Artistic creativity again forms of virtual violence. Cyberfeminism
Abstract.
The forms of domination in the social order, like effects materialized though strategies of “normalization” . The violence it's constantly reworks it´s founds in the inscription of power on sexed bodies and now in the reiteration of codes on ew agents that represent us in an online world. The symbolic and real gender violence are still being normalized.
Any creative or political undertaking wich aims it´s mobilize against mechanism of a an andocentric, patriarchal system that constantly feed us whit the (unconscious) repetition that our sexes have differences and those need follow a determinates rol based in domination and dominate.
Most females Internet users saw in the net an opportunity for an a political action , the Net hasn't resisted of the ignored patriarchal power. It´s reiterate models of domination, protecting mostly of the times in the anonymity and the fact to follow the same identities of reactionary power in the history.
The reaction against that need to be follow for the political and creative action , being in a process of reiteration and repetition to confront the sexual domination in Internet .Observing that the better way many times in put in the position of the other, who it´s the victim in a process of visibility that something it´s constantly try to be hide and/or ignored.
Literature Review. Sexism in the Language
The chapter Sexism in Language, from Sexual/Textual Politics: Feminist Literary Theory is a book written in 2003 by Tori Moi, who examines the history and development process of creation of the English language. In a route to understand better other theories that talk about the sexual differences. The method of the analyses is social and anthropocentric but with a obvious feminist point of view.
The first point he comments about is the English lexicon, it's a structure to glorify the masculinity to ignore and impair the feminity. Here it's been explained perfectly the English is constructed literally for men and remembering that the fact that is still being under masculine control. It's also new and we found other example of the primacy that men have constructed for their own benefit. Explaining that it's something that we already have because we don't seem to react to do something to change it that.
It emphasize that this fight about the sexism has the context for which sex gets the power. Looking back in history it's easy how women have been qualified with characteristics about weakness, from this we are not surprised in individual cases that women always have resulted in passive victims in the patriarchal power.
The text encouraged the reader to be aware of other meanings such as the feminist use of the language. Explaining that although everyone use the language but not with the same direction or interest. It's here where the author explains that we need to understand those interests as politic and relatives to the sign. The fact is the meaning of the sign not only becomes with the meaning that the class of power (in the differences ages) denominated, but curiously the sign become has multiples meanings. That doesn't mean that those “other” meanings are being reduced to total silence, it's dependant of our self still fighting for those “other” meanings.
This fact to contra attack (explained the author) “that are already made that a singular number of people feel incommoded to use generic like “he” or “man”, and questioning words like chairman or spoke man and vindicate word like witch and shrew like positive terms”. Elucidation and cheering about the take control in the fact that the structure of the language is something to be appropriated, because there no an essence inherent in the language.
Other key source points will be the conclusion in the fact that other causes that the women have weaknesses in her position in the language, because many feminine experiences have a aren't defined in words. A lot of time authorities affirm that there is no answer. The problem (concluded) the author is that interest could be fall in term of fetishism, such as been cited by Beltrolt Brecht “When you named yourself, always name to other” producing for consequence not been a safe place to the feminist.
The text I feel is insightful in the way it try to give a positive meaning and give some tips about form of strategies, it is very satisfactory in the way the text goes further than a formalist text could. Adding relevant datum about politic, social, cultural, feminist, semiotics that developed of Anglo-American history. It is very clarified in the form of the mechanism that the patriarchal system haven been used to take position.
Mori,T (2003) “ Sexism in the language” Sexual / Textual Politic: Deminist Literary Theory . London, Routledge
Artistic creativity again forms of virtual violence. Cyberfeminism
Looking above the history of Internet we could determine that the first years of life of this media was for a scientific use and under a masculine hegemony. Over the past few years this has changed and now a high percent of women users are surfing daily on the net. The exit of the concept “global village” term called by Mc Luhan (1), should not induce us to think in the global communication or a democratization of the different cultures or geographies, neither the idea of equality society.
Talking about what it is the presence of the women in the net, far away from the concept the cyber feminists had about Internet, like a new horizontal space without hierarchies was to find that the same codifications and stereotypes that we can found in the “real or physical” world. The Internet doesn't leave to be plural expression media.
To analyze what kind of presence women have on the net, it could be divided into 3 categories:
A) Women's' images for men
B) The created image for the women in websites specifically aimed at feminine representation
C) The presented image by women from net site and institutions that defend the equality (sex, race, etc.).
A - Women images for men. Erotic and Pornography.
There is a vast amount of websites about pornography on the Net; many of them are about female pornography. These images can be manipulated, modified and used like a pleasure element producing the objectivity of the feminine body, the difference with other traditional media is that this is accustom to get any whim or wish with the excuse that it is virtual woman being free of any moral valuation.
