Gender and Technology Looking to the Post
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Gender and Technology Looking to the Post by Denise M. Sbortt have made towards technological there is evidence that women have progress and why these accomplish- even lost power with the introduc- Cet am'ck nowpark dcJ aspects qui se ments have often been ignored. This tion of new technologies. For exam- rapportent h litccks aux technologies, information helps us to understand ple, during the manuscript era of the aux occasions, h li'ntdrtt qu 'clles susci- why women are not embracing the Middle Ages, women managed to tenteth leuracceptationpar ksfcmmer current computer culture at the same exercise some degree of knowledge dans I'bistoire et par les femmes modemes. A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are for. Sail out to sea and do new things. -Admiral Grace Hopper, computer pioneer. Charting a course into the world of technology can be rough sailing for women. Today's computer culture is largely dominated by men and many women have yet to navigate these largely uncharted waters. New tech- nologies have become increasingly important and arguably necessary in some spheres of modern life. In light of this sea of change, it becomes imperative for women to heed the words ofAdmiral Hopper and set sail - - into new territory (Camp). With this message in mind, I have decided to explore the relationship of Gail Geltner, 'Women and Technologies," 1987 women and technology. My inquiry into this relationship is guided by rate as men and why women's voices and power in their roles as nuns. Dale two fundamental educational ques- have largely been left out of the dia- Spender points out that a fewwomen tions: what is needed to make good logue on the potential future uses of such as St. Radegund of Poitiers, the use of new education technologies? new technologies. German scholar Hildegard of Bingen and what can we learn from the past Hence, the purpose of this paper is (1098-1178), as well as the English about the perils and potential of re- to explore the issues ofaccess, oppor- nun Julian ofNorwich (1342-c. 1416) cent developments in information tunity, interest, and acceptance of managed a respectable degree of sta- technology for education? I believe technology in the lives of historical tus in a time otherwise dominated by that we can prepare to answer the and modern women. My examina- men. Yet, immediately after the de- first question by learning from the tion of these issues may provide the velopment of the printing press, lessons of history. groundwork for understanding what women lost their newly won status A thorough examination of his- we as educators need to do in order to and instead were for the most part cut tory with respect to women and tech- close the technological gender gap off from all forms of printed knowl- nology serves several purposes. First, facing women today. edge. we gain a better understanding of For the last few hundred years, which technologies women have used What can we learn from history? women have put their energy into or have been prevented from using in reclaiming their voices, experience, the past and how these technologies Women have been excluded from and presence in all facets of history. have been implemented. Further, we many facets of technologyand educa- The protests of the 1960s and 1970s can discover the contributions women tion throughout history and, in fact, were instrumental in helpingwomen VOLUME 17, NUMBER 4 to gain a voice and access to informa- Kay AntonelIi, Frances Spence, Jean "women are clearly in less important tion. The establishment of women's Bartik, and Betty Holberton pro- positions than men, and their pattern presses, the explosion in women's grammed a machine called the Elec- ofcomputer use is strikingly consist- books, and the introduction ofwom- tronic Numerical Integrator and entwith their subordinate role" (123). en's studies courses in most universi- Computer (ENIAC)and were instru- Statistics on Internet use are even ties around the world during the mental in changing the face of com- more starkly contrasted as girls and 1980s have helped to remedy the puter programming (Petzinger). women have been virtually invisible. glaring omission of half the experi- However, women often participate In a recent survey ofthe World Wide ences of humanity from the reposi- in the early stages of new technologi- Web, of the 4,700 people that re- tory of human information. Dale cal fields, but once a field becomes sponded to questions, about the use Spender reminds us to heed the les- successful and financially viable, ofthe Internet, 94 per cent were male sons of the past when she says, women are excluded from decision- (Pitkow and Recker cited in Carli). making positions. More recent statistics suggest that Despite Ada Love- women are increasing theirparticipa- "We cannot aford to permit