Sonia Núñez Puente

Feminist cyberactivism: Violence against women, internet politics, and Spanish feminist praxis online

This article explores the use of new technologies and the internet in the creation of new relational spaces, or online collectives, that have arisen in Spanish online feminist praxis as an activist proposal in the particular sphere of the fight against violence against women. Its main objective is to provide an overview of some of the diverse womens communities online in Spain that are using the internet for issues of activism in relation to the fight against violence against women. This article aims to show the differences in how these collectives were created, and how they define Spanish cyberactivist praxis from different practice-based positions. It argues that these online collectives work to preserve a sense of a project of female agency in two ways: they can serve both as a concrete cyberactivist claim that strengthens political action offline, and as a conceptualization of the broad and independent feminist positions that make up online feminist praxis.This article explores the use of new technologies and the internet in the creation of new relational spaces, or online collectives, that have arisen in Spanish online feminist praxis as an activist proposal in the particular sphere of the fight against violence against women. Its main objective is to provide an overview of some of the diverse womens communities online in Spain that are using the internet for issues of activism in relation to the fight against violence against women. This article aims to show the differences in how these collectives were created, and how they define Spanish cyberactivist praxis from different practice-based positions. It argues that these online collectives work to preserve a sense of a project of female agency in two ways: they can serve both as a concrete cyberactivist claim that strengthens political action offline, and as a conceptualization of the broad and independent feminist positions that make up online feminist praxis.

New Technologies and New Spaces for Relation Spanish Feminist Praxis Online

In recent decades, Spanish feminist praxis has diversified its theoretical proposals and objectives, presenting the use of the new virtual communities from perspectives that bring it closer both to cyberfeminism and to technofeminism. The purpose of this article is to consider and explore in depth the construction and the use of the new technologies and internet in the new spaces for relationships in this feminist praxis. The article analyses the theoretical and agency proposals presented by two of the founders of the most significant portals in recent years in Spain: E-leusis, founded by María Angustias Bertomeu, and Mujeres en Red, founded by Montserrat Boix. From a position closer to the essential utopia defended by Bertomeu, Spanish feminist praxis has advanced towards a kind of technofeminism that Montserrat Boix herself has transformed into what she has denominated social cyberfeminism.In recent decades, Spanish feminist praxis has diversified its theoretical proposals and objectives, presenting the use of the new virtual communities from perspectives that bring it closer both to cyberfeminism and to technofeminism. The purpose of this article is to consider and explore in depth the construction and the use of the new technologies and internet in the new spaces for relationships in this feminist praxis. The article analyses the theoretical and agency proposals presented by two of the founders of the most significant portals in recent years in Spain: E-leusis, founded by Maria Angustias Bertomeu, and Mujeres en Red, founded by Montserrat Boix. From a position closer to the essential utopia defended by Bertomeu, Spanish feminist praxis has advanced towards a kind of technofeminism that Montserrat Boix herself has transformed into what she has denominated social cyberfeminism.

inhabiting or occupying the web?: virtual communities and feminist cyberactivism in online Spanish feminist theory and praxis

This article examines the relationships between gender and technology in Spanish feminist praxis online and argues that different perspectives on online feminist community-building offer distinct responses to cyberactivism, which is considered central to sustaining efforts for social change. To ascertain whether Spanish virtual communities and cyberactivism have the potential to address the challenges posed by the relations between gender and technology, we analyse feminist scholar Remedios Zafras theoretical proposals, and the different ways in which this theory intersects with the cyberactivism put forth by two feminist web portals, Ciudad de Mujeres and Mujeres en Red. We will discuss to what degree particular Spanish feminist theory and practice online adapts to or challenges utopianism regarding the liberating potential of technology. We will also examine how, in the face of critical arguments about such liberatory possibilities, two options present themselves for womens effective use of technology: inhabiting or occupying the web through the construction of feminist communities online.

The romance novel and popular culture during the early Franco regime in Spain: towards the construction of other discourses of femininity

In this paper, my intention is to show and analyse the boom of the romantic novel – given the theoretical assumptions of popular cultural studies – in the Spanish literary scene during the first years of Francos regime with two novels by Carmen de Icaza. The starting point is the hypothesis that the romantic novel, even if it keeps some elements belonging to the prevailing social speech of those days, also represents a subtle break from the distinctive parameters of femininity created by Francos regime. The relevance of my proposal is that, if the romantic novel, on the one hand, fits the distinctive parameters of femininity such as passivity or those feminine standards such as love or sentimentalism, on the other it subverts its discourse of origin when it undermines the pillars of the patriarchal society with the subversive power of the impassioned imagination which, in the romantic novels analysed, is converted into an alternative reality.

