Gender and Cyberspace: Geographical Perspectives
摘要
GenderGender and spaceSpace have reinforced each other as two critical concepts in geographical research. SpatialitySpatiality has immensely influenced Gender GeographyGender geography and its discourses. With the advent of information technology and emergence of cyberspaceCyberspace, this discourse is now to respond to a new set of enquiries. While, the information technology has the potential to reduce genderGender discriminationDiscrimination and is able to open new opportunities for womenWomen, the cyberspaceCyberspace is a rather an uncharted territory from the traditional geographical perspective towards the spatialitySpatiality and sociality of genderGender. CyberspaceCyberspace as conceived, potentiates towards more genderGender-neutral social order through an alternate framework of distance, spaceSpace and association. In reality, cybercrimeCybercrime, cyberbullying and cyber violence are more targeted towards womenWomen and other gendered minorities. GenderGender stereotyping, genderGender bias and cyber misogyny are also prevalent in cyberspaceCyberspace. The conundrum is to accentuate in the coming decades in the absence of effective strategies. This chapter, therefore attempts to explore the changing multilayered dimensions in genderGender and cyberspaceCyberspace from the perspectives of GeographyGeography. Three basic enquiries have been dealt within this chapter; first the role of cyberspaceCyberspace in reducing genderGender discriminationDiscrimination, second the emergence of new threats for womenWomen from cyberspaceCyberspace and third is the need for a responsive strategic framework for culminating these threats.