DeVoss and Selfe describe an apparent gender gap that exists online, with males as the dominant presence in the "masculine realm of mastery and machinery" (34). The internet can be seen as an environment in which women may be excluded and harassed.
How have the gender roles typically perceived by society offline contributed to this gender gap online?
Do you believe that men are unwilling to accept women into their male dominated cyberworld, and that, as DeVoss and Selfe suggest, "technological mastery is 'seldom passed by men to women as a cost-free gift . . . in a serious, generous, and genuine way'" (34)?
As technological advancements continue to be made in the upcoming years, do you think that the gender gap will continue to expand or do you think that they will "[extend] the livelihood and contact making possibilities for women" on the internet (Marshall xvi)?
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Gender roles offline have an uncanny correlation to the gender gap online. Women and men are referenced as "subcultures" by DeVoss and Selfe (32) on how they operate in the online world. Marshall describes these supposed roles and how they differ. Despite men's apparent dominance online, gender roles may be shifting with the creation of new medias (Marshall iv).
ReplyDeleteI think one of the reasons for such a strong correlation is the evolution of women's separate identities from men. Male dominance has been diminished but not eliminated as women's rights become a staple in our society. As in the offline world, women have pursued their voice online, but it didn't happen overnight. Marshall's examples of the women's personal websites that became more neutral over time demonstrate this. Still, gender roles such as the difference between men and women's voice and identity is similar online as it is offline.
I think that men have been unwilling in the past to accept women into their male dominated cyberworld based on assumptions that women are more concerned with household and domestic technologies (33). DeVoss and Self also adopt an interesting assumption that men are more drawn to computers because they are obedient and unquestioning (33). However, as we have discussed in this class, new medias are constantly appearing and increasing privacy have reduced gender stereotypes. In referencing Donna Haraway from a past lesson, I think that men being unwilling to accept women into their cyberworld may be solely a trait of older medias because new medias push towards a gender neutral, ethnic neutral, and politically neutral landscape.
First of all, I would like to argue that this "gender gap" that DeVoss and Selfe are talking about is really defacto as opposed to being a result of an actual standard that exists within the medium. Basing it from that, any gender gap that exists online has many factors that come from the offline world. As was pointed out in the text, and as SKelsey pointed out, expectations, stereotypes, and identities along gendered lines are the cause of the gap. Many men think that women are more interested in household matters and matters of appearance, and in many cases this might be true. It might just be true that many women do not have interest in computer technology.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that men are resisting female expansion into the realm of computer technology at all. I feel that its really a matter of personal interest in it. The computer and internet is free for use for anyone, and the information it holds can might as well be the only teacher that a woman needs for "technological mastery." If a woman wants to learn, then she has all the tools available to teach herself. When it comes to whether or not expanding technology will expand "livelihood" of women and their contacting abilities, don't we have all the tools that enable that right now? I have yet to see a website or computer technology that says "males only." If a woman wants to gain mastery of technology, she can by her own determination and with the help of the tools around her.
Gender roles offline have a definite influence on the gender gap online. I do not necessarily believe it to be the actual online space that provide the gender gap, but rather the social norm that exits offline. Social norms, as described in last week's article about autism by Davidson continually exits in society. Doing what is considered a "normalcy" is an unwritten rule that many people follow. Women, as do men, sometimes follow this unwritten rule and do what is considered normal and in the role of their particular gender. Marshall explains "that gender both enables, and restricts, behaviour." With gender, particular expectations are held high and are followed. This could be a restricting process and women could avoid certain subjects, such as technology or could be enabling of a woman who has the interest of what is considered a normalcy for a woman to have. As women, they are known as people more focused on household items and beauty, as Jennifer said. Women could be following these expectations of them, or the stereotype of beauty and domestic interest could hold actual truth for the woman.
ReplyDeleteHowever, each person is unique and different and still several woman I know are gaining computer knowledge just fine and becoming engineers and other male-dominated jobs. I also do not think that men are restricting in woman gaining knowledge on computers and technology, but rather the fact that the professions associated with new media have a tendency to be male-dominated and therefore many women do not possess the confidence to overcome this barrier presented by society. In addition, several men present woman with hardships and superiority within the actual computer-associated workplace, which could present the woman with another barrier to break.
