Chilbo Community Mentioned in “On the Issues: The Progressive Woman’s Magazine” in Article by Ellie Brewster
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Images from the Virtual Praxis conference organized by
Chilbo Connect! member Ellie Brewster.
File in the “better late than never” category:
Friend, colleague and fellow Chilbo Connect! community member Sharon Collingwood (SL: Ellie Brewster) wrote an article in the Winter 2009 edition of On the Issues: The Progressive Woman’s Magazine discussing the Virtual Praxis conference she founded in 2008.
The article discusses how the platform has become an empowering tool for women, and how the concept of community plays out virtually.
Community was at the heart of the presentations given at the Virtual Praxis conference (archived here). For the most part, speakers either explained how their own community has grown within Second Life, or they studied communities that interested them.
The article goes on to describe some of the presentations given at the conference, including Fleep Tuque’s presentation about The Women of Chilbo.
Linda Rogers (known in Second Life as Kate Miranda) and Chris Collins (Second Life: Fleep Tuque) are founding members of two prominent Second Life communities, Cedar / Sea Turtle Island, and Chilbo,respectively. As Executive Director of the Toronto Philharmonia, Rogers was able to rely on her real-world organization for contacts in developing a series of live music events in Second Life. Collins, an IT analyst at the University of Cincinnati, relied on her own community, a loose association of online friends who moved from posted chat to virtual interaction and established Chilbo as an important cultural center for artists, architects, musicians, educators and others to gather.
The conference was a great examination of how virtual worlds like Second Life can provide additional tools to feminists and activists for many issues:
There are many possibilities for feminist organizing in this new virtual world, but there are also difficulties. The technology is developing very quickly, but there can still be frustrating systemic problems. Although use ofSecond Life is free, it does require a recent computer and a fast Internet connection. Some problems of accessibility and disability exist. However, organization at a grassroots level is growing and these small communities are now reaching out to each other to negotiate a larger social framework.
As in the early days of the women’s movement, this negotiation is taking place outside institutional control, and it is based on trust and cooperation. It is too early to make predictions on where this social framework will lead the citizens of Second Life, but the inherently egalitarian nature of this new technology could provide fertile ground for feminist activism.
Be sure to check out the full article and congrats to Ellie!
Historical perspective.. think how much has changed since this presentation was given – though the Women of Chilbo are still a driving force in our community, that hasn’t changed at all!
