The Gendered Architecture of Digital Care: Labor, Power, and Cyber-Solidarity Practices within the Cyber-Household

Öz

In the digitalized world, parenting has transformed into a multi-layered regime interwoven with pedagogical and moral responsibilities and shaped by gender roles. While the existing literature predominantly addresses digital parenting through the lens of child safety, the invisible digital labor burden undertaken by women and the gendered nature of this process remain under-problematized. Within the scope of this study, digital care is defined not merely as technical supervision restricting screen time, but as a practice that pedagogically, morally, and emotionally manages a child’s digital presence—necessitating 24/7 hyper-vigilance and representing an extension of traditional domestic care labor into the cyber-space. Conducted using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the research involved in-depth interviews with 15 mothers. Findings reveal that digital care has evolved into an invisible form of labor for mothers that requires continuous “hyper-vigilance” and produces “algorithmic guilt”. Despite this structural encirclement, mothers position themselves as active agents by developing micro-maneuvers and cyber-solidarity networks. Ultimately, the study proposes reframing digital care from an individual burden into a matter of “technological commons”.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• cyberfeminism
• digital care
• invisible labor
• micro-maneuvers
• algorithmic guilt

DİJİTAL BAKIMIN CİNSİYETLİ MİMARİSİ: SİBER-HANE İÇİNDE EMEK, İKTİDAR VE SİBER DAYANIŞMA PRATİKLERİ

Öz

Dijitalleşen dünyada ebeveynlik; pedagojik ve ahlaki sorumluluklarla örülü, toplumsal cinsiyet rolleriyle şekillenen çok katmanlı bir rejime dönüşmüştür. Literatürde dijital ebeveynlik genellikle çocuk güvenliği odaklı ele alınırken, kadının üstlendiği görünmeyen dijital emek yükü ve bu sürecin toplumsal cinsiyetli doğası yeterince sorunsallaştırılmamıştır. Bu çalışma kapsamında dijital bakım; yalnızca çocuğun ekran süresini kısıtlayan teknik bir denetim değil, çocuğun dijital dünyadaki varlığını pedagojik, ahlaki ve duygusal olarak yöneten, 7/24 tetikte olmayı gerektiren ve geleneksel ev içi bakım emeğinin siber alana genişlemiş bir formu olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Yorumlayıcı Fenomenolojik Analiz (YPA) yöntemiyle yürütülen araştırmada, 15 anne ile derinlemesine görüşmeler yapılmıştır. Bulgular, dijital bakımın anneler için “hiper-tetikte olma” gerektiren görünmez bir emeğe dönüştüğünü ve “algoritmik suçluluk” ürettiğini ortaya koymaktadır. Buna rağmen anneler, mikro-manevralar ve siber-dayanışma ağları geliştirerek aktif özneler olarak konumlanmaktadır. Sonuç olarak çalışma, dijital bakımın bireysel bir yükten “teknolojik ortak alan” meselesine dönüştürülmesini önermektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• siberfeminizm
• dijital bakım
• görünmez emek
• mikro-manevralar
• algoritmik suçluluk

Etik Beyan

Makale araştırma ve yayın etiğine uygun olarak hazırlanmıştır. Bu çalışma için gerekli etik kurul izni, Akdeniz Üniversitesi Rektörlüğü Sosyal ve Beşeri Bilimler Bilimsel Araştırma ve Yayın Etiği Kurulunun 02.10.2025 tarihinde gerçekleştirdiği toplantıda 531 sayılı kararla alınmıştır.

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