Value of anonymity.
Tristan wrote…
Why is the world so obsessed with gender? Why is the world wide web so obsessed with gender? Only here, on the net, can we ultimately be WHOEVER we want. That’s the value of anonymity. But it is also here that we may be whatever we want.
How does your internet persona(s) intersect with your “real life” persona? Are they two different people? Are they the same person? How does Tristan’s experience apply to your life?
Posted by julian on March 27th, 2009 at 08:00 am
Category: your voice 4 comments »
March 27th, 2009 at 8:56 am |
It’s like the man says: I’m Batman, Bruce Wayne is the disguise. ;)
More seriously though, I find my internet persona is a lot closer to who I truly am, since I filter so much of myself for public consumption. It’s not all I am, since I filter personal details from the internet, but in general my attitudes and opinions about gender and all other issues are more clearly expressed on the net.
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March 27th, 2009 at 12:21 pm |
The internet helped me feel comfortable enough with my trans identity to start socially transitioning; so two different personae merged into one. Well, sort of: I still hide things from my family, but I think everyone presents hirself differently in different social contexts (work, school, friends, family, internet). We have more than two personae.
I do talk more about gender on the internet because I don’t get many chances to express myself on that subject in real life (without the risk of annoying people to death, that is). So I may seem kind of obsessed with gender.
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March 28th, 2009 at 10:08 am |
today my online and offline identities are very similar.
but before i transitioned offline, i spent ten years ten years living a split identity, a girl online, a guy offline. in the dark years being able to be a girl online was a life-saver.
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March 30th, 2009 at 12:58 am |
i found my online version was a major part of how i felt confident enough to transition, the internet was a safe, and hugely supportive place to come out, i guess in part because of the anominity, and maybe also because there are soooo many people who use it ( a whole worlds worth ) that it becomes easier to find people in a similar place to yourself, or who genuinely just get the whole gender thing.
Funnily enough, now i have transitioned in real life, i found out that everyone i know and see from day to day, are also massivly supportive, and treat me as the gender i say i am ( in a good way .
Maybe having an online persona that was embraced and accepted planted the seeds of confidence in my mind, enabling me to be confident enough in real life to start to be embraced there as well…..
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