What is Cyberfeminism
Cyberfeminism is a term that was coined and internationally recognized back in the early 1990s. However, it did not bare much fruit yet due to the world not being in the digital age. Today, due to living in the digital age, cyberfeminism is starting to become a more powerful movement for the most part. There is nothing fancy about cyberfeminism. The movement would be the next step in feminism. Like any other sociopolitical movement, feminists have taken to cyberspace. They are utilizing the power and resources of the world wide web. Today, various sociopolitical movements have to rely on the Internet to get their respective messages across to others. Feminists are no exception to that.
As a result, feminists have taken to the Internet as a means to get their message across to others that share in their views. Back then, the main aim of cyberfeminism was to get women online. In short, find ways for women to gain access to the Internet. Now, many have access to the world wide web through computers, smart phones, and other devices.
However, cyberfeminists go in their own direction. There is no rigid definition in their movement. Asides from being a sociopolitical movement, it is also a form of online art. This is because online art and the interactions that come along play a crucial role to the movement.
One example of a cyberfeminist art collective is known as subRosa. This collective uses a combination of art, social activism, and politics.
The website of “switch.sjsu.edu” explains that the definition of cyberfeminism is broad. It explains that the first “Cyberfeminist International” event took place in Germany on 1997.
On “feminist.com,” it said that the movement initially started out to get more women online. At the time, only a handful of women’s organizations had online websites.
But, the general definition of cyberfeminism would be the application of feminism in regards to cyberspace. It is difficult to find an authority like definition as explained by Switch.
Simply put, this is the next step in the feminist movement. The easy explanation would be feminism in regards to the Internet. One can compare this to the recent Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia and the recent protests in Egypt. Both movements had to utilize the power of the Internet to get the actual truth out.
While the term can be rather broad, one can simply call cyberfeminism as this: feminism on the Internet. In today’s world, due to the age of technology, the term will become more significant than it was when first coined.