white male dominance lace's brilliantcontri- tion on the Internet, but their inclu- of the new communication technohgies. We have butions, sheisseldom sion is halted by dominant male us- mentioned in history. ers. Evidence has shown that women learned that history towomthe perspective of one In fact, there are still who spend time chatting on the net, group distorts ourpast. Wlbether oral) print, or some who claim that or those who attempt to enter its ehctronic media, the issues are access and equity." Ada did not write the subculture have so far met with in- mathematical work timidation ifnot outright harassment that appeared under based solely on their gender (Brail). the more women have put in her name even though her own letters Alook through any edition ofpopu- over the past decades as infor- and notes prove otherwise (Coyle). lar computer magazines such as Wired mation-makers, the more knowl- The exclusion of the ENIAC women's and PC confirms that the media also edgeable and wise the society is stories from computer education fails to recognize or acknowledge able to become. And this is why courses is also a great injustice. And women as part of the computer cul- we simply cannot afford to per- women continue to be left out. In ture. Neither magazine represents mit white male dominance of Stephen Levy's recent book, Hackers: women in prominent roles as users, the new communication tech- Heroes of the Computer Revolution, or consumers of computers and their nologies. We have already the author adheres to the hero myth accessories, nor are they editorially learned that history told from of computer culture by virtually ex- represented as writers and thinkers the perspective of one group dis- cluding women from the field of about new technologies. The media torts our past. Whether it is oral, study. Roberta Williams, the woman thus reinforces women's invisibility manuscript, print or electronic who authored the first computer ad- in the electronic realm. media, the issues are access and venture games while her husband, Furthermore, computer games are equity ifwe want the full story. Ken, ran their computing shop, is notorious for being macho, sexist, We need to democratize infor- referred to only obliquely in the one- and aggressive and marketers eagerly rnation-production if we want . third of the book dedicated to the cater to their almost exclusively male the best possible basis for mak- computer game company she and her audience. ing up our minds and arranging husband ran. In Levy's account, Ro- our community.. (Spender- xxvi) berta is portrayed as a housewife and The computer game is a form of mother whose authorship ofthe popu- virtual virility. The themes are Yet, computer culture was not al- lar games was the least important part hyper-macho and often revolve ways a male domain. In fact, some of of the process (Coyle). around the activities of sports the first computer researchers, pro- and war. They come with names grammers, and experts were women. Men and computer culture like Hardball 4, Front Lines, Augusta Ada Lovelace, a brilliant Body Count. The ads for Doom mathematician introduced a compu- Gutek and Bikson have suggested 1995's most popular game, read: ter binary system and set the ground- that technology has the potential to "Now there's a place more vio- work for much of the work of pro- serve as a catalyst for change- or it can lent than earth". What would grammers later to come. Similarly, rigidly reinforce the status quo. Their games be like if we designed Admiral Grace Hopper was instru- study documents that in the modern them with a female audience in mental in the early development of workplace men have more autonomy mind? Would they be like the computer assembler language. In ad- in their use of technology, and men's Barbie computer game where dition, in 1945 six young women, experiences as users will yield greater Barbiegetsnewoutfits andlearns Marlyn Meltzer, Ruth Teitelbaum, benefits to their careers. In addition, to be a fashion model? Orwould 90 CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIESILES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME we conceive of a game where a unpopularity and view the computer vide untold opportunities for com- clever woman saves the world as an asocial tool (AAUW). munication, exchange, and keeping for all human kind? Unfortu- in touch (Spender). Segal posits that nately, even our fantasies for It isn't that they can't do it, and "technology can be used to better women are based on lowered it is not necessarily that they social lives" (41). As technological expectations. (Coyle 48) don't like thesubject. What they skills become increasingly important, turn away from is the image of we must accept the reality of technol- Although we are starting to see the scientist or the computer ogy as a necessary tool to operate in products geared specifically towards hacker.