Feminist and identity construction on blogs, a study of selected top blogs in Africa

Abstract

The study examines the blog posts and blogger profiles of selected top African bloggers. The study is premised on the grounds that; first, the blogosphere is one of the most suitable online spaces for the construction and exploration of identity; second, that women can use the blogosphere to explore their creativity and true identity through their writing; and third, that the identity of the woman has been veiled from time immemorial since women as writers as well as their works have always been evaluated under the influence of male patriarchal and literary tradition and, therefore, could never have an original, innovative and independent art. Through qualitative content analysis of ten top African female blogs and further anchored on the feminist gynocriticism theory and the identity theory, the study argues that while its findings support earlier research that women writers construct their identity as inspirational bloggers and relationship builders, the findings disagree with popular assertion by some researchers that women shy away from issues related to governance, technology, education and business. The findings also support earlier but limited number of research that women use blogs to challenge gender stereotypes. The study concludes that when it comes to women’s identities, stereotypical roles bestowed on them by society are being confronted, challenged and wriggled off.