Femen in the current Spanish political context: feminist activism and counterhegemonic modes of representation

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this article is to address Femen’s media-based activism in Spain, focusing, on the one hand, on the lack of understanding of Femen’s activist methods by broad swaths of institutionalized feminism, and on the other, on their activism’s repercussions in the broader debates in the current Spanish political context. In order to achieve these objectives, I work from the premise that the use of politics of the body linked to counterhegemonic representational modes impacts the possibilities and reach of Femen’s activist practices. At the same time, paradoxically, these practices are situated in the politics of the street and bodies in alliance that have determined new forms of political practice. I will argue that these new feminist political actions – which are articulated through processes of mediation, culture jamming and recontextualization – are defined not so much by the effectiveness of the new cultural practices one finds in contemporary activism, but by how they become part of wha...ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to address Femen’s media-based activism in Spain, focusing, on the one hand, on the lack of understanding of Femen’s activist methods by broad swaths of institutionalized feminism, and on the other, on their activism’s repercussions in the broader debates in the current Spanish political context. In order to achieve these objectives, I work from the premise that the use of politics of the body linked to counterhegemonic representational modes impacts the possibilities and reach of Femen’s activist practices. At the same time, paradoxically, these practices are situated in the politics of the street and bodies in alliance that have determined new forms of political practice. I will argue that these new feminist political actions – which are articulated through processes of mediation, culture jamming and recontextualization – are defined not so much by the effectiveness of the new cultural practices one finds in contemporary activism, but by how they become part of what is now called awkward politics.

Online feminist practice, participatory activism and public policies against gender-based violence in Spain

This article presents and reflects upon the results of a survey involving a sample of women who have experienced gender-based violence and who have turned to an institutional centre to tackle their situation. In aiming to move beyond a descriptive treatment, we consider the plurality of user types and their remote use patterns in relation to the resources offered by virtual feminist communities designed to promote increased sociopolitical mobilisation in the fight against violence against women. We will observe the progressive emergence of protest actions organised by Spanish virtual feminist communities, which make use of new technologies to contribute productively to the debate and to political action in innovative organisations and formats. The article discusses how feminist virtual communities are using digital spaces for their work combatting violence against women, and whether this work is apparent to those who experience this violence. Finally, we tackle the implications of this work for online feminist activism in terms of a more interactive and social constructivist model of activism, as well as considering its relationship to institutional-legal discourse and public policies that require women to recognise themselves as victims.This article presents and reflects upon the results of a survey involving a sample of women who have experienced gender-based violence and who have turned to an institutional centre to tackle their...

Ciberfeminismo contra la violencia de género: análisis del activismo online-offline y de la representación discursiva de la víctima

Este articulo analiza, a partir de entrevistas a gestoras de paginas web que luchan contra la violencia de genero, cual es la relacion entre el activismo virtual y el presencial de las cibercomunidades feministas en Espana. El texto indaga en su percepcion de la configuracion discursiva de la victima de violencia en el discurso legal y mediatico. El estudio reflexiona sobre como se utilizan las herramientas online desde la praxis feminista y si suponen la creacion de nuevos espacios para la lucha contra la violencia de genero en Internet o constituyen meros apendices de la praxis offline. La investigacion aborda la preocupacion que el ciberfeminismo mantiene acerca de la representacion simbolica de la violencia a partir de la teoria retorica y politica de la performatividad del lenguaje de Butler.

Online activism and subject construction of the victim of gender-based violence on Spanish YouTube channels: Multimodal analysis and performativity

This article analyzes the construction of female subjectivity in the specific context of audiovisual cyberspaces in Spain dedicated to the struggle against violence against women. Looking at the YouTube channels of two virtual feminist communities that deal with violence against women, the authors analyze how the victim-subject is configured in terms of agency and activism. The authors adopt a multimodal model of studying the sign complexes of the videos as semiotic artifacts that produce meaning. Sign complexes are always engaged because representation is never neutral because what is represented in sign is meant to realize the values and positions of those who make the sign. In this article, the authors understand feminist activism in the fight against violence targeting women as constructing in its discourse not only the activist process, but also the subject of this activism: the victim-subject of gender-based violence. The analysis engages in the discussion about the various ways in which this subject is interpellated by the audiovisual texts in terms of agency. As a result, this study proposes the necessity to devise new ways of articulating this subject as a political and agential one.This article analyzes the construction of female subjectivity in the specific context of audiovisual cyberspaces in Spain dedicated to the struggle against violence against women. Looking at the YouTube channels of two virtual feminist communities that deal with violence against women, the authors analyze how the victim-subject is configured in terms of agency and activism. The authors adopt a multimodal model of studying the sign complexes of the videos as semiotic artifacts that produce meaning. Sign complexes are always engaged because representation is never neutral because what is represented in sign is meant to realize the values and positions of those who make the sign. In this article, the authors understand feminist activism in the fight against violence targeting women as constructing in its discourse not only the activist process, but also the subject of this activism: the victim-subject of gender-based violence. The analysis engages in the discussion about the various ways in which this subject is interpellated by the audiovisual texts in terms of agency. As a result, this study proposes the necessity to devise new ways of articulating this subject as a political and agential one. Language: en

Género y televisión. Estereotipos y mecanismos de poder en el medio televisivo

Gender Studies have placed a pivotal role in mass media studies in the last decade. Power strategies and the relationship that has been established among different stereotypes in TV are the main object of study of this paper. Gender relations are an essential field of analysis of social relations in the field of mass media studies. There is a need to rethink most of the gender constructions implying power strategies. The aim of this paper is to analyze the power strategies that make gender stereotypes possible in TV.