tripleC 7(2): 112-122, 2009 ISSN 1726-670X http://www.triple-c.at How are women fostering home Internet adoption? A study of home-based female Internet users in Bangladesh Naziat Choudhury Lecturer Department of Mass Communication and Journalism University of Rajshahi Rajshahi Bangladesh Email: [email protected] Abstract: This study proposes to investigate what role women are playing in bringing the Internet to the home in Bangla- desh. Home-based female Internet users are focused upon herein. This study is based on the appropriation phase of the domestication of technology theory and the model of becoming an Internet user. Semi-structured interviews are conducted among sixteen participants. The central theme of this study is to understand how women participate in the decision-making process associated with Internet adoption. The Internet is brought home for many interesting reasons. Through the Internet some women are making an effort to voice their concerns and thus bring changes to their own and their families’ lives. Thus this study offers an in-depth look at home-based women Internet users in Bangladesh. Keywords: Women, Internet, Communication, Domestication, Decision-making technology in the lives of women. These stud- 1. Introduction ies have also presented women’s Internet use pattern and proposed reasons why there are fewer women online. But I believe that along angladesh is a South Asian country with observing women’s online activities as where a patrilineal and patriarchal social such, emphasis should also be on the deci- system persists even today. sion-making process related to the Internet. Discrimination against women is a common How women are bringing this technology phenomenon in the country. Stories of sup- home and what role they are playing in using pression of women are visible in every sector. it need to be studied. Thus I have decided to Realizing the need to bring changes in their focus at the micro level and study what role lives, women are gradually taking steps to- women are actually playing in this regard. At wards achieving that end. More and more this point, I must add that I did not come women are entering the professional world, across any such studies in Bangladesh. I even those professions that are widely known hope this study will provide an in-depth and as men’s, such as engineering and medicine. broader understanding of the matter in that Along with other factors, new technologies country and to some extent in other develop- are said to be assisting women in uplifting ing countries as well. their position in society. One such technology Women have been seen traditionally as us- is the Internet. Studies done in developing ers rather than as designers, developers or countries have shown the significance of this innovators of technology. The reference here CC: Creative Commons License, 2009. tripleC 7(2): 112-122, 2009 113 is to users of less complex technologies such the family is often described in the following as domestic technologies (Cockburn, Cock- terms: burn & Ormrod, cited by Youngs, 2005). Re- “Seldom does anyone consider that searches on gender and technology have women may take less interest in new evolved through several phases as Wajcman technologies out of a sense of pragma- (2000) has pointed out. Three broad themes tism, that is, out of their need to deal with are visible in this area of studies. The incep- a multitude of tasks, meet a variety of tion of gender and technology studies high- demands, and play diverse roles with lighted the area of consumption, where the limited time…they have a pressing need focus was on how “the sexual division of la- to attend to many diverse duties and bour separated women from control over the have little time to experiment with new technologies they used, both at the workplace technologies simply out of a sense of in- and at home” (Wajcman, 2000, p. 449). Then terest” (Rathgeber, 2000, p.23). the focus shifted towards “the social relations of technical design and innovations” (Wa- Within that context I want to bring out the jcman, 2000, p. 460). At present, gender and viewpoints of female Internet users in Bangla- technology studies are concentrating on “cy- desh and how they handle the small environ- berfeminism that embraces new technology ment of the home, where some women spend as a source of empowerment for women” more time than anywhere else. How women (Wajcman, 2000, p. 460). Feminists have domesticate the Internet or what role they play emphasized the ability of the new technolo- in bringing the Internet home have been stud- gies to provide a space for women where they ied mainly by western scholars (Bakardjieva, can breathe without facing the burden of so- 2005). Unfortunately, scholars and research- cial discriminations. Lawley (1993) once said: ers in developing countries have seldom paid attention to this topic. The debate by western “By providing women with an opportunity scholars, however, about female home Inter- to express their ideas in a way that tran- net usage is prominent in the literature about scends the biological body, this technol- Internet usage in developing countries. It is ogy [the Internet] gives them the power often argued that due to the high expenses to redefine themselves outside of the his- associated with Internet use, women generally torical categories of ‘women’, ‘other’ or tend to use it only at public places. On the ‘object’ ”. other hand, some scholars note that the ma- Although some technologies may bear the jority of women are not professionals and do potential to emancipate a user, there remains not feel safe in using the Internet in public the lingering question about access to tech- places such as a cyber café. Cabrera-Balleza nologies. No matter what kind of technology it (2006) explains: is, women seem to face the most hurdles in “Internet cafes are located in places that accessing and using it. This may not be true, women may not be comfortable frequent- however, in the case of domestic technology ing or that are culturally inappropriate for as it is made for women and intended to be them to visit. Frequently, communication used by women. Domestic technology thus facilities in developing countries are in seems to come with an assigned set of gen- offices or in public spaces that operate der identity. Even the promotional materials during office hours. Given the gender- for such technology depict this perspective as based multiple roles and reproductive well. responsibilities assigned to them, women With regard to technology as a whole, have little extra time and such public ac- women are in a disadvantaged position as cess centers may not be open when they “have less income, education, time, mo- women are available to visit them. Some bility and face religious or cultural constraints communication centers are open in the that restrict their access to and use of tech- evening, but either because of cultural nology” (Odame, 2005, p. 15). Women’s dis- limitations or lack of general safety to go engagement with technology and their role in CC: Creative Commons License, 2009. 114 Naziat Choudhury out at night, women opt not to go to desh stands at position number 171, the low- them. ” est among South Asian countries (Global Information Society Watch, 2007, p. 110). Taking this view into consideration, I have Given these circumstances, I want to investi- decided to focus on female home Internet gate how women are managing to access this users. Here I would like to quote Harcourt medium as well as other issues related to (2002) who has emphasized the importance access. of focusing on home-based female Internet Bakardjieva (2005) emphasizes that the users. Although her focus was more on the majority of research focusing on the socio- political power of women within the home, I cultural aspect of the Internet is conducted in believe it is pertinent to my work: the developed world where there “is a linger- “The home is a crucial terrain of political ing tendency among both scholars and policy- struggle. Not only is it where many rela- makers to assume that patterns of adoption, tions of power (within the family) are ne- institutionalization and use emerging in these gotiated, it is also where much vital but societies are paradigmatic and will be repro- undervalued labor is produced [...] The duced, sooner or later, in the rest of the world” home and immediate community are (Bakardjieva, 2005, p. 4). Research done in where most women express themselves, the developing world has mainly focused on and it is here, potentially, that the possi- the obstacles of Internet use, where socio- bilities of the terminals in the home, the economic, cultural and political features are personal and political exchanges this po- discussed to highlight the reasons for tentially facilitates, could change women’s limited presence on the Internet. women’s political lives [...] Women are Despite these obstacles, however, some building a strong layer of support through women are making an effort to log on. Here I the Web and Internet from moments of will focus on these women and their choices great need and social crisis, to safe and decisions related to accessing the Net in spaces where personal struggles can be terms of the socio-economic, cultural, political discussed and solutions shared. The and traditional contexts. medium has lent itself to women’s ways of working; where the personal can truly 2. Theoretical Framework be political. Where women can type and petition support from their homes at I will discuss the experiences of women times that suit them, evading public cen- based on their situational context. I propose to sorship, finding the voice they cannot do so through the lens of the appropriation take recourse to outside their doors” phase of the “domestication of technology” (Harcourt, 2002, pp.153-154).