Cyberporn

For those who have discovered the pleasure of mangas and animations, some must have heard of doushinji and familiar with this genre, but for those who not having a clue what is this the doushinji could be consider to be fan-fiction or a little more a spin-off of popular manga but carries a different theme of the reader’s opinions and view of the work. Doushinji are usually love stories of characters in the original manga where they could be rivals or comrades or just friends. One of the most popular forms of doushinji is shonenai (boy-love) or a stronger theme of yaoi with characters has full intercourse. Based on this and going back to Uebel’s point on Cyberporn “As the Web becomes increasingly constructed as the imaginary reference point of the public, we begin to recognize our own desires as they are re-presented to us in the media senssuround.” So doushinji is just away for crazy-fan to have a little adventure and broaden their imagination to satisfy their own personal fantasy. So is this genre, could it be consider to be porn? Also, doushinji have a larger female fan-base with works ranging from vanilla love to bloody “battle” but is this a way that what Uebel called “It originates in cultural fantasies of hostility and defiance, rage and boredom, fantasies which change their tack in response to social anxiety, guilt, and identification with the victim.” Is this boy-boy relationship of doushinji characters and doushinji fandom creating a breeding ground for queer in the cyber-culture? Shonenai doushinji are mainly read by female fans, so female fantasizes about boy-on-boy situations than what do will make of this? Or it like Wakeford said “In reviewing the vast array of resources available, it is evident that the larger-scale socio-economic questions of the demographics of produc­tion and consumption of cyberqueer spaces remain largely unanswered.”

Cyber Community

http://2008.weblogawards.org/polls/best-online-community/

This website is an award for most popular online community of the years 2008. As you could see that these online communities are all classify under “interest” categories. The members of these online chatting forums had come together and establish communities that separate them from others. As Bell said “Community’. It’s a word we all use, in many different ways, to talk about . . . what? About belonging and exclusion, about ‘us’ and ‘them’. It’s a common-sense thing, used in daily discussions, in countless associations, from ‘care in the community’ to the Community Hall; from ‘community spirit’ to the ‘business community.” Same goes for the member of this community they consider themselves as members to a specific group, build a surrounding in which they associated and befriended with only the people who share their interests, and standing on common ground. Anyone of us considers ourselves to be a part of a community in which we contribute and share. As for the argument against the online communities brought up the reason that online community take us away from real life and real life situation. However, as Edensor states “These kinds of communities, moreover, only exist because their members believe in them, and maintain them through shared cultural practices.” Sometimes in real life a person could feel uncomfortable, and not knowing where they belong to but when online they could find their community (only one click away,) it will become the heaven where no awkwardness or physical embarrassments could happened, and shy and introvert individuals could express their characteristics and be constructive, than why not let it happened. As Bell mentioned “Detraditionalization frees us from old obligations, and lets us give community a postmodern make-over – and again the Internet offers possibilities to substantially re-imagine the very notion of community.”