Sexing the Internet
69
and sexuality are at the heart of this process. Ideologically, sexual norms and the
enforcement of moral cultures serve to defi ne the boundaries between different categories of citizen-subjects. Quite materially, these ideologies are meant to guide and police
procreative (hetero-) sexuality and women ’ s reproductive choices. The body thus
becomes both a fi gurative and a real site for social order and control, where gender,
sexuality, ethnicity, and religion are relationally constituted through and in each
other.
The regulation of sexuality plays an important role in establishing the moral rights
and supremacy of a particular ethnicity, which in turn helps to solidify the differences
between the groups. At times of fl ux, the policing of these boundaries becomes accentuated. Paying attention to how sexual speech, discourse, and acts are regulated and
placed under surveillance can provide important indicators on current national concerns and uncover the directions that censorship and surveillance will take.
Beyond the signifi cance of gender and sexuality for internal stratifi cation within
the nation, these concepts are also central for the ideology of the nation as a
whole. The national collective identity, or, in Benedict Anderson ’ s infl uential terminology, the “ imagined community, ” is usually based on the ideologies of the privileged
groups in the nation.
18 Notably, the nation has often been imagined as female, evoking
the hegemonic ideals of femininity favored by the ruling classes. Nationalism concurrently is described by Inderpal Grewal and Caren Kaplan as “ a process in which new
patriarchal elites gain the power to produce the generic ‘ we ’ of the nation. The homogenizing project of nationalism draws upon female bodies as the symbol of the nation
to generate discourses of rape, motherhood, sexual purity, and heteronormativity. ”
19
But what about real women? How are they situated in Malaysia? There is still a
substantial gender disparity in terms of health, politics, and economic development.
This can be seen in Malaysia ’ s low Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) ranking,
coming in at 68 out of 109 countries, and its Gender Development Index (GDI) that
ranks lower (76) than its Human Development Index (66).
20 These rankings point to
systemic and structural barriers for women ’ s equal opportunities and access to resources,
which are also refl ected in terms of decision-making positions. Women made up only
27.3 percent of senators in 2009, and only 10.4 percent of members of Parliament.
21
The fi gures do not improve much in the private sector, with only 6.1 percent of women
participating at boardroom levels in the corporate sector.
22 As a result, women are
signifi cantly removed from most decision-making processes, including determining
the boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable expression in the public sphere.
Media, the Internet, and Gendered Publics
A prime tool for the ideological creation of any nation has been the establishment of
its public sphere, in relation to which freedom of expression and censorship have
69
and sexuality are at the heart of this process. Ideologically, sexual norms and the
enforcement of moral cultures serve to defi ne the boundaries between different categories of citizen-subjects. Quite materially, these ideologies are meant to guide and police
procreative (hetero-) sexuality and women ’ s reproductive choices. The body thus
becomes both a fi gurative and a real site for social order and control, where gender,
sexuality, ethnicity, and religion are relationally constituted through and in each
other.
The regulation of sexuality plays an important role in establishing the moral rights
and supremacy of a particular ethnicity, which in turn helps to solidify the differences
between the groups. At times of fl ux, the policing of these boundaries becomes accentuated. Paying attention to how sexual speech, discourse, and acts are regulated and
placed under surveillance can provide important indicators on current national concerns and uncover the directions that censorship and surveillance will take.
Beyond the signifi cance of gender and sexuality for internal stratifi cation within
the nation, these concepts are also central for the ideology of the nation as a
whole. The national collective identity, or, in Benedict Anderson ’ s infl uential terminology, the “ imagined community, ” is usually based on the ideologies of the privileged
groups in the nation.
18 Notably, the nation has often been imagined as female, evoking
the hegemonic ideals of femininity favored by the ruling classes. Nationalism concurrently is described by Inderpal Grewal and Caren Kaplan as “ a process in which new
patriarchal elites gain the power to produce the generic ‘ we ’ of the nation. The homogenizing project of nationalism draws upon female bodies as the symbol of the nation
to generate discourses of rape, motherhood, sexual purity, and heteronormativity. ”
19
But what about real women? How are they situated in Malaysia? There is still a
substantial gender disparity in terms of health, politics, and economic development.
This can be seen in Malaysia ’ s low Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) ranking,
coming in at 68 out of 109 countries, and its Gender Development Index (GDI) that
ranks lower (76) than its Human Development Index (66).
20 These rankings point to
systemic and structural barriers for women ’ s equal opportunities and access to resources,
which are also refl ected in terms of decision-making positions. Women made up only
27.3 percent of senators in 2009, and only 10.4 percent of members of Parliament.
21
The fi gures do not improve much in the private sector, with only 6.1 percent of women
participating at boardroom levels in the corporate sector.
22 As a result, women are
signifi cantly removed from most decision-making processes, including determining
the boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable expression in the public sphere.
Media, the Internet, and Gendered Publics
A prime tool for the ideological creation of any nation has been the establishment of
its public sphere, in relation to which freedom of expression and censorship have