Kurzthese
Beschreibung
The Internet has revolutionized art and sex work. While women have historically been underrepresented in the art world, women today have unprecedented control over how they depict themselves. Meanwhile, sex work has become democratized - making it possible for anyone with an Internet connection to sell intimacy and their body. How are sex workers and feminist artists paving the way for a future free of capitalism and patriarchy?
Historically, the female body has served the male gaze and been exploited for profit. Social media platforms such as Snapchat, Tumblr, and Instagram enable women to become independent content creation and subvert the narrative of the passive female "muse". Yet these same corporations also directly profit from user-generated content and the images distributed by them are often geared toward titillating men. Do these tools create real alternatives to exploitation or have they merely replaced traditional gatekeepers (such as galleries or escort agencies) with new ones (multinational Internet companies)? What are the revolutionary possibilities and contradictions facing women who working on the Internet?