Three things I’ve learned at the Gender and Internet Governance Exchange, Asia

Two concepts glared at me: Feminist? Internet governance activist? Am I all that? See, I tread carefully around labels because I encounter people who “are “allergic” to the word ‘feminist’ or ‘activist’. A feminist or activist is often seen as militant or disruptive and this often spells trouble. As a citizen with an online voice enabled by technology and social media, I have the capacity to connect directly with the people who matter and who could make a change. I didn’t want people to distance themselves from me because of these controversial labels. I pondered over these words, “internet governance activist” and as I searched for the definition online, I discovered that I am part of the internet governance group, as one of the multi-stakeholders.

I find difficulty in articulating the things I do, to advocate for social change for social good. Everything I have ever done as a blogger and on social media for the past nine years was through intuition. When I received the acceptance to the Gender and Internet Governance Exchange (gigX) I was so excited because it meant widening the scope of my advocacy. There was no doubt that the gigX would widen my knowledge on the intersections between women’s rights and internet governance. I want to transfer this knowledge to my community by sharing the three things I’ve learned at gender and internet governance exchange. Some of these lessons are interrelated but I want to highlight each of them separately.

Read the full Feminist Talk in GenderIT.org .

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