I definitely think that the high percentage of males associated with technological jobs will continue to decrease as it already has. Just as woman fought for their rights and have at least partially earned respect on behalf of men, woman can also "break the boundaries" in respect to cyberspace. Haraway believes the only way to do that is with the use of a cyborg, or a fusion or machine and man. I, on the otherhand, believe it is possible through time and effort for the gender gap online to diminish as it has offline.
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ReplyDeleteIn the article, DeVoss and Selfe point out that “the more cultural capital a technology offers…the less chance there is that women’s contributions will be openly recognized” (33). They mention fields such as computer programming, computer science, and engineering and point out that they are all associated with men. In fact, when women participate in these fields, men “move out or up to higher positions” (34). These statements reflect how the gender gap offline has contributed to the gender gap online. The virtual and real worlds of computers and machinery are obviously very related and it makes sense that the way women and men are treated differently would translate the same way online and offline.
ReplyDeleteBased on the readings it seems as though men are reluctant to accept women into “their” cyberworld, although I think that is changing. As we have mentioned before in class, it is easy to be anyone on the Internet and to play many roles or remain anonymous. I think this factor makes it easier for women to participate online. The article discusses these "postmodern identities" which, "although embodied in the same person, may subscribe to competing values,desires,and responsibilities" (36). Having different identities online gives power to women and promotes "cyborgian identities" which make women less distinguishable from men on a computer (36). There is certainly enough education available to both genders for them to have the same potential of success in computer studies. DeVoss and Selfe seem to affirm this idea when they say, “when these women construct their identities on their Web pages, moreover, they act as agents in collaboration with…the computers, the servers, and networks that help make them part of the Web itself” (43). This implies that men and other humans are taken out of the equation when it comes to women entering the male-dominated cyberworld. As technology and education increase and as women become more motivated to enter the world of computers and machinery, men will have less power in the matter.
I believe that with time, men will come to accept women more freely, as a “cost-free gift” (34) in the computer world. As with all other occupations that are now filled with women workers, women first had to prove that they were capable and motivated in order to be accepted. The computer field is evolving the same way.
I found it interesting that Marshall said that "most technology that is considered important is gendered as masculine", and that women "may not only be forcibly excluded or find the path exceedingly hard or repulsive to travel, but embrace an anti-science and technology position to emphasize their identity as female." Clearly this is a result of a gender gap in society: when this technology first came into use, it was primarily men who designed it and used it. For example, just take a look at who are the most well known technology designers, such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs: the majority are men. And when you think of computer programmers or engineers today, most people associate those jobs with men. It's just a societal stereotype, and women have had to use this male dominated technology to try and establish their female identity. It clearly couldn't happen overnight, and I would say that even now the gap is still there.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I would go so far as to say that men are unwilling to let women into their world of technology. I just think that, generally speaking, most women aren't as interested as men in computer programming. I quite frankly would rather just know how to use a computer rather than learn all of the coding that goes into programming (although knowing that would be so useful, especially when my computer breaks like it did last week!)
And I definitely think that as technology expands, the gender gap will decrease. It already has. "One thing that has been clearly demonstrated is that women have moved online in numbers", and "use of the Internet may have become less gendered as it moves into the home." The Internet is available for everyone, and not just men, so of course women have taken advantage of it! And as women have been immersed more and more in the male-dominated cyberworld, more women have become interested in learning more about technology and computers. I think that from here the gender gap can only decrease with regard to technology.
I believe that it is important to note that "Gender In Online Worlds" was written by a man, and that "This Page is Under Construction" was written by two women. The purposes and means to achieve these purposes of these authors, then, may differ. DeVoss and Selfe wrote because of their “interest in women's issues.” (32). Marshall used many different writers, to allow “a range of alternate views and accounts of life”(ii), achieving a level of depth that he says would be unattainable with just a single perspective, whereas DeVoss and Selfe looked only at the pages of college-aged women. (32). With this in mind...
