Digital Commons Network^™

Cyberfeminism In The Arab World, Dalia Al Nimr

Archived Theses and Dissertations

The Internet has become a viable source of news, information, entertainment, and social integration for people worldwide. The Internet is also a medium where gender identity operates vehemently. Feminists, in particular, hailed the medium as a domain where women can assert their identities without patriarchal constraints and can challenge their stereotypical portrayal in the media. But does the Internet provide such utopianism? A content analysis of 18 websites targeted at Arab women shows that the Internet is marred by the same gender stereotypes that have pigeonholed women for decades, circumscribing them in their domestic roles as housewives and mothers and …