"The Digital Divide" - and how some are going about mending it

The digital divide, for some people, is a foreign concept. It was to me.

For those still unfamiliar with it, the digital divide can be defined "as the gap between people with effective access to digital and information technology and those with very limited or no access at all." This concept/idea is often times referred to as the "digital gap," as well.

Some researchers have placed the blame for the digital divide on the differences in income level. As seen in a study by Jim Jansen, Senior Fellow with the Pew Research Center Internet and American Life Project, the results are startling. (see figure 1)

As the results show, those with a lower combined income (<$30,000 a year), are less likely to be using the internet at home or on the use of their cell phones. And as seen through the results, those who earn a combined of $75,000, or higher, a year use the internet more frequently at home and on their cell phones.

Now, those that earn $30,000 a year, obviously, do not have the means to have the most up-to-date computer software, or even DSL, even though not having DSL these days seems far-fetched and barbaric. Also, those with a lower combined income may not be able to afford "smart phones" with readily available internet. Also, those who have smart phones generally pay more through their cell phone company for having the internet as a feature. Those that earn lower yearly incomes may not be able to even afford to own a cell phone, let alone extra bonus features. And as seen in figure 1 cell phone frequented internet is more common than using the internet from your home computer.

Basically, the more money you make a year, the more available the internet is to you, and the more you'll use it. For whatever purpose.

But, there's a brighter side to this. According to an article published in January of last year, "the non-profit John S. and James L. Knight Foundation awarded $5 million in grants for Detroit to develop for various projects, including the expansion of freely-available internet access... CTN will also add another $100,000 and look to secure federal grants to help residents without computers obtain one."

The project is expected to provide more than 4,000 Detroit residents with internet access and is expected to help in the process of job searching and posting resumes online, helping the Detroit job market and the unemployed. The project began in the beginning of January. Keep your eyes open for up-to-date information about the project's progress in the coming news out of Detroit.

Also, there's a website, InternetforEveryone.org, which is a movement that is committed to connecting everyone to a fast, open, and affordable internet.

Please watch the video below for more information and to see how you can help bridge the digital divide.

"House bars Planned Parenthood from federal funding"

As most of you may have already heard, the House of Representatives has passed a measure that would strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding via the Title X program.

According to Feministe writer, Jill, "by law, federal funds haven’t paid for abortions since the 1970s, so the House hasn’t voted to cut abortion funding. They’re cutting funding for the entire Title X program — funding for contraception, cancer screening, STI tests, sex education, mammograms, HIV testing and diagnosis, and pregnancy screening and counseling. Title X is the only federal program dedicated solely to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and preventive health services, particularly low-income families. Last year, 5 million people benefited from the services funded by Title X."

To read the entire article, click here.

How does this pertain to you?

For those that live in Minnesota, like me, 95% of counties here in MN have no abortion provider, according to Pro-Choice America. In Minnesota alone, there are 24 health centers that are operated by Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota. Of those 24 health centers, only one of them, the St. Paul clinic of Highland Park, offers abortion services.

Now, on a more local level, the Planned Parenthood St. Cloud Clinic's "4NOW services are supported in part with funds provided by: Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Family Planning Program, and United States Department of Health and Human Services - Title X."

Without the funding of the Title X program, our St. Cloud Planned Parenthood clinic many lose funding for contraception, cancer screening, STI tests, sex education, mammograms, HIV testing and diagnosis, and pregnancy screening and counseling.

Stand with Planed Parenthood and send an open letter to the congress to protest against the Pence Amendment to H. R. 1.

You know it's the right thing to do.

Nadine Moawad - "Fourth Wave Feminist"

As Nadine Moawad implies here in an interview, we are completely immersed in the internet culture of communication. Moawad even states that, "Everyone is getting online - quickly."

Now, most of what Moawad is talking about is the importance of internet based education and activism. She insists that the internet is the new aged way of communicating and reaching out to other activists. She mentions that there are nearly 6 million new internet users a year.

Moawad states that most of the information on the internet is fundamentalist and very exploitative to women. So many sexist conversations that are available at the click of a finger. In Lebanon, she explains, there is no government censored internet, which Moawad describes as a good thing, although there is institutional public censorship.