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the question about how gender roles offline contribute to online gender gaps, I immediately thought of the classic family, with the dad that takes his suitcase and drives off to work in his cubicle all day long, constantly staring at a computer screen, while the smiling wife sends the children off to school, and spends the rest of the day cleaning the carpets and what-not. This sort of woman would definitely have no need for an online community. As DeVoss and Selfe said, women are often “been targeted as consumers of household and domestic technologies,”(33) which certainly do not include computers. Vacuums, yes. Computers, no. Later DeVoss and Selfe also add that “historically, [women] have... been excluded from the... how of machines and technologies themselves.” (34) Besides, when would she find time? Between reupholstering the couches and bandaging her children's assorted cuts and scrapes, she wouldn't have any time for creating an online identity. I believe that this is simply not the case anymore. That world is long-gone. Stay-at-home mothers exist, but women are certainly farther along in becoming equal to men than they were back then. In that society, however, that gender gap in the offline world would completely support the inequality online as well.
Children learn from their parents – how they see their parents acting affects the way they act. DeVoss and Selfe also wrote that they were interested in “how women exert agency and build identities in postmodern technological contexts”(33). I believe that as these women build their identities online, as they “make use of their strengths and form electronic communities”(35), their children will see this and grow up believing that this is how the world is supposed to be – that women and men both have a voice online, an equal voice. I think that the key to closing the gender gap is just a matter of time. As these strong women exert their voices and identities, the growing generations will see this and emulate it until a balance is reached.
I find that DeVoss and Selfe's reference to Haraway and the cyborg shows that the gender gap is closing. They write that “as the lines between the animal and mechanical have been blurred,” as we have become more intimate with computers, the idea of a cyborg has become more popular, and that these cybernetic creations “play at the boundaries of public and private, male and female, natural and technological...”(36). According to this statement, it seems that the gender gap is closing because of our fascination with computers, which elicits the idea of cyborgs, which, in turn, blur lines between male and female.
I believe that the stereotypes and gender gaps that we experience in the physical world have a strong resemblance to the gender gaps and lack of knowledge that females are bound to find online. In the physical world, women are hardly seen as equal, and therefore are subjected to different perspectives and actions than men. As DeVoss and Selfe state, "the example of men receiving severance pay because only 'low-status women’s jobs' were available in a computerized warehouse" (34) shows such problems that women face in the physical job world. "Men may foster positive, intimate relationships with computers because computers are obedient, unquestioning partners" (33) while supposedly women do not make the same connection and therefore are shunned from the internet and learning about it. While right now it is male-dominated, it is apparent that these gender gaps are decreasing, as DeVoss and Selfe state.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that men are very possessive about the information and knowledge they have about the internet, and are more content giving such knowledge to other men rather than women. Nonetheless, women are finding ways to still learn the skills and knowledge necessary to be proficient on the internet, and therefore are starting to lessen the gender gap that was first created. Men may have been wary to allow women into "their domain" because of the perception that women were interested in the household and domestic technologies. I think this is changing though as women and men start to share more equal rights. Men are less wary and more willing to share their knowledge no matter the gender as women have proven their abilities to contribute to this media.
As both works have shown, women have already begun to claim their domain in the world of the internet. There has been little objection, and I believe this will help make the internet less male-dominated as time passes. Women are finding their voice online, as shown by both articles, and they are now able to express their multiple selves and their thoughts. Women have shown their increased expertise by following jobs such as engineering that are generally male-dominated and still succeeding. They are "breaking boundaries" with the use of cyberspace, and will be able to decrease the gender gap, though it may never be fully gone.
In DeVoss and Selfe's article, they state "the difference in men's and women's approaches to computing 'isn't in skill but in the social status already assigned to the activity, and we all support this status with out presumptions of the superiority of male activities" (34). This quote alone demonstrates a strong correlation between the relationship between men and women on and offline. Clearly, technology is viewed as a masculine idea, much in the way we deem handiwork and plumbing to me a male's area of specialty. According to DeVoss and Selfe, "computers come out of production and into the home of workplace already sex-typed, already part of the masculine realm of mastery and machinery" (34). I found it interesting that we, as a culture, are apt to categorize technology as a masculine idea based on the fact that it involves certain physical components. I realize that decades ago, women were not given the opportunity to learn about such components and understand how to work with them, and we given set duties related to household and family. Also, I agree that men may have been hesitant to share their knowledge of computers and various other aspects of technology with women, because that would blurr their societal roles and somehow make male work less important and femenine. Nowadays, however, I think this idea has radically changed.
