Gender in the net

The net was 'a place where people met without seeing one another - unless they chose to present a visible image - which might or might not be how they actually looked.' (5)

People's minds are directly connected into the net. On the net it is possible to make one's thoughts manifest, to be whatever you want. Malkah has net 'pals' who think that she is a middle aged man.

Malkah has a fluid sense of self. She writes 'chimeras' for net security and so is able to rewrite her own role as a masculine self, with a masculine appearance in the net.

Yod, the artificial person, is able to go beyond this; he shows Malkah and Shira how they can be abstract entities in the net, weapons or machines. They do not have to be gendered at all. If they wished they could all be cyborgs in the net.