Summary of Chapter 3 of Unspun - Gender

The internet provides way for users play with the traditional conventions of gender. Gender is a hard concept to define. It is mostly based on our relationships with others. It is assigned to us at birth and based on how others perceive us and how we perceive outselves. In a way, genderis even somthing we "preform." On the internet, gender is somthing that is difficult to percieve but easy for others to pretend so therefore we never really know for sure who it is we are talking to unless we have actually met the person.

The web provides endless possibilites for people to be somthing they are not. In a way, it even encourages people to do so. The anonimity of the web makes it unbelievably easy to pretend. This is a concern when it comes to questions of community, faith, trust, and intimacy. In these four areas, it is tricky to commit when you are never sure who you are really communicating with.

A "post-gender" world is almost possible on the web. One in which anything you can imagine, you can be. It is all about writing and "self-imaging." All of this freedom, however, is dangerous. Gender uncertainty has been noted in many cases involving deception, abuse, and harassment. The anonimity of the web makes it easy for predators to coninually attack. Once they are kicked off of one website, all they have to do it make a new username and theyre back on. There is also, "the gendered nature of harassment" which leads to the necessity of a new definition of "rape."

Eventually, gender may be deemed insignificant on the web if everyone starts pretenting to be somthing they're not. If all users are lying and constantly changing who they are, it would be pointless to need to know the truth. Only but truly understanding gender can we really know how to deal with it on the internet.