Sex Workers and Cyberfeminists: Perspectives on the Internet

In “A Sexual History of the Internet” (2025), artist and researcher Mindy Seu proposes a different kind of archive, mapping the entanglement of bodies, desires, technologies, and systems of power from the internet’s earliest days. Instead of using traditional academic texts, Seu combines performance, artist book, and financial experiment to challenge the sanitized narratives defining internet history. This work highlights the contributions of theorists, net artists, cyberfeminists, and sex workers to online culture, whose impacts are often overlooked. As Seu explains, the internet’s military-industrial origins contribute to its complex relationship with sexuality, revealing power imbalances in early web culture. She points out that women significantly advanced new technologies, shaping online expressions and culture.

The work draws attention to both well-known and marginalized computing milestones, sharing stories previously published or personally gathered by Seu. Beginning as a 2023 lecture-performance with collaborator Julio Correa, Seu utilized Instagram Stories for storytelling, allowing audiences at venues around the world to interact with narratives through their phones. This immersive experience reconsiders everyday tools like phones as gateways to broader histories. Despite Instagram’s accessibility, its limitations prompted the creation of a tactile book edition for preservation, designed by Laura Coombs, reflecting the performance’s dynamic pace while expanding its digital content.

Published through Metalabel, the book enacts a financial experiment emphasizing shared authorship and Citational Split, redistributing 30% of profits among cited contributors. By acknowledging community and social citations, Seu challenges traditional exclusionary academic norms. The book aligns with her politics of transparency, critiquing technology’s exploitations and biases while preserving informal knowledge. Through this transitional project between performance and book, Seu invites reflection on a consensual internet.