The internet was originally envisioned as a decentralized network, so why should its history only focus on the mainstream? In ‘A Sexual History of the Internet,’ Mindy Seu explores this very notion. Blending elements of an artist book, historical analysis, and performance art, this work examines how cyberfeminists, sex workers, and other marginalized groups have influenced online culture.
Eileen Isagon Skyers, in her feature on this expansive 700-page book, suggests that archives can serve as activism. She writes that the project ‘asks us to imagine what a consensual internet might look like.’ Through this work, Seu reveals the power structures that have transformed the idealistic vision of the internet into something more dystopian, while also alluding to the possibility of a shared, democratic, and potentially hopeful digital experience lurking in the fringes of internet culture.
Don’t miss Skyers’s feature, along with a list of upcoming books we’re eager to explore in 2026. – Natalie Haddad, reviews editor
