As I logged into Diigo, preparing myself for a grueling search, I wondered how I was ever going to find someone with multiple bookmarks pertaining to gender studies and feminism. I typed the tag word “gender” into the search engine at the top of the page, skeptically clicked “Tag,” and found my mouth dropping in immediate surprise. I was amazed to find that a single person had posted almost every single bookmark that was listed on the page! This Diigo user, Jlesage, has posted forty-seven bookmarks tagged under “gender" and fifty-five under “feminism.” While sifting through Jlesage's feminism bookmarks, I noticed that most of these saved sites are blogs about gender issues, the hardships and/or benefits of being a woman in today's society, etc. The sites tagged as pertaining to gender include a few blogs as well, but this list is unique from the feminism tag list because it includes a number of academical websites and links to published work about gender studies.
First, I will delve into several of the sources tagged under “feminism.” The first blog listed that caught my eye, “The Happy Feminist," has a color scheme that reflects its name: soft greens, blues and pinks cushion the text and arouse a contented feeling within the reader. The content, however, is not as optimistic as the aesthetics of the blog imply; for instance, the most recent posting (November 8, 2006) by the blog’s creator—a “30-something, married, Unitarian, dog-loving attorney”—is titled “REFLECTIONS ON PLAYBOY, GIRLS GONE WILD, AND SOFT CORE PORN” and explores the objectionable and often illegal behavior of the Girls Gone Wild crew, Hugh Hefner’s objectification and infantilization of both the Playboy Bunnies and women in general, and the problematic nature of making pornography that is “soft” enough to be distributed to the masses. Another posting from October 31, 2006 with a similarly solemn title, “MARYLAND COURT’S INTERPRETATION OF RAPE LAW IS PREDICATED ON THE NOTION OF WOMEN AS CHATTEL,” discusses a Maryland court’s ruling that the state will no longer sympathize with women who withdraw consent to sex after penetration has already occurred. According to the blogger, this ruling is based on the ancient belief of woman as chattel—one whose value is lost upon penetration. “The Happy Feminist” is a well-written blog about a plethora of feminist topics that is relevant reading material for anyone interested in gender studies.
Another site that Jlesage bookmarked with a feminism tag, “CultureCat: Rhetoric and Feminism,” is also a valuable website for those interested in gender studies and feminist issues. This site provides many people the opportunity to publicize their blogs; for instance, the left-hand side of the page features a blog roll that includes the names of several feminist bloggers and links to their blogs. In addition, the front page of the CultureCat website acts as a mini-blog for a professor of English at East Carolina University, who often comments on feminist rhetoric and posts images and videos in which gender roles are strictly defined.
Jlesage’s list of bookmarks pertaining to “gender” also contains several resources, some of which are blogs, but others are academically oriented sites. One of the sources Jlesage saved to Diigo is an online version of a journal called “Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media” that carries the tags “ethnicity,” “feminism,” “film,” and “journals” in addition to “gender.” Founded in 1974, this journal specializes in analyzing mass media images and messages in various social and political contexts; the journal’s writers strive to closely examine media in relation to ethnicity, sexuality, socioeconomic standing, and gender. On the site’s homepage are links not only to the journal’s online paper issues, but also to other related resources such as major film making websites and AIDS activism pages.
A second page bookmarked under “gender” is the website for The Center for Women & Information Technology: News About Women and IT. This site, appropriately topped with a dark pink image of a complex computer chip, promises daily global news stories about women in the Information Technology field—not only about how women are affecting IT, but also how IT is affecting the lives of females internationally. The website also includes an online archive of relevant articles dating back several years. At the top of the homepage are links to multiple other pages of information, such as “About CWIT,” “Resources,” “Initiatives,” “Contact,” and “FAQ,” and upon scrolling down past a description of the site’s purpose, one will find links to hundreds of articles pertaining to the subject "Women and Information Technology." This website is an appropriate resource for someone interested in facts about how women are fairing in the world of technology.
After examining several of Jlesage’s social bookmarks—some tagged under gender and some under feminism—it is clear that this Diigo user has dutifully compiled a plethora of information about gender studies, gender and sexuality issues, and constructions of gender. Those interested in these areas can sift through the blogs, websites, articles, online journals, etc. that Jlesage has bookmarked and find more than enough social commentary to contemplate.
