"Immersion in the life of the world, a willingness to be inhabited by and to speak for others, including those beyond the realm of the human, these are the practices not just of the bodhisattva but of the writer." --Jane Hirshfield

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Alarmism Online: But What About the Perverts?

Emily Nussbaum, in New York Magazine writes about the older generation's fears of privacy loss, while younger folks take for granted it's already gone.

Interesting article. She points out that older people invariably ask about the perverts. It is alarmist: On one level, young women blogging, posting videos and photos of themselves, can seem to encourage attention that could get dangerous, but isn't that the same argument that keeps women at home or in burqas or some variation? There is safety in numbers: if everyone is online, then who is a target of online perverts? If everyone is allowed out of doors unaccompanied, then who is a target of offline perverts? Most violence against women is still perpetrated by their so-called loved ones, anyway.

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