In a woman’s “body”? Educating to counter violence and build a new digital humanism

Abstract

Although the digital environments we all inhabit may appear neutral and immaterial, they are traversed by representations and experiences that involve bodies and, therefore, gender differences. This often occurs through violent language and behaviors that harm women's dignity precisely because they are women. Starting from a reflection on the value of human corporeality and reviewing recent research on cyber violence against women, this contribution aims to investigate some of the ways in which the female body is signified in post-media society, questioning disembodied perspectives that relegate the body to a marginal, instrumental, and therefore objectifiable dimension. Embracing a phenomenological perspective, the article proposes a critical reflection aimed at supporting an embodied and situated conception of human relationships and behaviors, and therefore of digital technologies. In this direction, the contribution identifies possible trajectories of meaning for education in our time, towards a new digital humanism.