Performing Gender on (The)Line: a Case Study of The: Process of Community Making Among Miembers of a Women-Only Electronic Mailing List
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PERFORMING GENDER ON (THE)LINE: A CASE STUDY OF THE: PROCESS OF COMMUNITY MAKING AMONG MIEMBERS OF A WOMEN-ONLY ELECTRONIC MAILING LIST Rhiannon Catherine Bury A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Cumculum, Teaching and Leamhg Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto Copyright by Rhiannon Cathe~eBury (2000) National Library Bibliothèque nationale I*I of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington ûttawaON KIAON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. PERFORMING GENDER ON (THE) LINE: A CASE STUDY OF TEIE PROCESS OF COMMUNITY MAKII\J'G AMONG MEMBERS OF A WOMEN-ONLY ELECTRONIC MAILING LIST Rhiannon Catherine Bury Doctor of Philosophy Department of Cumcdum, Teaching and Leaming, University of Toronto 2000 This thesis is an ethnographie study of the process of community making and gender identification that took place on a women-only electronic mailing list. The participants were female fans of the popular television series, The X-Files, who were members of the David Duchovny Estrogen Brigades (DDEBs), three "private" women- only electronic mailing lists ostensibly named after the Iead actor of the show. In the context of an electronic mailing List that 1 set up with a group of DDEB rnembers, 1 examinai the ways in which white, middle class, heterosexual ferninine and ferninist identities were performed as part of the process of establishing and maintaining an on-line community for a one year period. The data revealed sets of gendered and classed practices that were regularly engaged in by a majority of members to mate a sense of unity and commonality. However, in every exchange, there were always members who were unwilling or unable to participate and chose to rernain silent or were " silenced " . Based on my findings, 1 argue that the body, and the identities associated with it, do not "disappearn in the context of cornputer-mediatecl communication as has been claimed. Rather, gender is performed, albeit linguistically, and cyberspace continues to be inforneci by notions of the public and private that have gendered "real"space since as fa.back as the Greek city states. In cyberspaces of their own, female usea of information and communication technologies (ICTs) can "rernemberntheir bodies in ways that both take up and refuse normative discourses of femininity. Moreover, an on- iine community does not simply exist because people join a mailing list; it is created and maintaineci through the regular engagement in a specific set of practices, through which a substance of community is created. The status of an on-Iine community is provisional, a collection of identities whose arrangement shifts with the ebb and flow of interaction, and which always involves some form of exclusion, however unintentional. Dedication To my mother, Nancy Whiteluw Buty. You bestowed upon me your unconditional love, a seme of dereminarion and survival in the face of adversity , and the greatest and most difJicult gzjt a parent can give- the freedom to let me find rny own way. Acknowledgements This thesis has been seven years in the making, and there are many people to thank for their support dong the way. First, 1 am indebted to those rnembers of the David Duchovny Estrogen Brigades who agreed to participate in this project and offered me their time, their insights, their trust and the pleasure of their Company for a year: Beth, TC Carstensen, Lara Eakins, Katie Fritz, Inez Gowsell, Sue Johnston, Julia Kosatka, Melanie Lightbody, Juiianne Lee, Susan Lyseng, Keiiie Matthews, PoUy MoUer, Jennifer Roth, Nancy Simmons, Sarah Stegall, Vasna Zago, Elissa Teeple, and Melinda Young. 1 am most grateful to Bob Morgan, whose course opened my "high culture" eyes to the pleasures of popular television. As my supervisor, you shepherded me past the missteps and false starts and your close, careful readings of every draft taught me to iead in the dance with the data. Also instrumentai to rny reaching this point in my acadernic journey were the other memben of my thesis cornmittee: Monica Heller, whose ability to turn around work in no time at al1 and provide clear, constructive feedback despite a dizzying itinerary never ceases to amaze me; and Kari Dehli who introduced me to poststnicturalist feminism and ensured that 1 applied it consistently and avoided the pitf's of binary thinking. The three of you were a wonderful team! A special thanks also goes to Mary Bryson for mking the time to be my extemal examiner. Thank you Peter Trifonas for taking the time to sit on the examining cornmittee. 1 would also like to thank those staff members at OISE who were so helpful to me at critical moments: Hamiet Hori (CTL)for helping me manoeuvre through the bureaucracy, Avi Hyman (Ed. Commons) who set up the DDEBRP on the pemickety Majordomo and gave me my fist forum to present my work, and Jeanie Stewart (Ed. Comrnons) who worked her magic on this dissertation to meet the University's shingent guidelines. My heardelt gratitude goes to my dear fnends who were there for me every step of the way: Karina Kraenzie, Katie "dear beast" Almond, and, of course, Lee "Aritbtotle" Easton, whose offer of his copy of Foucault's Hisrory of Sexualiry after our first meeting in Bob Morgan's class was the start of a beautifid and lasting fkiendship. Many thanks as weli to Albert, ALison, Awad, Helen, Jack, James, JO Anne, Karen, Mireille, Nancy, Neil, Sharon and Tuula and for making me laugh and keeping me sane. I would also like to mention Pat Y., Janice, JO-Ann and Nadine of the Women' s Studies Programme at McMaster University. You have all made my experience teaching 2D03 a valuable and enjoyable one. Love to my brother Don and his partner Robert, who are in England bravely pursuhg their own dreams as artists. And then there are the "fumeswwho were rny constant cornpanions and great sources of cornfort whiie 1 toile. away in my office: those who are still with us, Queequeg and Cleo cats, and those who have passeci "beyond the nmn- Nat the cat, and gerbils Jesse, Theo, Hartley and Jeremy. You are very much missed. Last but certainly not least, I extend my love and gratitude to my partner, Luis Marmelo, who has put up with me and been there for me over the years. Without you, 1 never would have put Bob's theones of television into practice to becorne an X-Files fan. You may be the world's most unromantic man and stubborn as hell but your sharp mind, sense of humour and generosity of spirit are what count in the long haui. Thank you for everything, my "quince". Table of Contents .. AbstfaCt ................................................. u Dedication ............................................... iv Acknowledgements .......................................... v Chapterl ................................................ 1 Introduction ............................................ 1 How I Came to Stop Worrying and Love Television .................. 5 Theoretical Framework ..................................... 9 BodyMatters ......................................... 9 Performing Gender in Cyberspace ........................... i6 Community as Prob16matique ............................. 23 Community and Space .................................. 26 Lines of Inquiry ........................................ 27 Chapter Outline ....................................... 28 Putting It Al1 Together .................................... 31 Chapter2 ............................................... 33 Analytical Fictions and Virtual Geographies ......................... 33 Ethnography as Responsiblt Knowledge Production .................. 34 StalQng My Claims ........................ .............. 39 Ethnography on (the) Line .................................. 45 DataPresentation ..................................... 50 Supplernentary Data Collection and Analysis .................... 51 Chapter3 ............................................... 52 From a Roorn to a Cyberspace of Our Own ......................... 52 The Birth of the hblic .................................... 53 The Middle Ages ..................................... 54 The Not So Discrete Segregation of the Bourgeoisie ............... 58 Technology and the Power of Dirt ............................. 64 Cyberspace: The Final Frontier? ............................. 76 Conclusion ............................................ 88 Chapter4 ............................................... 90 Stones for Boys Girls: ...................... ................ 90 Making Ferninine Pleasures out of Masculine Television Texts ............. 90 Of Fans and Femininity