media has given people the tools they need to get out of bad situations. Specifically, in regards to the example given about domestic violence and social media. I have seen many videos that have gone around telling women how they can contact someone or let someone know what is happening to them. I think these tools being available to everyone is another reason why social media has been able to change the way we all communicate and discuss issues together. However, I think that it can also be somewhat detrimental as well. Since social media is open to anyone and everyone to post their opinions, these places where women come together and discuss issues could be used by people to spread hate. Another thing is that you never know who is saying what on social media, so you could think you are talking to someone who has gone through the same things as you, but in reality, they aren’t who they say they are. Overall, I do agree with how the passage discusses how social media has allowed people to come together and share their own stories with their own views, but I think that it can also be used to spread hate and target groups of people who do need help. Hence while social media can spread empowering and activist messages, it can also provide those who want to dismantle these messages a platform as well. Therefore, it can dismantle the progress towards gender equality made by feminists all around the world.

Moreover, I wanted to talk a little bit about Ghost in the Shell. The essay that we read in accompaniment to the film posed questions about the identity of cyborgs: should a cyborg have a gender, given that it is no longer human? If it should have a gender, then what should its gender be? I think this is a really interesting question especially in regards to the media’s portrayal of cyborgs. Every single film or tv show I have seen that has cyborgs has always portrayed them as women. From Ghost in the Shell to Agents of Shield to Ex Machina each of them had a cyborg woman and the latter two have this woman attacking humanity or creating other cyborgs. I also noticed that in a lot of content that I watch, the cyborg portrays a cis-white woman. It really makes you wonder why. Is it due to the sexualization that comes with Woman Cyborgs/AIs or is it that they think viewers would rather see a woman cyborg over a man? Why even gender a cyborg in the first place? After reading the essay and watching all of this content, I still don’t have a distinctive answer, but I think it is a really important concept that needs to be discussed more. On the other hand, there has been some content that has portrayed cyborgs as diverse entities including Westworld. Westworld is about an amusement park that people can go to in order to indulge in their wildest fantasies, it is populated by cyborgs/android. They have cyborgs of all ages, ethnicities, genders, and sexualities. I think this show is a really important take on cyborgs and how cyborgs may not have crossed the boundaries of humanity, but it managed to blur them because people feel like they are real. It even becomes hard to distinguish them from real people. Overall, I think the media portrayal of cyborgs is very one-sided and has a great deal to improve.