Invisible Firewalls: Gendered Exclusion and Resistance in The Digital Public Sphere

Mahera Imam, Prof N. Manimekalai and Prof S. Suba
Additional contact information
Mahera Imam: Research Scholar, Department of Women’s Studies, Khajamalai Campus, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu-620023.
Prof N. Manimekalai: Director, Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New Delhi
Prof S. Suba: Professor, Department of Women’s Studies, Khajamalai Campus, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli- 620023.

International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, 2025, vol. 12, issue 5, 2144-2152

Abstract: The digital public sphere, often envisioned as an egalitarian space for dialogue and democratic engagement, is increasingly shaped by structures of exclusion that mirror and reinforce offline inequalities. This paper critically examines the concept of invisible firewalls a metaphor for the socio-technical, algorithmic, and cultural barriers that inhibit the equitable participation of women and gender-diverse individuals in online environments. While digital technologies promise universality, access, and empowerment, in practice they often produce and perpetuate stratified forms of visibility, voice, and vulnerability. Drawing upon Nancy Fraser’s reconceptualization of the public sphere and Judith Butler’s theory of performativity, this study explores how gendered subjectivities are regulated and marginalized through online surveillance, algorithmic governance, and socio-cultural gatekeeping. Platforms, despite their outward neutrality, are underpinned by biased data architectures, as articulated in Safiya Umoja Noble’s Algorithms of Oppression and Virginia Eubanks’ Automating Inequality, which disproportionately affect women, particularly those from historically marginalized communities.

Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijrsi/d ... ssue-5/2144-2152.pdf (application/pdf)
https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijrsi/artic ... gital-public-sphere/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bjc:journl:v:12:y:2025:i:5:p:2144-2152

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation is currently edited by Dr. Renu Malsaria

More articles in International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation from International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Dr. Renu Malsaria ().