ReplyDeleteAs others have previously stated, the online community is one where we have the ability to re-create ourselves in any fashion we see possible. A woman could identify herself as a man, androgynous, or not list who she is at all. With the ability to remain anonymous or to re-create a separate being entirely, the internet allows disadvantaged subgroups (women included), to blend into the patriarchal society created years ago by our people. For instance, anyone can type something into Google or Yahoo and get answers, or post a blog and receive comments from anyone around the world, regardless of age, race, or gender. With the blending of such societal "labels", I feel women have become a driving force in fields in which they were before prohibited. Both articles express the idea of a spread of female empowerment and I believe the internet will play a keystone role in re-creating the idea of gender in the eyes of society.
I am inclined to say that there really isn't a gender gap online anymore... at least one I have noticed. The only web designers/programmers at my high school were female, and I have just as many friends who are girls as friends who are boys on Facebook (just to provide some examples). What once was a male-dominated society both online and offline has now become a very gender neutral society, for a lack of better words. That is why I was slightly offended by Marshall's piece especially where he says, "Use of the Internet may have become less gendered as it moves into the home and as it
ReplyDeleterequires less technical proficiency to get online than previously". The internet wasn't really even made public until the early 90's and by that time many women had already established their place in the workforce, and therefore could have and probably did use the technology for the same reasons and with the same skill as men.
Furthering this idea, I don't think men would have had a problem with women entering the cyberworld. Women had already joined them in the workforce, why should this be any different?
The gender gap is very much diminished, if there was really one in the first place. Online, we see sites that specifically cater to women (Cosmopolitan, Martha Stewart, Mom's Club) that wouldn't be there if women weren't online. I agree with Jennifer in that the "gender gap" online may just be women's lack of interest in the technology. However, as the technology expands and there are more areas of interest, women may be more attracted to discovering and applying that technology.
Remember those shape-matching games you played as a baby? You know, the ones where you put the square in the square hole and the star in the star hole and so on. Well, DeVoss and Selfe's article reminded me of that game, except they were attempting to squeeze the star in the square hole. It just didn't work. Essentially, they're belief that the technology world is sexist is a belief that, if at all, fits in the past. For in today's society I see no "social nature of facts and truths that mark women as biologically unable to work with certain technologies" (35).
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the research used to support DeVoss and Selfe's ideas is outdated and no longer applicable. For example, although in 1991 it may have been true that "Computers come out of production and into the home or workplace already sex-typed, already part of the masculine realm of mastery and machinery” (34), such a computer's preference for the male sex no longer exists. Nowadays, women are just as well equipped to handle computers as men are. Women also have the same opportunities to advance in the virtual world as men do. No longer do "presumptions of the superiority of male activities" exist in society, especially not in today's faceless, sexless virtual world.
Further, it is ironic to note that, in an attempt to abolish sexist stereotypes, the authors of the article instead enhance them when they refer to men as a sex that complies with computers because "computers are obedient, unquestioning partners" (33). Similar to the classic stereotype, men are promoted by the authors as an overbearing, control-freakish sex. Perhaps these author's should take a chill pill and ease off the rudeness, as their fear of a sexist technological world is one that belongs to the past.
To start, yes, I will agree that the internet is generally hostile to women. Popular gender roles most definitely contribute to this, as women are generally not seen as being as tech-savvy as men. One of the subjects reinforced that role herself though, saying that anytime she has computer problems, she always just calls a friend to help her fix it. Keep in mind, she is at a technical college. It is not just men keeping up the gender roles.
ReplyDeleteSecond, no, I do not believe that men keep "technologic mastery" to themselves and other men. If we are talking about college age people, odds are the men have either taken classes or taken it upon themselves to learn these skills. Why should they pass it on as a "cost-free gift", that is, what do they have to benefit from it? Should graphic designers go around teaching others the finer points of aesthetics for no reason? Should an architect teach others the best way to design buildings? No; these are valuable skills that they have acquired through hard work and practice. Men are not trying to sustain some brotherhood of technological superiority, they are doing what makes sense. Women are given the same resources as men, it is their fault if they do not capitalize on it.
As for the gender gap, I believe it is closing, though how rapidly I do not know. There are constantly pushes to get more women into math and science, and U of A has an organization specifically for women who are majoring in computer-centric programs. However, I know from personal experience that the computer-science program is heavily (around 90%) male dominated.
