The Face of Arab Women in Cyber-Literature

This study examines the representation of Arab women in cyber literary works by employing the cyberfeminism criticism perspective. The cyber world in literary works provides capacity for public dialogue while also playing a role in constructing the identity and self-image of women who engage with this content. This study uses a qualitative content analysis design in a deductive way, which was achieved by reviewing selected digital data to examine short stories in cyber literary works. The exploration of cyber literary works that represent Arab women provides an opportunity to identify particular depictions through a feminist critical framework, which include symbolic violence depicted through the negative labeling of women, such as curses, beasts, demons, marionette dolls, and ugly; passive object or women as a property for men to empower or degrade; and the moral authority of men to influence limitations placed on women as it pertains to their freedom and rights. This study highlights Haraway’s (1991) argument that cyberfeminism emphasizes feminist objectivity in shaping ideas and the importance of accountability, position, and alignment. This argument suggests that cyberfeminism seeks to challenge traditional notions of objectivity and strives to recognize one’s own positionality and the power dynamics they may shape. The feminist critique applied to these selected cyber literary works reveals Arab women still experience an identity crisis in the social sphere of digital or cyber society.