“Race In/For Cyberspace…”

“Race In/For Cyberspace: Identity Tourism and Racial Passing on the Internet,” by Lisa Nakamura puts a very true and interesting look into the world of cyberspace and what it entails.  It really is like a vacation from the real world; you can sink into your couch at home, with a cup of your favorite coffee and dive into a world all its own on the computer.  Watch videos that people have posted, talk with people through instant messaging, or as Nakamura talks of, create a character in a cyber world built to hide your identity/gender and walk around chatting without worrying about the “real world” troubles of being judged.  It really is a whole other interaction with people and you can create yourself how you see fit.

 

I was actually curious how a male character was treated over a female character in these virtual chat worlds, and I tested it out.  I found that the interaction is not only completely different, but as female you get both female and male characters wanting to chat with you and having a great time, but as a male the other male characters tended to avoid and all together stop interaction with another male because they were only there to talk with a female character.  It was easy on the other hand to talk with the female characters as a male, which was kind of a given when I first tested it out.  It was very interesting to see that the male characters weren’t treated in the same fashion as the females.  I found that females were treated much nicer and you could have longer and more enjoyable conversations.  A complete different story with the male character, females were nice, but the males were rude and wouldn’t say a thing.

So in regards to the article, you can create whoever you want, but you won’t necessarily have the same enjoyable experience when interacting with the many different people you meet.

 

It was interesting to find that race was an issue in the cyber world “LambdaMOO,” mentioned by Nakamura.  I would have to agree to a point that there’s no reason to make rules when dealing with race, and that someone stating that they are of a specific race should expect maybe some form of a comment.  But then I personally don’t understand why it would be such a huge issue in a chat world where you’re interacting with people on the internet.  Why shouldn’t they be able to state that they’re African American or Asian, if that’s what they are?  They’re stating it because they’re proud of it, not because they want to rub it in every one’s face.  Why should they get bashed for stating something, even if it does bring a “real world” issue into a fantasy world that every one has created for themselves? 

The article was a very interesting read, and it does bring up issues that do pertain to virtual chats that we have now.  There’s still that fantasy vacation feel…that wanting to get away from the stresses of real life, and most turn to the internet to do so. 

Check it for yourself: 

  

http://www.hnet.uci.edu/mposter/syllabi/readings/nakamura.html