It is difficult for me to answer these questions, as I really don’t believe that a gender gap does exist online today. I suppose that it’s possible that a gender gap does exist online in certain areas, such as extremely male-dominated websites where females would be unwelcome. This could be influenced by the gender roles typically perceived by society offline, if the website had to do with something that is typically viewed as “just for males.” Overall, however, I don’t believe that men are unwilling to accept women into “their” male dominated cyberworld, both because I don’t think that there is such a male dominated cyberworld, and because I think most men are fine with women being present online.
ReplyDeleteWomen have always been perceived as the weaker sex, whether it is in the job field or in the house women are always thought to be timid and meek. This general stigma, being so strong for such a long amount of time, easily transferred to the viral world. Now, instead of fearing the dangers of the dark alley way women must fear the online predator. Additionally, women are still seen as sex objects on the web, only this time it is due to scandalous profile pictures rather than the flirtatious way they prance down the street. As we have previously discussed, the internet is only an extension of the physical world, so clearly most stereotypes transfer seamlessly.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that as DeVoss and Selfe suggest men are “unwilling” to accept women into any male dominated field, but I do not believe this act is as prevalent today as it was 10 years ago. Women are largely just as globally connected as men are and it would be hard to think that in this society there is much sexism online. I do think that there are often extreme differences in the way males and females utilize the internet, but especially due to the fact that the internet grants its user anonymity, to me, sexism is not necessarily a factor.
Due to my answers to the above question I believe my answer to this last one will be fairly repetitive. But, I do think that as the internet expands it will provide more opportunities for women, but I think it will provide more for all disadvantaged groups. Just as we talked about minorities’ use of the internet only a week ago, I believe the internet will give women a more powerful voice, though I don’t truly think they are lacking one at the moment.
I think the online gender gap has slowly formed because of the stereotype generally associated with gamers and people good with computers. Whenever one thinks of a ‘hacker’, 'gamer', or 'nerd', I highly doubt a woman is the first thing that comes to mind. In general, those are terms generally associated with males.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, I think there is very little left of a gender gap. Women are increasingly becoming commonplace on the internet. The only space where there are predominately more men than women is in online games (at least it seems so). Any female that gets on there is generally given more attention initially, though I don’t necessarily think a lot of it is always as negative as described.
I think a lot of the harassment that might go on might be based on the anonymity that the online world creates and therefore they feel a bit more comfortable acting in that manner. We see this happen in many other aspects of the online word but I think that it's the same with this situation with gender.
I think the gender gap will continue to lessen however, where it will be easier for women to be online. Women have made a significant jump towards being online but I think it will take some time for the gap to be fully removed. A lot of this generation has grown up with it always seeming to be the guys that were into computers and video games and online things. However I think it also has to phase out from the female perspective as well. I know a lot of girls where they think online video games are a "waste of time" and think the same thing of general online and computer activity. Once it phases out there then the gap will really be going towards a non-existent one.
I believe that the Internet and its use are slightly gendered, but I don’t think that it is on purpose. Quoting DeVoss and Selfe, women “acquired the how needed to perform certain tasks but have been excluded from the why and the whether” (34). I think that the exclusion of information from men is not because they were or are trying to make the internet a “boy’s club”, but the way that men share information and how women interpret the amount of information given may seem sexist. Men are inherently prone to being specific and to the point, where women naturally provide more details when describing something. I think when men explain how technology works, they think about the end product and not all the details to get there. I’m sure they can explain all the detailed steps involved, but would rather not, which is just a psychological and communication difference between the sexes (which I’m sure everyone has experienced with a boy/girlfriend, friend or family member).
ReplyDeleteI think that it is also important to understand some developmental differences between the sexes when discussing the exclusion of one group by another. Boys, when growing up didn’t catch on to reading as quickly as their female counterparts, so they developed a way to problem-solve and work through things that don’t come to them easily. When they learn math, that problem- solving skill comes in handy. I’ve read that this contributes to why men are considered “better” at math and (probably) technology and its intricacies. It may be important to understand this when looking at why we have the gender gap and how that influences our daily interactions with the other gender.
I think that the gender gap had been more prevalent in the past, but has lessened in recent years with numerous waves of feminist thought. Women online have created communities and use those communities to prevent regression back to the severely patriarchal dominated society of the past. I think that the exclusion of women in the technological world is a model of other places where women have been and continue to be (slightly) oppressed. Women’s rights have improved dramatically over the past century, and women are treated more equally compared to our grandmother’s time, but I believe that the gender gap will always exist. The goal of the feminists should be to get the gap as small as possible and to manage and maximize the strengths of each gender to create the best possible relationship in all gender interactions.
