Online Ontology: A Feminist Phenomenology of Online Community and Selfhood
| dc.contributor.advisor | Mann, Bonnie | |
| dc.contributor.author | Berg, Zero | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-08-30T19:09:08Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-08-30T19:09:08Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
| dc.description | 51 pages | |
| dc.description.abstract | Phenomenology, the study of the structures of consciousness, attempts to understand the ways in which we understand reality and our lived experiences. Historically, the discipline has been overly generalized and all encompassing, claiming to account for all or most of humanity’s experience. Critical phenomenology is an intentional turn away from this kind of practice, and suspends the universal, commonly accepted accounts of reality in order to attend to the unique influences of power that dictate particular experiences. Philosopher Mariana Ortega uses resources of Heideggerian phenomenology with Latina feminism to continue this new phenomenological tradition and conceive a new understanding of selfhood and identity. Ortega describes this self as being multiplicitous, a quality that accounts for its ability to exist as a singular entity–simultaneously–in worlds that both affirm and reject it. Feminist phenomenology seeks to bring forth experiences that have traditionally been deemed not serious enough to be considered in philosophical discussions. One of those not-serious-enough-to-be-philosophical things is social media. This paper analyzes the impacts that online communities have on our sense of self through the lens of Ortega’s theory of a multiplicitous self. In order to honor the project of analyzing selves that are forced to the margins, this paper will look at first-hand accounts (interviews) and subcultural aspects of two highly stigmatized groups with strong online presence and membership: real-person fanfiction authors and incels 3 (involuntary celibates). Through understanding the background social conditions of heteropatriarchy in which each group formed themselves against, we can better understand the implications and complexities of pursuing modern selfhood in online spaces. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.orcid | 0009-0000-0337-3900 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1794/29884 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | University of Oregon | |
| dc.rights | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 | |
| dc.subject | Philosophy | en_US |
| dc.subject | Phenomenology | en_US |
| dc.subject | Feminist Phenomenology | en_US |
| dc.subject | Online Community | en_US |
| dc.subject | Social Media | en_US |
| dc.title | Online Ontology: A Feminist Phenomenology of Online Community and Selfhood | |
| dc.type | Thesis/Dissertation |