A Sociological Study of Gender Inequality in the Cyberspace: With Special References to District Satara
Author : Rajendra Pundlik Pawar
Abstract :
The concept of the global village has come into existence with the development of computer and internet technology in the 21st century. The Internet and computer technology have changed the face of human culture as well as the traditional way of life. Mobile, smartphone, and internet technologies play an important role in our daily lives. Social media is the most popular and powerful platform for our daily life in cyberspace as it can reach a large number in any part of the world. It has broken down barriers to political, social, and cultural boundaries around the world. We can have social contacts, social relationships, friends with people, and talk to them, however, we can express ourselves through social media on the internet. You can share your thoughts, ideas, opinions, feelings, research, social and cultural events, knowledge, and various other information through social media (Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) all over the world.
This paper outlines the gender gap between the Internet and social media in the digital realm. The present research is based on an online survey of 500 selected social media users from rural and urban areas of the Satara districts research concludes is that social media and the internet can be great tools for women’s empowerment, but lack of opportunities for internet usage, patriarchal culture, computer illiteracy, low computer skills, fear of online sexual harassment, increase in cyber-violence and cyber inequality are the main reasons behind gender gap in digital space.
Keywords :
Gender inequality, cyberspace, digital space internet technology, computer illiteracy
