The Effect of Gender Roles on Online Communication
The internet is a remedy for those who don’t want to be judged based on their appearance, culture, or background. It can be argued that this anonymity assists in breaking down gender roles or social differences, and permits people to become what they want to become. Using costumes, usernames or avatars, those who have something to say can reach out to the widest audience. Although eroding away, gender still affects the websites people visit and what they say on those platforms.
I would argue that gender has a large role in communication on the internet, especially through what people see. In the present day, sexism and social constructs concerning both men and women are still prevalent. Therefore, websites that women would visit will be different from the ones that men would visit. According to a 2017 Forbes study, Zulily and Bloglovin had the greatest percentage of female visitors compared to New Arena and Covers having a primarily male audience. A growing male audience in the female-marketed websites and vice versa has been growing, but the majority still has a gender-divisioned audience.
Personally, the websites I visit are largely gender-neutral, but the content on websites such as Youtube or other social media I visit do have a distinct directive on gender. Posts or language on those media channels differ based on the speaker’s or subjects interest. For example, if I was to watch a boxing video, the chance that I would be in the majority of male viewers due to the social pressure that boxing is an aggressive male sport would be quite large. According to my calculations, I would come to the conclusion that the internet, although slowly changing, is still quite divided with the archaic culture of gender norms.
Great use of statistics! Interesting that the internet is gender-specific despite the fact that it is one of the few mediums where people can maintain gender anonymity; although, as you said, that may be a result of its adaptability to individual preferences — individuals who already have socially constructed, gender-divided mindsets.
ReplyDelete-Meth Yahampath
I like how you went outside of the classroom discussion and found more information and gave a clearer context of what the article entails. It is interesting that even though most sites are gender neutral, it can still be generally attributed to attracting on gender versus another.
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