"The government doesn't censor what we say, but we do have really crappy internet, so that we're too tired to express what we really feel." Moawad goes to explain how hard it is to be an activist while under the watchful eyes of the government.

I can't imagine ever having my internet censored or not being able to write about what I believe in, having it published, or communicating with other feminists activists around the United States. This new wave of feminism, some still may believe that we're still in the third wave, is viewed as really simple, but can be complex and troubling, as well.

Which brings me to the point of this blog - Do you believe that we are in a forth wave of feminism? If you think yes, why? And also, do you believe that being so dependent on the internet for activism is a good thing, or do you believe that it hinders the movement?

As seen here, fourth wave feminism is often described as an internet based community. According to this blogger, being a fourth wave feminist is all about "being as inclusive as we can and really paying attention to privilege and intersectionality." Which one may perceive as problematic.

As stated in my previous blog entry, privilege can be understood in many different ways. I, personally, believe that a movement cannot be all inclusive and "seriously" paying attention to privilege and intersectionality if the majority of the movement is based on internet access and owning a computer. Not understanding that some people still do not have access to the internet and a computer in the United States is not at all inclusive and a huge problem.

How is one supposed to be apart of the new feminist movement if you can't afford it?

Class and Gender Impact Youth Internet Use

According to the article, "Class and Gender Impact Youth Internet Use," it was reported that "among children of educated parents 67 percent use the internet at least once a week, while only 25 perfect of children whose parents are less educated used the internet daily."

A great way to understand that statistic would be to first understand what privilege is. Privilege can be defined as, according to an online dictionary, "a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantage of most." Now, to understand that a bit further, one must be aware of white privilege, which can be defined as "a way of conceptualizing racial inequalities that focuses as much on the advantages that white people accrue from society as on the disadvantages that people of color experience," according to Wikipedia.

To explain the skew in the statistic stated above, one must first take into account the differences in education, which basically comes down to socioeconomic status, which determines who is able to attend college and who is not. Those who are able to seek higher education earn college degrees, which in turn allow those college educated individuals to, more than likely, earn more than what a high school diploma will pay.

Those with a higher socioeconomic status are able to afford a computer, or maybe multiple, or get the computer fixed if something were to malfunction. Those with a lower socioeconomic status, those who did, and were not, able to attend some sort of higher education, may not be able to afford a computer, thus reflecting the gap in percentages of computer use.

Also, the majority of the time, those with lower socioeconomic statuses are people of color; those in the minority, which brings us back to the topic of white privilege.

The different types of feminism that address topics like these are multiracial/multiethnic feminism and socialist feminism. The contributions of of both multiracial and socialist feminism are the concept of intersectionality - the combined effects of racial ethnic, social class, and gender social statuses in producing a matrix of domination.

For more information regarding feminism and the different types, please visit this website.

Facebook and Gender

Ever curious about the demographics of Facebook? Who's using it and who isn't? Facebook is the fastest growing social networking site to this day, and I, along with the majority of people, have no idea the statistics involved. 

According to the article, "Got Facebook? Investigating What's Social About Social Media," it was reported that, "compared to females, males are more likely to list their political and religious views" on their 'about me' section of their profile. Surprisingly enough, there are more female users of Facebook than there are of males, as can be seen in both current college students and college graduates.

So, I must pose a question - why might this be? Why do you think that males are more apt to disclose more personal, controversial information about themselves?

As a Facebook user myself, I must admit that I do disclose most of my personal information, regarding religious and political views, so I fall into the percentage of women that do share that information, so I couldn't really give you a rough idea of why more men than women do.

But, feminism might have that answer that I fail to supply you with.


According to feminism, patriarchy may have a huge impact on most of what's being posted on Facebook. Patriarchy, as defined on Wikipedia, is "a social system in which the role of the males as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property. It implies the institutions of  male rule and privilege, and is dependent on female subordination."

So, therefore, coming from a radical feminist perspective, one might assume that men feel a certain entitlement when it comes to sharing more personal, political, and controversial information with the world of Facebook.

I am in no way claiming this is the sole reason for the unbalanced gender representation of information posted to Facebook. This is just an idea, a theory, if you will. Or maybe just some food for thought.