Researching gender in the history of the Internet and the Web. A roundtable at the SHOT 2023 conference

Abstract

The co-editors of this special issue—Janet Abbate, Autumn Edwards, Leopoldina Fortunati, along with Valérie Schafer, a co-editor of the journal—launched an open call for organizing a roundtable during the SHOT 2023 conference, in which they invited scholars to delve deeper into the multifaceted sources, approaches, and methodologies related to Gender in the history of the Internet and the Web.

This edited transcription of the roundtable presents historically situated examples of the sociological, cultural, and political aspects of the relationship between gender and the Internet. It endeavors to illuminate the shaping of this history, examining the construction of gender in the online sphere. The participants pose inquiries about addressing knowledge gaps in this history, exploring methods to trace gendered trajectories and controversies, leveraging oral histories, navigating silences and invisibility, and broadening the dissemination of findings to audiences beyond those already engaged.

Beginning with Laine Nooney’s exploration of the videogames industry before connected and networked practices, the discussion progresses to Avery Dame-Griff and Cassius Adair, who both tackle the challenges of reconstructing and narrating the history of transgender people and their digital communication dynamics. These themes are also developed in Laine Nooney’s article “A Pedestal, A Table, A Love Letter: Archaeologies of Gender and Video Game History” (2013), significantly contributing to the evolving dialogue on gender and video games, and Avery Dame-Griff’s recent book, The Two Revolutions: A History of the Transgender Internet (2023). Lastly, Deena Larsen provides insights into present and future challenges concerning gender asymmetries and imbalances in Wikipedia, along with their implications for the development of artificial intelligence.