The reading Glitch Feminism is one that carries a strong message in the world of feminism, but then goes on to take it a step further by relating these notions to certain areas of the Internet. The introduction begins with a line that I found powerful, “Through storytelling and shapeshifting, I was resurrected” (Russell, 13). Online represents a platform to be anyone you want to be, in the sense of virtual reality websites along with ways of expression through words, images, and even creations that you can publish to the internet under an anonymous username.
The reading then goes on to discuss a glitch- what is it, what does it represent, and how does it relate to the topic. This word is one that I have always found very interesting, and often find myself using to describe a great variety of events. For example, when 2020 began to unfold into a year of such disasters, I truly felt like that year was a glitch. “A glitch is an error, a mistake, a failure to function” (Russell, 15). Due to the pandemic and the physical, mental, and emotional consequences it has had on our society, I believe it is fair to say it resulted in a mild failure of humans to function, at least for a short period of time. Not to mention the chaos of social movements, the election, and other highly important moments in history that were occurring at the exact same time. We were able to adapt over time, as humans do, but there was a time where it felt like the planet was glitching, experiencing something like never before.
Coming back to the reading, Russell chooses to look at a glitch as it relates to the individual body. “The glitch posits: One is not born, but rather becomes, a body” (Russell, 18). Gender roles assigned at birth are not necessarily going to match those of what a human grows up to be. This concept is one that gained more popularity in the most recent decades yet has been around for much longer than that. Within the age of the Internet, we have discovered ways to spread ideas and support into new communities and reach a better understanding of who people are beyond the roles they are assigned at birth.
Finally, it feels important to acknowledge the potential harm that could be a result of this era of convenient Internet disguise. Russell makes a great comment about the lack of separation between reality and online, “…where drones are used for warfare and romantic relationships begin online, we can no longer distinguish between the so-called real and the virtual” (Russell, 53). This reminded me of a previous article with an interview of Olin Lialina, where they discuss the evolution of the internet and the changes of user and viewer experiences that have occurred since. They noted, “the internet is such a part of the fabric of everyday life, and younger generations see no real separation of online and physical” (Gosling, 2013). This indicates the difficulty that exists transitioning from online to ‘away from keyboard’ especially considering the endless amounts of things to look at and be entertained by on the internet. To conclude, the author gave a fact that stuck with me, that “every forty-eight hours online we as a global community generate as much information as was generated in written history from the beginning of civilization until 2003.” (Russell, 52). This quantity of data is almost impossible to comprehend, and yet we have access to it at the touch of a finger just about any hour of the day.
Russell, Legacy. Glitch Feminism: A Manifesto. Verso Books. 29 September 2020.
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