Introduction
Digital technologies impact the categories of the body, gender, and the formation of personal identity, as they occupy an integral place in every modern person’s life. First, digital technologies have allowed ideas about freedom of choice and feminism to become widespread. The influence of digital technologies on the category of the body is expressed in the prevalence of images and representation of different body constitutions and their recognition as normal. With the advent of digital technologies in cyberspace, it has become possible to represent oneself in any way. The Internet has become a space for people to share their images, spreading the message of the importance of diversity.
The category of gender has ceased to be stable and well-defined due to the Internet. On the one hand, with the help of modern technologies, stereotypical attitudes that impose gender identity are being spread. On the other hand, the Internet will allow activists to spread the idea of gender roles imposed by society. Concerning identity, technology also works by allowing people to express themselves in various guises and form unique ideas about their identity. Digital technologies are integral to modern society and influence how people live and make gender, body, or identity decisions.
Impact on the Body Perception
Digital technologies, in particular social networks, influence the formation of ideas about the body. Social networks provide a safe space where people can post messages about their lifestyles that affect life prospects. The popularization of body modifications in social networks has an impact on what society considers beautiful. For example, social media sites encourage young people to get tattoos and body piercings (Chen, 2016). However, people can look at people with different body types and understand the normality of human diversity.
In contrast to the past society’s obsession with thin and athletic bodies, body-positive ideas are spreading in the modern community. The body positivity movement promotes love and acceptance of one’s body; the trend is most popular on social networks. In commercials, games, and films, representations of different body types also appear. Internet technology provides an opportunity to expand identity categories and abandon the centricity of Western and white appearance (DeCook, 2021). Society accepts the idea of the beauty of any body, regardless of height and weight. Young people are the most affected by social media, which makes it easier for them to accept themselves. Social networks forming behavior patterns and respect for one’s own body and acceptance of it are positive trends.
Concerning the majority of related social media posts, body positivity challenges unattainable beauty standards. The spread of the Internet has given people the opportunity not only to express themselves but to desire to be better than they are. This trend has led to the fact that many people are posting processed photos in which their bodies are unrealistic. It creates unattainable beauty ideals, provoking people to extreme changes in their appearance (Tiggemann and Anderberg, 2020). Body positivity aims to reverse this trend in favor of body acceptance.
Another trend associated with the spread of digital technologies is the body neutralization movement. In contrast to body positivity, neutralization involves focusing on how the body performs its functions rather than how it looks. As with body positivity, body neutrality defies traditional beauty standards. However, unlike body positivity, it refutes the notion that a person’s value stems from their appearance. The body neutralization movement allows society to move away from the preoccupation with appearance.
Although the original idea of accepting one’s body and promoting it is a good idea that supports people with body dysmorphic disorder, it also has negative consequences. Body positivity has failed to become fully inclusive, which may prevent some people from having stable self-esteem and loving their bodies. Many people using body-positive hashtags and post captions are thin, young whites (Orgad and Gill, 2021). This trend may discriminate against persons with disabilities and other vulnerable categories of citizens. Body positivity has gone a long way from accepting one’s body with all its peculiarities in the first place.
There are serious concerns about the prevalence of body-positive ideas in social networks due to the popularization of an unhealthy lifestyle. For example, Trusted Source, a movement aimed at normalizing overweight without mention of health problems, is criticized. The normalization of excess weight and related health issues is dangerous. However, discrimination against overweight people from which modern society has not yet wholly escaped is even more challenging. One thing is clear: digital technology has definitely changed how people relate to their bodies.
Impact on Gender Understanding
The trend toward the abolition of gender roles has been outlined in modern society for a long time. Due to Internet technologies, the ideas of equality and the unimportance of biological sex have become popular among a large number of people. People got the freedom to choose to become anyone, regardless of biological affiliation. Another undoubted advantage of digital technologies has been the spread of feminist ideas. Women gained the right to speak out and be heard and much more patterns of acceptable social behavior (Malaza and Parekh, 2022). The Internet has substantially impacted the feminist movement as women have been able to empower themselves.
Technology is relevant to women’s issues and, therefore, can be used to mitigate abuse against women. Technology has also been able to provide a platform for women to express their frustrations and thus gain a voice in society. According to Kelly (2014), women have spoken out in areas such as justice, health, and education at global concerts such as Chime for Change, which Gucci has organized through an online platform. Digital technologies have given feminists greater exposure than they could not get in traditional societies. Digitalization also presents enormous opportunities for women as it has helped overcome social and cultural norms in various situations that hinder their equality and fairness. Due to digital technologies, regulators can access much data to make better gender decisions. In addition, Kelly (2014) suggests that cyberspace has allowed for the breakdown of social constructs about gender and identity that sometimes give the masculine more power. Digitalization opens up many opportunities; mitigation measures must be carefully planned not to widen the gap. Thus, digital technologies have given people the freedom to choose their gender identity by promoting the idea of personal freedom and equality.
