eGirls, eCitizens: Putting Technology, Theory and Policy into Dialogue with Girls' and Young Women's Voices (Law, Technology and Media) - Softcover

Jane Bailey

9780776622576: eGirls, eCitizens: Putting Technology, Theory and Policy into Dialogue with Girls' and Young Women's Voices (Law, Technology and Media)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0776622579 ISBN 13: 9780776622576

Publisher: University of Ottawa Press, 2015

Online connectivity is rapidly becoming essential to social, cultural, economic and political participation, especially among girls and young women who are leading producers of online content. Interestingly, initially utopic predictions from policymakers about the pot of gold sitting at the end of the information superhighway and from critical scholars about the emancipatory potential of participation in digital media are increasingly interlaced with dystopic concerns associated with the mass uptake of networked technologies by youth, particularly girls and young women. Policymakers have tended to focus upon issues such as online child pornography, online luring, cyberbullying and non-consensual disclosure of intimate images. Critical scholars, in turn, have raised concerns about misuse of personal information, online misogyny, racism and homophobia, poor digital literacy skills, and underlying economic models that shape users into consumers, rather than citizens. And yet, all too often, girls' voices are left out of theoretical, policy and educational dialogue about online issues that directly affect them. This collection of essays reframes the discussion in ways that make space for more equitable and empathetic responses, rather than polarized utopic/dystopic debate. It analyzes the equality, privacy and gender performativity implications of the digital environment and its impacts on girls' online participation; assesses the ways in which stakeholders construct girls in theoretical, policy and educational discourses; and suggests future approaches and best practices that are premised on girls' own understandings of their needs and aspirations in an increasingly digitized society.

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About the Author:

Jane Bailey is Associate Professor of Law at the University of Ottawa. She has been a feminist for as long as she can remember and is trying her best to raise two more to add to the collective, all the while conducting research and teaching about the intersections of law, technology and equality. Valerie Steeves is Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Ottawa, where she conducts research on the intersection of technology and human rights. She has worked with kids for over 30 years and has raised five of her own, four of whom are girls. Valerie Steeves has also worked with a number of national and international policy groups.

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