Tinysex and gender trouble [Internet world]

Most of us, most of the time, neatly fit ourselves and others into one of two mutually exclusive social categories. We are either men or women; we cannot be both at once. This is something we take for granted. In a discussion of ethnography in the Internet world, the author examines how that world has created forms of human interaction that cannot rely on such taken-for-granted knowledge. When a person is online, one´s gender identity must be actively constructed and presented within an interaction. The author´s discussion of gender-swapping and virtual cross-dressing suggest ways in which computer technologies can provide unique opportunities for exploring how we enact our gender identities and what we require of others as they enact theirs. A word on acronyms. Multi-User Domains (MUDs) are Internet locations, virtual spaces in which participants interact anonymously. Most are text-based, but some use graphical icons. They are computer programs organized around different themes, games and interests but they share the characteristic that MUD players participate through the process of creating themselves within the community activity. Lambda MOO is a specific MUD (MOO is “MUD Object oriented”)