Feminist talk
Feminist talk is meant to be a hub for conversations between our readers and writers on topics that are related to the sometimes dry world of internet policy. It is a space for storytelling, personal essays, opinions – to challenge and inspire readers on issues and topics that are close to them. Here are the opinions, experiences and thoughts of writers from the diverse community in which we live.
Feminist talk
A place for all: On being diverse and inclusive @RightsCon
By Serene Lim
More than 1,500 business leaders, civil society advocates, policy makers, lawyers, bloggers, technologists, and users participated in RightsCon Brussels 2017 (March) and there were over 250 sessions related to human rights and technology. Serene Lim explores the ways in which inequity was addressed at the forum, and how exclusion and marginalisation were framed in various sessions.
Feminist talk
The internet of Things: smart devices, quantified self, dolls and vibrators
By hvale
If an object has a chip, it becomes smart, and by extension our houses become smarter - and so do our cities, hospitals, toys, phones. But what about the inventors, the creators, the owners, the users of all these smart and tiny things - are we becoming smarter? Reflecting on sessions in Rights Con 2017 in Brussels, Vale examines the ways in which the internet of things can lead to invasive...
Feminist talk
10 ways to make Twitter work for feminist activism
By Samukelisiwe Mabaso
How to bring the powerful agency and discourse of women's rights movements and feminism to the digital age of Twitter and other social media. Samukelisiwe Mabaso has researched on various movements across Africa and Asia that successfully and effectively use technology, and shows us ten ways in which to make Twitter work for feminist activism. Lets get in formation!
Feminist talk
[COLUMN] Open software movements, open content, free culture: Where are the women?
By Evelin Heidel - Scann
The gender balance is far from equal even in progressive movements such as the free and open source software community, Mozilla user groups, and others. Despite all the rivers of ink that were written about the gender imbalance in these areas, the changes are slow to arrive.
Feminist talk
[COLUMN] I want to be a Pokémon master
By Angélica Contreras
Pokémon exploded as a game that could be played on mobile phones in 2016. Of the many debates around it,
Angélica Contreras explores the gendered aspect of videogames and how Pokémon struck a chord with many women in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and parts of Latin America. This article was originally written in Spanish, and is part of a column series that explores young women and their lives...
Feminist talk
[COLUMN] Access and beyond (1): Navigating the gendered cyberspace
By Chenai Chair
In this column series, Chenai Chair explores the barriers to accessing the internet in four countries in Africa - Rwanda, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya. The study in particular looks at the impact of affordability of internet and subsidised data services, and what impact this has on people in different locations (countries, urban-rural), of different genders, and so on. In the first column,...
Feminist talk
The nerdiest and most open of them all: Internet Freedom Festival 2017
By Smita
The Internet Freedom Festival is refreshingly different from most forums around internet rights and technology - it is almost equal in gender ratio, welcoming of gender non conforming and trans persons, and takes privacy of its participants at the venue seriously. Smita Vanniyar tells us more about their experience at the festival this year in Valencia, Spain.
Feminist talk
[BOOK REVIEW] Interpreting the Internet: Feminist and Queer counterpublics in Latin America
By Alan Finlay
'Interpreting the internet: Feminist and Queer Counterpublics in Latin America by Elisabeth Jay Friedman looks at a decade long engagement of feminist and women's movements with technology. Alan Finlay reviews the book for GenderIT.org, and finds it to be essential reading for anyone interested in how feminist (or any) counterpublics are formed and shaped by appropriating whatever technology is...
Feminist talk
Chelsea Manning and other political prisoners: Report from Internet Freedom Festival
By Anonymous
While Chelsea Manning has been pardoned by the Obama administration, there are still many political prisoners facing incarceration and lengthy trials for their exercise of freedom of expression and for whistle blowing. Very few countries have enacted laws that protect whistle blowers. Mallory Knodel writes about the benefit fundraiser to welcome home Chelsea Manning that took place at the...
Feminist talk
Giving my spirit voice: Interview with Helen Nyinakiiza
By Namita
An interview with Helen Nyinakiiza, who has recently joined Association for Progressive Communication as an individual member. Helen is a passionate digital security trainer, and in this interview she talks about the use of technology and internet rights in Uganda, the digital divide around gender and region, and how she does her trainings.
