Buy It Now: Lessons from eBay

[Michele White]'s Buy It Now: Lessons from eBay is made timelier Lby Facebook's recent landmark decision to accommodate more fluid gender identification by giving users the option of 50 new gender identifiers for their profiles. This move could serve as an example to more inflexible sites, such as eBay, the hugely popular virtual auction. Indeed, the primary lesson that White wants us to take away from her book is that online forums, like eBay and Craigslist, operate according to certain organizational logics that configure and regulate the user in a manner consistent with the values of the sites' executives and this can prove limiting for some members. Meg Whitman, who was the president and chief executive officer of eBay from 1998-2008, is a Republican and is very active in American politics. She was the national finance co-chair for Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential primary campaign, co-chaired John McCain's presidential bid in 2008, and ran for governor of California in 2009. White's central argument-that the White, heteronormative experience of eBay's executives has led to a site that marginalizes and disempowers minorities-gives particular attention to gay, lesbian, and African-American identities. Heteronormativity is reinforced by the design of the site, which requires members to identify their gender from the limited options of male and female, and also with policies and content that promote conventional notions of masculinity and femininity, celebrate heterosexual weddings and family, and relegate "gay or lesbian interest" listings to the adults-only portion of the website. Moreover, White argues that while eBay claims to prohibit the sale of offensive items and ban derogatory language, the site sustains racism and excludes a critical understanding of African-American history and structural inequality by allowing Black Americana for auction.