I find the idea of rebellion through the refusal to provide data on the Internet to be one of great interest, and a movement becomingly more widespread in a world that is becomingly increasingly more aware of its own surveillance. Granted, the reasons for refusing to provide data vary between individuals; glitch feminists refuse out of the notion that to be categorized based on characteristics that are synonymous with historically marginalized communities is a ‘violent’ affront, whereas others may refuse out of a more recognizable notion to not be tracked by corporations or the government. The idea of simply abstaining from the current system of self-identification of gender on the Internet is something I think is much simpler said than done; for example, even if one chooses not to check the specifically defined gender box, there are numerous other data points that a website or platform can use to infer one’s gender. If the user does not have a gender that can easily be put in a box, data can still indicate characteristics like body type from what clothes they purchase. One has removed a data point, believing that they have abstained from the overt categorization of gender and body, but the covert categorization algorithms and predictive search optimization are still fully in effect.
A concept that is of relative interest is the notion that glitch is a virus, acting in the same manner a computer virus does, infecting a machine in furtherance of a goal. I understand the sentiment of glitch acting as an arbiter of change, infecting the status quo of gender in a societal machine, but I digress with the overall characterization of glitch as a virus. Viruses in a technological sense can do many things, such as deleting files, reformatting systems, or installing ransomware. The maliciousness from viruses does not come from the virus itself but from the motivation behind the one who installed it, or more realistically, deceived an unsuspecting user into unknowingly installing it. With regards to glitch as a virus, there is no ulterior motive behind reforming the gender status quo, someone who identifies within the current gender binary does not lose their ability to identify with the gender that suits them. Additionally, the drive behind those that push for change is not harmful, in fact it is quite the opposite, creating a system in which more people can more accurately define themselves.
A more precise term, which keeps in line with the technological theme behind glitch feminism, would be an update; just like any piece of consumer software is maintained through updates based on customer feedback, so are the established systems we have in place now. We build upon the already implemented frameworks to provide an experience that will satisfy as many users as possible. Users break the system in ways that could not be foreseen in development, nonetheless, it does not make their critiques of the system any less valuable. In actuality, the responsible action becomes the one that is willing to reflect, and institute change before it devolves to a point where the aggrieved have moved from thoughtfully asking to furiously demanding.