Steele (2011) formerly studied type of online discourse that black female gossip bloggers have carved out for the “black feminist dialect” (p. 1). In “Blogging While Black”, Steele (2011) examined, through a black female epistemology, as a means to understand the black female blogger’s position in the blogosphere. Steele (2011) adds, “if we are to understand the use of new media technology by groups that have traditionally been kept out of the political process it is important that our epistemology is one that allows for diverse ways of understanding the production of knowledge and meaning making” (p. 2, para 1).
Steele (2011) reiterates that the black female blogger’s presentation, expression, and choices online are a direct result of the black female’s multiple oppressions within a white supremacist patriarchal society. Steele (2011) notes, “forms of communication often change to accommodate positionality and lack of access to communication technologies” (p. 2, para 2). Here, Steele (2011) emphasizes the importance of the black female epistemology through the framework of communication research (p. 2). The lack of perspective from the black female herself within larger political conversations has shaped the black female voice within digital media. In addition to analyzing the way in which individual black female bloggers integrate their personal as a political resistance of the white male dominant voice in digital media.
Steele (2011) investigates the collective participation of black females as they interact with one another in the blogosphere. Steele (2011) points out that black bloggers may or may not seek to intentionally take a political stance by injecting their personal opinion and self-expression on their personal blogs. However, Steele’s (2011) analysis of black female bloggers positionality in the blogosphere is still an act of resistance. By merely existing the way that they are, black bloggers inadvertently became voices for black feminist discourse.
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Steele (2011) is challenging the way in which information is collected, exchanged, who decides what is legitimate and who’s qualified to do so. In the 21st century, anyone can produce information and inject their personal views and opinions into a larger information data base. The internet opens up questions on who's a qualified researcher of new knowledge, screened information, and the way said information is disseminated. Historically, marginalized groups have been disregarded in this system of knowledge production, hence the importance that they create a place to do so. The ways that knowledge production has been high jacked by the white dominant culture has been white washed and erases the different perspectives of others, specifically marginalized groups like Black women. In Steele’s (2011) analysis, black female bloggers communicate their own expression and interact in a way which creates a “non-traditional” discourse for and by black females. Steele (2011) explores the special way that black female bloggers create a community within a larger world that has been historically overlooked or discredited. Steele (2011) credits black female bloggers for filling in that void saying, “communication research frequently explores the uses of blogs in self-expression, activism and political organization. However, a gap exists in the research which does not directly addresses how Black women utilize personal blogging that may differ from the dominant culture” (p. 2, para 3). The deconstruction of traditional research methodologies that were once deemed legitimate are being challenged. Within this narrative, the way non-white, male persons communicate are offered as a resolution to fill in the holes of those understudied groups. Once again, Black women are tasked with the burden of solving their own problems when the larger society fails to see the importance of their voice and experiences. This simply says, if you won’t allow me to represent myself correctly, forget it, I’ll do it myself. #ListentoBlackWomen
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