However, digital technologies have also had a negative impact on gender-related issues. According to the statistics, most cybercrime victims are women (Kalyani, 2020). Stalking has become a new form of violence because of the ability of the Internet to provide criminals with complete anonymity. Simultaneously with the spread of the ideas of freedom of choice, including gender issues, the opponents of this social tendency began to appear worldwide. Because of this worrying trend, many people whose gender identity does not match their biological sex have received disapproval and insults. This tendency prevents people from behaving and identifying the way they feel. Nevertheless, the social trend at the moment is relatively positive. The aim of the activists protecting the LGBTQ+ community is to support people in their external and behavioral conformity to their internal psychological state.
One of the good examples of how the development of digital technologies has a positive impact on gender issues is the phenomenon of representation. Women have been given much more attention in modern books, films, and computer games. Not only are there more female title characters, but old trends are being rethought. For example, Ghostbusters cult franchise received a continuation with an all-female cast. This trend allows society to destroy old ideas and shows that women can be strong heroines while men can be weak and defenseless. This phenomenon in popular culture erases gender stereotypes and allows people to understand their gender identity.
Impact on Forming Identity
Digital technologies are a serious driving force in the formation of human ideas about themselves. According to Deleuze (2017), technology has significantly impacted social and cultural contexts and developed different meanings for the scientific theories involved. People go through various closed environments and social constructions during their lives that determine their behavior. Information technology restricts and helps people to access identity-related information about LGBTQ+ people.
Social media has allowed people to challenge established norms and be themselves. Online social networks have made it possible to challenge heterosexuality by changing cultural and social values. Online dating platforms have a significant impact on people’s identities. According to Kelly (2014), online platforms allow people to present themselves the way they want to, depicting different feelings and emotions. Thus, online relationships allow people to deviate from traditional social constructs. Online interactions help people to engage in heterosexual and homosexual relationships (Hayles, 2000). In addition to spreading the normality of the personal choice of a partner, online platforms provide many options for self-realization, which contributes to the normal formation of self-identity.
However, technology has evolved to include automatic gender recognition, which can determine the gender of people through audio, video, or images. These technologies can become a means to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people. The possible expansion of these technologies, on the contrary, can become a means of promoting the normality of any self-identification. Allowing gender to be specified while providing a choice of more than two options demonstrates the normalization of identity choices.
For example, Tumblr supported queer tech and was mentioned among trans tech. Tumblr allowed users to meet the needs of their trans community because, after a while, it allowed users to change themselves (Hayles, 2000). The modification made it easier to incarnate in the digital space, allowing them to develop their identity, which they later recognized. Tumblr has also ensured the ambiguity, fluidity, and realism of trans users’ identities, which are essential for gender reassignment (Haimson et al., 2021). Trans communities benefit from social media platforms as they provide meaningful spaces where they can express themselves as they allow for intersectionality, reality, separation, change, openness, and temporality. Transgender communities may use online resources to communicate and organize their access to various resources; thus, these communities have become an integral part of their lives.
The emergence of dating apps and websites clearly shows the impact of digital technologies on identity and gender. Applications allow users to create a profile in which they have the opportunity to portray themselves as they would like to be recognized. According to Chen’s research, experimental gender role reversal in cyberspace allows users to express emotions however they want (2016). The ability to behave in the desired way and be accepted positively affects people’s psycho-emotional state. The Internet has allowed the use of pseudonyms in communication and interaction in digital spaces, which has greatly influenced the social constructions associated with identity. In this way, online pseudonyms allow people to change their identities and intentionally influence their audience.
Conclusion
Modern digital technologies significantly impact the concept of the body, gender, and identity. Using social networks, people get an idea about diversity in human bodies. This trend contributes to forming a positive attitude towards one’s body. However, the body positivity movement can lead to a conniving attitude towards one’s health. Due to digital technologies, gender stereotypes are beginning to be blurred, allowing people to identify gender independently. New means of self-expression have emerged that can make people of different genders and biological sexes feel safer. However, discrimination against such persons in social networks also takes place. The process of self-identification is also more straightforward because of modern technologies. Despite the adverse effects of digitalization, digital technologies positively impact human development in terms of identification, understanding of gender, and respect for one’s body.
Reference List
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