Feminist practices of technology: What's your approach? Celebrate International Women's Day by creating a buzz and add your take on how you use the internet, mobile phones and other communications technology for women's rights and empowerment on Twitter! #takebackthetech #iwd #feminist_tech
Imagine being able to walk down any street at any time of the day without the possibility of being harassed. Imagine every home being free from the sounds and actions of violence. Imagine posting any information about yourself online without being anxious about who might abuse it. Imagine surfing the internet without seeing one sexually degrading advertisement, representation or comment. How would it look? Picture a world without violence. In the process, identify and name what contributes to violence against women, and make a commitment to take action to end violence against women.
What does it take to end violence against women? Sometimes it takes a large action: ratifying a convention, making a change in law, committing through policy and more. Most of the time, it takes small gestures: in everyday actions, everyday words, everyday interactions with the women and men around us, and within ourselves. And sometimes, it might take just that one unlikely, but great and timely idea to start changing things. Join in the global brainstorm. What's your idea for ending violence against women?
Digital technologies have blurred some of the lines that we think of as dividing what is private, and what is public. When you are in a cybercafe, having an online chat with your boyfriend, is it public or private? When you put something up on Facebook, to be seen only by people who are in your network, is it private or public? When you shoot a picture of yourself with your mobile phone, and MMS it to a friend, does it become public because you lose control over how the image might continue to be circulated? You decide what is public or private. Draw the line. Make it known.