I believe that the Internet and its use are slightly gendered, but I don’t think that it is on purpose. Quoting DeVoss and Selfe, women “acquired the how needed to perform certain tasks but have been excluded from the why and the whether” (34). I think that the exclusion of information from men is not because they were or are trying to make the internet a “boy’s club”, but the way that men share information and how women interpret the amount of information given may seem sexist. Men are inherently prone to being specific and to the point, where women naturally provide more details when describing something. I think when men explain how technology works, they think about the end product and not all the details to get there. I’m sure they can explain all the detailed steps involved, but would rather not, which is just a psychological and communication difference between the sexes (which I’m sure everyone has experienced with a boy/girlfriend, friend or family member).
ReplyDeleteI think that it is also important to understand some developmental differences between the sexes when discussing the exclusion of one group by another. Boys, when growing up didn’t catch on to reading as quickly as their female counterparts, so they developed a way to problem-solve and work through things that don’t come to them easily. When they learn math, that problem- solving skill comes in handy. I’ve read that this contributes to why men are considered “better” at math and (probably) technology and its intricacies. It may be important to understand this when looking at why we have the gender gap and how that influences our daily interactions with the other gender.
I think that the gender gap had been more prevalent in the past, but has lessened in recent years with numerous waves of feminist thought. Women online have created communities and use those communities to prevent regression back to the severely patriarchal dominated society of the past. I think that the exclusion of women in the technological world is a model of other places where women have been and continue to be (slightly) oppressed. Women’s rights have improved dramatically over the past century, and women are treated more equally compared to our grandmother’s time, but I believe that the gender gap will always exist. The goal of the feminists should be to get the gap as small as possible and to manage and maximize the strengths of each gender to create the best possible relationship in all gender interactions.
Personally, I believe that the gender gap has originated from the history of the development of technology and social interactions offline. As many students have already commented, the use of computers and other technological devices were primarily established by men, and were used in male-dominated jobs. This is what initiated the gender gap and as DeVoss and Selfe point out, "they have noted that women have been targeted as consumers of household and domestic technologies (Cowan 1983; Jellison 1993; Stanley 1995) and of technologies related to trends in physical beauty, for example, cosmetic surgery, makeup, and fashions (Balsamo 1996).” (3). Although this may be the case, I also believe the gender gap has a lot to do with interest. Even though some technological careers are still male dominated, it is not necessarily because women do not have the opportunity to be involved. Today, it is more about interests. A majority of females are not that interested in programming and computer systems as they are with social networking and other convenient uses of the computer (for school, etc.) In DeVoss and Selfe’s article, they describe a specific girl’s obstacles and triumphs with new media. “Alicia’s mixed enthusiasm and frustration when learning and practicing one of the “new and hybrid forms of literacy” (Brandt 1995: 651) are symptomatic of the period of rapid, often daunting change in electronic media at the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first” (12). Women are equipped with all the resources required to become diligent with technology, just as any male. Although there may be a gap due to past history and interests, it has already started to close as more women have become interested in the subject. Answering the second question, I do not believe males are unwilling to share their knowledge and are exclusionary to women in technology today. There would simply be no reason for this now that household roles have changed and stereotypes have been broken down.
ReplyDeleteMany parts of the Internet can be very inhospitable to any user, regardless of gender. In the past, women have been subject to exclusion and harassment online, and this continues today. However, I have (personally) found that many communities dominated by women can be as hostile to men as male-dominated communities can be toward women.
ReplyDeleteIn general, it might seem as though it is men's goal to keep women off the Internet, which they may view as "their domain." However, the fact that Internet- and software-related fields are dominated by men is not necessarily the fault of those men, but more likely has to do with the cultural stereotype of a computer programmer being an extremely nerdy male, an image that tends to exclude women entirely (does anybody else watch The Big Bang Theory?). I feel that today, women are about at an even footing with men when it comes to opportunities to become more knowledgeable about technology, and it is their job to act on these opportunities.
