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
What is sexual surveillance and why does it matter
By Dr. Nicole Shephard
We can no longer ignore the pervasive datafication of our lives - the ways in which our habits, illness, abilities, relations are abstracted, and our bodies made into data by an intersecting range of institutions and processes. In this article, the gendered, sexualised and racialised nature of surveillance is unpacked, so we maintain a focus on the power relations involved. Surveillance affects...
Feminist talk
A Woman Coder's Journey (Women-in-tech)
By GenderIT.org
Judith Owigar speaks about her journey entering into tech spaces, and also about their work with Akirachix in Kenya helping other women along the same journey marked by trials, exclusions and success. While speaking about the barriers of education in science and technology (STEM), she says that what inspires her work in many forums around women in tech in Africa, is that eventually a woman should...
Feminist talk
Being Dalit, Doing Corporate (Women-in-tech)
By Christina Thomas Dhanaraj
Multinational companies often put in place a policy for diversity and inclusiveness at the workplace, but does this guarantee the everyday, actual practice of accepting people from marginalized communities, and especially women from such communities. In this article, Christina Thomas Dhanaraj, examines what it means to be Dalit in corporate India - the continued invisibilising of caste, sexism...
Feminist talk
Ten facts about your computer: Health, hardware and the toll on women
By Sonia Randhawa
This article takes a look at where our hardware comes from, the electronics factories situated in primarily Asian countries, and the challenges facing the people, primarily women, who work there, and the issues that impact upon women workers in the electronics industry. Ten facts about your computer that illuminate the gendered nature of the labour that is embedded in our hardware.
Feminist talk
The Architectures of Online Harassment (Part 1)
By ItsAllMaya
In this two part report on a workshop on thinking through online harassment, Maya Ganesh of Tactical Technology Collective teases out the nuances of how online harassment takes place, technologically and socially. The article looks at what troubles and concerns us about online harassment of women, and what could be the possible new directions opened up by using a design-thinking approach. Part 2...
Feminist talk
A painting of an African feminist internet
By Irene Kagoya
Addressing the internet gender divide in Africa can only be achieved through the deliberate creation of a feminist internet, and this was affirmed by the Gender and Internet Governance eXchange (gigX) workshop that was held on 10 October 2016 in Durban. We need a feminist internet that works to empower all of us in our diversities, creates equal power relations, and dismantles patriarchy in all...
Feminist talk
‘There’s someone else just like you’: inside India’s asexuality networks
By Shreya Ila Anasuya
Asexuality is often dismissed as experience or identity, even by those within the medical community. However in recent times the internet has played a valuable role in both affirming the choices of those who identify as asexual, and in building networks of support and conversation. Given that it is still very difficult to speak openly about any sexuality in most physical spaces in India, the...
Feminist talk
[COLUMN] Gender Binary: Second Life, First Loves
By Nadika
In this column, Nadika Nadja explores the world of gaming and how it opened up realms of experience for her. Second Life, an enormous immersive multiplayer game, and many other similar environments on the internet, have been revelatory and powerful spaces for people to discover aspects of themselves, particularly in terms of gender and sexuality. From shame and fear, to play and sex, and to...
Feminist talk
Defining their place: Gender at the Internet Governance Forum 2016
By Smita
The Internet Governance Forum has been valuable as a multistakeholder space that facilitates the discussion and dialogue of public policy issues pertaining to the Internet. Over the years several feminists, activists and others interested in diverse representation have been participating in IGF and observing how concerns related to gender, sexuality, and the internet are raised and addressed....
Feminist talk
[COLUMN] Taking action: Making climate justice and climate action a reality
By Sonia Randhawa
In the final column on gender, ICTs and climate change, Sonia Randhawa explores what are the possible actions that individuals can take -- in the face of impending climate change and the devastating and inequitable effect it has on people. At an individual level, we can reduce our carbon footprint. We also need to get involved in the climate movement. The climate emergency is with us now, and we...
