The Threat of the White Picket Fence

The readings this week were very intriguing and I read through the entire "A Girl's Life Online" in a few short hours. Prior to completing the reading, I was hesitant to agree with the message that the book might be sending -- that girls are naive, victims of the internet who are in danger. I was interested in the questions the essay, "High Tech or High Risk: Moral Panics about Girls Online " asked such as, "Does the internet pose a constant—and unusual—danger to online teens? If so, what is the actual nature of the danger—is it exposure to inappropriate images, such as pornography, or is it also the risk of kidnapping, rape, or murder? Are the eleven million American teenagers who use the internet daily unknowingly subjecting themselves to certain danger? Are the 87 percent of teens who are online more at risk of victimization than the 13 percent of teens who are not online?" (Cassell and Cramer). I was reminded of the IM conversation I had with a male classmate who declared, "I just disagree with the fact that most people look at girls like naive characters who will talk to anyone…I think girls can handle their own on the net…The digital world is a place where any one could potentially be in danger."

Justine Cassell and Meg Cramer argue that there is much more to the story than teens, computers, and criminals. Rather, they ascribe the panic surrounding the dangers of the internet to that of a "moral panic." This is noted as a recurrent theme throughout history with regard to girls and new communication technologies. They cite for example, the telegraph and the telephone as parallels to internet and social networking sites like MySpace. The problem with the perceived jeopardy is that the facts don't match up. The statistics show that predatory behavior on adolescent girls has a certain profile that has either not changed over the decade since the Internet became popular, or has improved over time. For this reason one can infer the real threat is over the compromised virtue of young girls, parental loss of control in the face of a seductive machine, and the debate over whether women can ever be high tech without being in jeopardy.

So what happened to Katie Tarbox, author of "A Girl's Life Online?" In fact, at thirteen-years old, she was made a victim of a pedophile assisted by the internet. However, Ms. Tarbox does attest a large hand of blame to the constructs of gender in society. Katie began a relationship with this man (in his 40s whom she believed was 23), because of her low self-esteem, which was exacerbated by the material and image driven world she was raised in. Additionally, she felt she had no one close in her life to connect with; her mother always too busy working and her stepfather around but aloof. Obviously the first blame is to the man who would commit such a cruel act to a young girl. But there is an even larger problem at play when a bright young girl would be so easily brainwashed to put herself at risk when conversing with and meeting a stranger.

Understandably, internet usage and attitudes towards girls' participation has evolved, since 1995 when Tarbox began using AOL Chat Rooms. I believe, in general, adult and youth users are much more aware of the precautions to take when online. The real threat to girls' is a lack of resistance acquired to combat negative societal forces. Studies have shown that, speaking up, yes, just telling your story and saying how you feel provides this necessary resistance. So, the internet, rather than a threat can be a tool to promote positive identity construction and self-efficacy - i.e. social network production, graphic design, blogging, etc.

Cassell and Cramer echo this by saying, "While they are ascribed roles of naivete, innocence, or delinquency in the media, in actuality, they turn out to be active and informed consumers and producers of mediated conversations and texts." I agree with the authors that the dangers to girls online are not as severe as they have been portrayed, and that the reason for this exaggeration of danger arises from adult fears about girls’ agency (particularly sexual agency) and societal discomfort around girls as power users of technology.