Masthead CMC Magazine / March 1, 1996
 Gender Without Bodies, by Mindy McAdams

If my body is female, is my mind also female?

The freedom from physical violence online makes for a space where women and men can meet as equals, where no one will judge others by their corporeal form (race and nationality can be even less visible than gender there).

If people of no discernible gender are discussing an issue, a book, an idea, a political candidate, might there be a point at which one's words betray one's gender? Will what you say tell everyone who you are? In thousands of situations, for thousands of topics -- no. Particularly if you have decided to be un-gendered in your online persona.

But words still wound, defile, degrade. The drawback to any attempt to remain un-gendered is the inability to declare oneself. As soon as you announce that you are a woman, you are one.

So long as we have bodies back here in real life, we will want to speak up for them online.

Where mind and body remain inseparable is in --ideas about bodies.


CMC Magazine Index
Contents Archive Sponsors Studies Contact