The cyber pornography consumption brings a lack of empathy to put itself in the place of the other in the way the computer science technology increases gender violence. The Internet law is not a concluded fact for that reason many of these website creators excuses about that it's a free expression.
B - Created images aimed at women's websites that are specifically feminine. Traditional stereotypes.
Looking at the websites denominated “feminine” we can easily observe that 90% of their content has a priority about beauty, health, cooking, family home and partner sections. It could be said that they follow a pattern like Foucault denominated “biopolitical” (2)
Respected to the physical image, all of them gather a canon of feminine beauty very similar and repetitive (boring). Beautiful, young and very thin women, whom it urges to spend their money on beauty products, take care about their health and make dieting a way of life. The psychological damage that the dependency of the physical figure is causing for women particularly younger girls is resulting in eating disorders. In recent years a huge number of the sites that denounce the increase of anorexia and bulimia contradictory contain an extent varied diets to lose weight and the image of the most skeletal models offering medical advice to avoid these diseases.
C - Presented image by women from net site and institutions that defend the equality (sex, race, etc.).
The women are not just only users of Internet, experts and people in charge are entering with force with the scope of the new technologies. Organized in cybernetic networks and clubs, many of them in a new form of feminism. In words of Sadie Plant “the co-operation, for there liberation and get the power between woman-machine-new technologies” Sadie Plant (3) a member of the Australian group VNS Matrix.
They advocate the subversion of the patriarchal and hierarchic system, trying to approximate it those the decentralized complex and multiple structure of the network. Trying to present a new “post human” image of the feminine body, beyond the icon “white women, perfect body” where weapons of irony and virtual parody the physical universe of the feminine thing has been deconstructed, They main point of investigation of the stereo-types, is to forget the body and reconstruct the post-sexual cyberspace. The cyber-feminists found this medium incredibly productive and had multiple possibilities of communication and expression whilst also showing the physical attributes does not matter seem to be perfect synchrony with their new objectives for the feminine position on Internet.
Videogames
Other space of virtuality are videogames, although generally people talk about gender violence like a fact that it only happens in the private space we usually forget or do not contemplate about other cultural mechanisms that still contribute to a potency uncultured process in the gender violence like a social phenomenon “inevitable”.
Producing the games over time a “normalization” effect (accept / sub missed) one of the values that be subliminal insert in the collective unconscious. These values that are linked to the patriarchal culture that legitimate the masculine domain, the violence like a strategy of relation and submission, the competency the triumph about the other like finality, the contempt towards the weak, the sexism, the racism, etc.
One of the biggest receptors/consumers of this violence that impregnated in the multitude of videogames is a very young audience, kids who are not qualified to decided for themselves. They are very sensitive about any stimulate and mainly if we think in the mass media those kids stay in a position to not have the capacity to differentiate between what it is reality and what it is fiction.
Many times the creators of those videogames hide behind excuses like boys and girls know and understand perfectly that the presence of violence is factious. They know it's unreal because it's something that they can't smell or touch, this is the view of videogame creators when interviewed by gaming magazines
The biggest problem is that the kids become immunized in front of the horror and in one way are amnesties in front of the violence. Being a burden fact that they are insensitive to the violence that generates violent behavior. Step by step it's already something that they contemplate daily while their watching television in this way they don't think it's wrong if it's happened in the reality, because happened in their videogames too. A reference to video violence can relate in such incidents as Columbine High School shootings.
Why should we consider that the violence in videogames have more damaging effects than other platforms (like films, ex) over a young audience? The answer may be the bigger interactive control that the videogame users have, because the player is not limited to be a passive viewer but is identified with the character (of the videogame) and must decide the characters fate. This character is then forced to be more active against the situations of violence with the assignment to complete the game. Other issues with growing violence coming from developing the technology so the videogames are developed with better graphics that add realism to the action making impossible the difference between reality and fiction.
These videogames are made by men for men, and are created in the masculine imaginary for excellence, answering to the desires and affinities of the man. Maybe this will be the answer as the biggest consumers of those products are boys.
We discover a “Macho culture” with an a idea disorientated about the masculine topic, where it's elevated to the universal category and unique, where only are power values,
The explicit sexism is obvious: if we observe the percent of feminine representation in videogames is minimal and the characters role is often a passive one. The body canons that it follows are always quite exaggerated, with appearances of a comic character even with a look like a porn actress. Their costumes (dress) seem to be more an excuse to portray them as a pleasure object rather than for an action hero to complete the game. Creating in the way to the kids a vision stereotype and limit the understanding what is meant to be a woman.
