Original scientific paper
CYBERFEMINISM BETWEEN THEORY AND MOVEMENT. OVERVIEW OF CROATIA
Vesna Janković
; Department of Sociology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb
Abstract
The beginning of 1990s was marked by theoretical establishment of cyberfeminism as the new feminist paradigm, which developed into two versions: 1) soft cyberfeminism whose representatives argued that new technologies, as most “old” ones, are also in the hands of men, perpetrating the old relations of dominance and exclusion, and therefore women need to take them over and radically deconstruct; and 2) hard cyberfeminism which tries to point to fundamental femininity of new technologies, and declares that technology as “a man’s thing” is a patriarchal myth. Second half of 1990s was marked by the spreading of the movement from virtual into physical sphere, appearance of first cyberfeminist groups and organization of Cyberfeminist Internationals that gather most significant media theorists, artists and activists from around the world. The very fact that women actively use new technologies is evidence that they have actively overcome the gender implications of ICTs as essentially “male toys”, that they have overcome their fear, and exhibited ability to creatively, and according to their own needs, fill cyberspace with their own content. During this period, despite the war in former Yugoslavia, two projects appear in Croatia: electronic conference Zamir/women and educational project Electronic witches, both of which are the first examples of cyberfeminist practice in the region.
Keywords
cyberfeminism; feminism; new social movements; ICT; net activism; virtual public space; Anti-War Campaign of Croatia; Zamir
Hrčak ID:
41031
URI
Publication date:
10.3.2009.
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