Baum, Alaina M.2012-10-152012-10-151995-12https://hdl.handle.net/1794/12305155 pagesThis thesis reviews feminist theories appropriate for a feminist analysis of magazine and feminist texts and uses these theoretical insights as a framework for analyzing how women's under-representation on the Internet is represented in mainstream magazines and women's online discourse. The feminist perspective provides the justification for investigating whether magazine texts are functioning strategically to justify men's current dominance of the Internet and women's relative exclusion from this sphere. By comparing magazine and feminist on-line discourse, this study shows how magazines forward a contradictory message about the Internet's potential by claiming that universal access is feasible while neglecting to inform audiences about barriers which stand in the way of women's access. This comparison also reveals that magazines are advancing ideologies about women and the Net which are shaped by gender politics, which are innaccurate according to contemporary feminists and which work against women's participation on the Internet.en-USrights_reservedThesis