Here's a ringing endorsement for why the web has turned out to be a fairly apolitical space governed primarily by libertarian cash-hounds who do things like sell pretend crap on second-life.

Take Back the Tech - "reclaiming ICT's to end Violence Against Women."

Well you could start by explaining what an ICT is...

Then you could try to work your way past such questions as;

"Are video games gendered?" to real questions like, "Who made my ipod?" (thanks LRS)

Lastly you could ditch the fear and us against them-ism that is inherent in statements like;

"If I had a lie detector I could have left sooner" (Right, because men are lying Pigs and women without lie detectors are totally at their mercy...)

I probably shouldn't be taking potshots at my own, but this whole site, though it's trying to a achieve something that is totally justifiable, is once again so wide of the mark that I am left scratching my head and wondering just who's life is going to benefit from this type of propaganda.

God I feel like such a mean jerk they have a wiki and one of my clients is listed there, but I think it's time to sadly announce that the days of always supportive feminist-ing are totally done for. It's time for some serious self-criticism, and since I am a technonerd feminist I guess I feel okay if the buck just came to a screeching halt here.

Here's what I think;

Feminist thought in understanding and critiquing ICT is more than relevant - it is 100% necessary, but it's time to stop acting the part of the victim and start behaving like the responsible 50% of the universe that we represent.

To my mind, Take Back the Tech is missing the point by focusing on the gendered/bodified ramifications of techno-society (porn , stalking and rape to name just a few). Violence now is so subtle, so inscribed in the way we think about ourselves and the lives we live, that I would doubt we even consider it violence. I certainly don't think of myself as committing a violent act every time I return my damaged Ipod and get a shiny new one thanks to my watertight Applecare agreement. Violence against women has been institutionalized as market exploitation, unfair labour practices and socialized apathy towards ethics in human and economic relationships, and it is affecting all of us, not just the kids in China or girls or women. Although to be sure they are the canaries in the coal mine of social decline.

So let's broaden the terms of the debate a little. It will serve everyones interests and it means as long as you're work in technology addresses issues of exploitation, poverty, discrimination, lack of choice, or lack of community, then it may well be feminist.

Phewf.. Another week-end, another rant, this is turning into a pattern.

In somewhat related news..

While the girls are busy building pigtail antennaes out of old underwire Bras.. (HA HA HA HA phewf..). the Boy Scouts are fighting copyright violations, or as it is more dramatically put "fightin' pirates!". That should get those little tykes up in arms, until they turn 12 and realize all their friends have way better dance parties.

I dunno I always thought those wolf cub caps were sexy, but on a dyke who's not a 12 year old scout, just let me make myself abundantly clear..

WAIT! The two stories are extremely related

Boys fight Pirates, and Girls get Victimized.

What kinds of social mores are being re-iterated here, and how are these two campaigns re-inscribing insanely gendered responses to the use of ICTs. It both curls my toenails and challenges my wits as an expository writer. It's so obvious but so devious.

In the scouts campaign, boys are clearly stakeholders, young people who understand and use technology, and more importantly, they are being portrayed as "fighters": Engaging in battle with an apparently negative practice in technology. Whether or not I agree with the way copyright is being explained here, the lads are certainly being addressed in a way that assumes they have the power to make ethical decisions as it related to their use and exploration of ICT.

Now let's look at the way Girls are addressed in the Take Back The Tech campaign.

First off, if they are "taking" something back, then it isn't theirs to begin with. While the lads are assumed to have power over technology, and the only appeal then is to wise use. In TBTT girls are assumed to have no power as of yet, and thus the need is to claim power, a position that I think is both false and from a capacity-building perspective actually a little disingenious.

Secondly, the site is replete with victim speak. If the TBTT gang were asked to write the text for an anti-piracy campaign it might end up something like this; "Hey girlfriend, don't be bitch to Nelly Furtado", once again positioning someone (poor nelly) as a victim, and eliminating personal responsibility, by over-emphasizing the social consequence of the action rather than one's own judgment.

Okay I know they didn't, but I'll bet that's how it would come off.

As it stands, the site as outlined above, has phrases like;

"If I had a phone I could call someone when he hits my mother"

"If I had knowledge on how to track users I could find out who has been harassing me on these forums"

Beyond that fact that if you know the words "track users" then FGI sistah. The basic vocabulary being used here is the same one that's been used for years to place women squarely at the mercy of their own failures and weaknesses instead of positioning them as empowered and engaged. Sure, probably harassed (hello myspace) but the victim ideology is going to have to be re-examined given the prevalence of girls who use myspace, and have yet to run screaming from all the nasty boogerheads who lurk there.

Girls, at least in the west, (and based on the site design, I'd suggest that is the main target audience) are strongly engaged and use many different kinds of ICTs, it's time to stop assuming that the internet is not understood nor welcoming to girls and women. It's time to speak to girls and to the wider audience about the power girls and women and allies already have and how they can use that power.

"YAAR MATEYS STOP MAKING THE LASSES SOUND PULING AND WEAK" is the way a pirate would have said all of the above.