Cyberfeminism sought to break down systems of oppression that were flagrant both in the 90s and present day, which increasingly manifest in online spaces; while some progress has been made, the fight for a fair and free internet still has a long way to go. However, alienation is persistent throughout virtual spaces and the virtual selves we embody, alluding directly to the capitalist system at hand which dictates our identities and interests in a world of advertisement. Karl Marx states:
The less you eat, drink and buy books; the less you go to the theatre, the dance hall, the public house; the less you think, love, theorise, sing, paint, fence, etc., the more you save – the greater becomes your treasure which neither moths nor rust will devour – your capital. The less you are, the less you express your own life, the more you have, i.e., the greater is your alienated life, the greater is the store of your estranged being.
(15)
In the post pandemic world, it’s an affront more than ever to not have a hobby, of course, and to only value yourself through work. Still, on shows like Jeopardy, contestants are introduced by their job’s title, as if it were an identifier and personality trait that tells the viewer something about their character. We experience alienated lives full of the fluff of the trend cycle which forces us into new hobbies, clothing, food, music, videos, and more at an alarming rate, in which we are unable to fully engage with any of these subjects in the way Marx would have us, and they merely become part of the meaningless capital surrounding us. Through social media, hobbies become a way of building capital instead of a means of personal fulfillment. Slowing down doesn’t seem to be an option when posting, or more importantly reposting, content production is easier than ever, and more fleeting than ever. Instagram stories allow one to share content instantaneously, meaninglessly, and only for 24 hours.
Our alienated lives are simulations that exist in stark contrast to the reality of the process of creating microchips, processors, and computer parts. In the First World we play out our own cyberspace simulations akin to those Gibson’s space cowboy Case jack into. The Matrix (1999) is a perfect example of the type of story which represents the First World obsession with the simulation, representing the entire world as jacked into a collective, consensual hallucination (1).