Resuming the representation of the women in the videogames in the majority of cases is invisible and if they are visible they appear like victims, marking semiotic in terms of difference and opposition between men-women dominant-dominated, visible -invisible, privilege - marginal, powerful -weakness, recurring to take a position according to each sex.
The result to denounce those types of sexist and coarse games was being incorporated women protagonist characters that assumed the active role in the game. The conclusion was a new type of character with characterizes an androgynous look with violent/aggressive behavior, performing the same values of the masculine “hero's”. The feminine character sporting the “macho culture”. Nothing changes.
We have a normalization of the explicit code of masculine parameters, easily proven when we try “the inversion” “the change for the other”, this does not happen because it's impossible. Masculine is the neutral the feminine the other being linked with the abnormal.
An example to be a conclusion for the videogames section could be analyze in a very famous and related videogame 'Tomb Raider' better as the protagonist Lara Croft. With similar objectives like Doom we can make a comparison between these two violent videogames. Apart from the objectives of the game (that are pretty similar), all the action and show of weapons the most interesting point it is what vision the video player with their character. In Doom the player only has a POV with character being shown as a pair of hands in Tomb Raider the user can see the whole body of our character (Lara). This is then the first point the person that controls the action and be the person who controls a subject for the action, and what is their image of our character? An exaggerated body more relation with the look of a porno actress that a hero, producing over the game player a constantly action of a voyeur.
Back to the Net
With respect to this digitalization a reaction it's produced. Zizel (4) comments about the conscious of the real (mentioned in "passion du reel" when it comments on a “reality without reality”) that no longer reaches to being sufficient with touching to objects or touching the body, but will be those experiences that are more violent, corporals and extreme that get to smooth to an excess of artificiality of this world every time more prefabricated (pre-made). This produces a regulatory effect by which an attempt is created to recover a "corporal and physical sensation" where "the real thing" seems to disappear progressively.
Coming inside the space of the domestic violence we may surmount that the majority of the cases the action of violence are consequence about the radicalization of ownerships over their partners, when they see a small bright of the labor, economical, relation independency. Any sign of violence is a citation, cannot be understood like a concrete fact aisled. All of these bloody warnings (materialized in blow, bleeds, a word) are in effect to form the power just in case someone wants to change this hegemonic situation. We can't forget that it is a process of reiteration and what will be the consequence, violence as a way of self-regulation a situation of power.
Could a performance utterance succeed if it's formulation didn't repeat a “coded” or iterative utterance? (Derrida)(5)
The repetition of these situations of violence becomes, for the person who experience it something terribly “normal” like the example of Derrida
Seeing with the eyes of the other is a possibility to escape for the closed eyes imposed by the dominant ideology that contemplate the domestic violence as something that happens in the private space and only those concerned within it. Here the practices of Cyber Feminists need to be constantly reformulated to help to see by the eyes of the other. For the interactive and communicated system that Internet have become an invaluable media it's essential to denounce the violence. Many of the labor, political and artistic works from the Cyber Feminist artists are vital because the violence have a process of constantly recycling.
Facing this situation requires acute, ironic and also visible actions of creations like an exercise of politic awareness. We need to be constantly aware of these physical and social structures where the technology is invented and produce where old forms of violence and domination (with or without bodies).
I would like to put like an example of an artistic reference a piece of Natalie Bookchin (6), titled The Intruder. Although the piece has an apparance of a game it is not. Never the character of the woman (that remit to “la intrusa” the character of Borges) can be rescued it is about the development of the piece. It's a Cyber Feminist review of history about violence against women and in the way the fairy tales are narrated. The history tells about two brothers that love to the same woman and search in a way to share her (making herself their slave, their lover, scolding her) in other words narrated the feeling of property of the girl. There no negotiation “in the game”, if the brothers are the cowboys that shooting with their gangs she will be shot or if they mark a territory she will be the battle ground .In the intruder you don't read a history, it produces a history. Participation of the user and putting in the view of the other, bringing order to open the eyes to gender violence.
1 Mc Luhan, M (1962) The Gutenberg Galaxy. The Making of Typography Man.Toronto. University of Toronto Press
2 Foucalt,M. (1978), La Volonté de savoir :Vol. 1 of Historie de la secualité, 1 ed.New York, Pantheon
3 Plant, S( 1997) Zeros ¬+ ONES, London: Fourth Estate Limited
4 Zizek, S (2001) “Interview with Slavoj Zizek.The One Measure of True Love is: you can insult the other. Spiked, http://www.spiked-online.com. 2001.
5 Derrida, J (1988) "Signature Event Context." Limited, Inc. Evaniton: Northwestern University Press,
6 http://www.calarts.edu/%7Ebookchin/intruder/
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