Week 5/6 Discussion - Negotiating Identity

Week 5/6 Discussion

Cyberspace as a "Democratizing" Realm (Stern 112)

Only days ago we witnessed large demonstration and protests in Egypt. Through various news agencies, the internet, blogs, and tweets, we are able to learn about the latest developments as they unfold. It was Tunisia which first started with demonstrations against their government, and now we are witnessing a domino effect as many other Arab nations are for the ouster of their government. A sitting government may try to put down resistance but thanks to cyberspace, the people are able to utilize various forms of modernized communication and let the world know about their struggles. Thus, I believe that Cyberspace as a “democratizing” realm makes perfect sense.

In the book, Girl Wide Web, we learn that Korean girls who immigrated to the U.S. are feeling the need to identify with their girlhood upbringing in Korea. On the computer, they created Cy hompis, an internet based safe place where they communicate their challenges from both their new country, U.S., and their native land. They are able to live in the U.S. while at the same time learn about their Korean roots and culture. An example of one of the most popular activity in which the Korean - American girls can connect with their South Korean counterparts is based on a tradition of partially covering their faces with the palm of their hands covering their faces in such a way that their faces look small.

Thanks to Cyberspace because "No other technology in history has grown with such speed and spread so far geographically in such a short period of time. Twitter, to take just the latest cyber-application as an example, has grown from an average of 500,000 tweets a quarter in 2007 to more than four-billion tweets in the first quarter alone of 2010." (Journal of Democracy, Oct 2010, volume 21).Thus, users of Cyber technologies are finding it to be liberating. It is a “democratizing” realm, and anyone from anywhere has equal access to them.

We are living in a computer oriented world of Instant Messaging, blogs, tweets, face book, etc. Adolescent girls tend to capitalize on IM (Instant Messaging) as a means of experimenting with their identity. They use IM to communicate with their friends as they try to figure out their identity. They feel comfortable expressing themselves through texts messaging, something they would probably not do if they were to interact face to face with their friends. Thus, this new found ability to freely express themselves contributes to the development of their own culture. Adolescent girls are also so sophisticated in their ability to multitask that they are able to perform this IM task at the same time without sacrificing homework time. In other words, adolescent girls can do their schoolwork and engage in IM at the same time.

However, some girls misuse their freedom of speech via IM by forming cliques and writing inappropriate things. They would then engage in bullying and other vicious texts towards other adolescent girls. These kinds of behavior only serve to strengthen the stereotypes of the dominant patriarchal community. All throughout history, our patriarchal community marginalized women and girls, and so IM has enabled adolescents to voice their thoughts, ideas, and concerns in a private and safe environment, a way they could not have done before. Some adolescent girls do engage in distasteful or inappropriate IM communication, and when they do, it becomes welcome news to the dominant patriarchal community. They would say "I told you so," as if to justify all the years they have marginalized women and girls.

What are the implications of IM for adolescent girls, their communication styles, and their negotiation of gender identity?

The implications of IM for adolescent girls, their communication styles, and their negotiation of gender identity are that they are beginning to move into adulthood in a different way as opposed to their counterparts in previous generations. The adolescents of today lack shyness, and feel more empowered to communicate their feelings to their peers. They do not have to exercise restraint in terms of their feelings for a member of the opposite sex because they are simply not having a face to face discourse. This newfound source of communication serves to empower adolescent girls to allow their imagination to run freely. Very often, the tone and text of these girls would reflect a desire to flirt, a text message that is loaded with profanity. "IM has provided a space where girls can abandon social and language norms advocated by cultural discourses and use direct, and often profane speech to make points and confront one another." Thus, they relate to their peers in ways that mimic the culture's dominant gender norms (Sterns 113).

What do the findings from Instant Identity say about our culture(s) in general?

Instant Messaging is redefining our culture in the way we write. Adolescent girls are using an abbreviated form of text messaging. They use acronyms and other abbreviated forms of sentences to convey their messages; for example; AFK means away from keyboard; CD9 - code 9 parents are around; BF boy friend; BBF - best friend; ASL - age, sex, location (race/picture).

Our culture displays a carefree attitude in terms of protecting their privacy. The online discourses that our adolescents (or anyone else) participate in can be violated. The mere fact that the girls do not show any sense of concern is frightening because the dialogue that they took part in can come back to haunt them. Our youths need to be more vigilant in the guarding of their identity.