Tim Jordan disagrees with Olu's argument, which he interprets as suggesting that there is no Other on the net already and that there is no dominant way of constructing selves, only the PONA who are to come. Ignoring the 'western' nature of the net merely means leaving it in place and hoping this bogey really is only of our dreams. Change is possible, Tim writes, but it must be explored as part of the complex array of forces and powers that already exists. Josephine Bosma writes that Olu's difficulty with the Other reminds her of the discussions she has been having on a female-only mailinglist, focusing mainly on the definition of cyberfeminism, which has led to a kind of separatist approach. When one takes a closer look at what the real 'other' is on the net, it is not so much found in social and political structures as we know them off the net, but the way the net transforms all issues.
Situations have to be continuously rejudged, as well as tactics.
Saskia Sassen replies that it is clearly not just a matter of choice. We are continuously hampered by, embedded in, limiting language, the specifics of a situation. Many workers I know are victimized, and the trick is not to reduce their condition to just victim - any victim is more than just a victim. Robert Atkins writes that the net seems to both reproduce and transform the nature of life offline. Saskia replies that, yes, online and offline affect one another - digital space is embedded within and cannot escape the dynamics and presences offline.