It seems to me that over time, technological growth has helped to bridge the gender gap. Though I do not believe that we will ever really achieve perfect social equality, our society seems to be moving in a direction toward greater social and political equality.
Women have been fighting for their “rightful” place in society and equality so that is definitely taken place in the cyber world as well. The fight for equality that women partook in is also taking place online. The differing communication styles of men and women, as pointed out in the Marshall article, is also apparent in the cyberworld. The type of sites that most women partake in and what they say is usually quite drastically differing than male activity online.
ReplyDeleteDevoss and Selfe’s article was published in 2002. I believe that in that year males were unwilling to accept women into their male dominated cyberworld. I believe that nowadays women are pretty equal to men in the cyberworld. Women are creating websites, participating equally with males, and many new websites are geared more towards women instead of men. There seems a growth in ways for women to work from home and still be able to be with their family. The unwillingness to accept women into a male dominated cyberworld is no more, and I would argue that is no longer a male dominated cyberworld. The cyberworld is slowly being more accessible to the stay at home mother and women who are not able to leave their house to work. The cyberworld is becoming “closer to home.”
I think that the gender gaps will not continue to be made in the upcoming years with all the technological advancements. I think the technological advances will aid women in their participation in the cyberworld and even the playing field between genders.
They claim “the women’s sites, which seldom stayed the same for long, provide temporal tracings of shifts in these Web designers’ priorities and identities” (39; emphasis added). But how do these traits described by DeVoss and Selfe pertain strictly to women? And I don’t think this whole women creating “multiple, even conflicting, selves” (35) thing is distinct to women either. Women may be mothers, daughters, sorority members, gardeners, animal rights activists, etc. But couldn’t a man be a father, son, fraternity member, hunter, and bunny lover? Aren’t these multiple selves? Don’t any of these traits conflict? I noted when checking on what others had to say that at least Vanessa agrees with me. I see no apparent gender gap, nor do I agree that there is a "masculine realm of mastery and machinery" (34). For example, in my experience, the percentage of Internet users who are HTML savvy seems much higher among the female population.
ReplyDeleteI must however acknowledge that if there is a gender gap that I’m not aware of, it is surely due to preexisting stereotypes. Many gamers have been known to play characters of a differing gender because they feel they may be treated differently (e.g. a girl playing a male character so people don’t go easy on her). I could also reference a few instances of people being hit on and ‘treated to’ lewd sexual remarks, but this is simply sexism and douchebaggery leaking from the real world to the virtual world, as “the objectification of women is transferred from one medium to another” (34). And of course such instances depend on the individual. Any gender gap is solely based on the behaviors of the users, as “their actions, however conscious and directed, are always accompanied by ‘unintended consequences’” (32).
I don’t believe that men are begrudgingly accepting women into the virtual world. Firstly, it’s not their world to share, and they aren’t technological masters in my opinion. But it’s also that this isn’t a male trait. I’m not male to my knowledge, and there are certain things I only bequeath in such a (resentful) manner.
Once again, what gender gap? I think that advancements in technology would likely aid in the diminishment or even abolishment of this mythical gap. Women today may still be targeted by “household and domestic technologies and of technologies related to trends in physical beauty” (33), but that doesn’t mean that they don’t also appeal popular and perhaps super geeky technology to women as well. Please reference thinkgeek.com, in all of its wonderfully geeky glory. There is women’s apparel as an example. But more generic and popular technologies appeal to women as well. Now that Barbie computer games have been around for so long, I think it’s a guarantee that girls who get into things like that at a young age are likely to “foster positive, intimate relationships with computers” (33).
At this point I’m beginning to feel I’ve written too much.
Here’s a quote to keep you thinking: Women are the only oppressed group in our society that lives in intimate association with their oppressors. ~Evelyn Cunningham
I feel that there indeed exists a gender gap online. I think, however, that this gap is not so much among internet users but rather among the computer sciences. Stereotypically, computer programmers and the like are predominantly male. I think that, for the most part, this stereotype is accurate. However, this is not to say that women are excluded entirely from the internet or even harassed at all. I think women who enter this predominantly male field are generally respected, at least by other women. I don’t think that they are often harassed by their male colleagues either.
ReplyDeleteI think a large portion of the supposed gender gap can be attributed to a lack of interest on the part of women. They have certainly had access to much the same resources as men have had in the years of the computer age. I believe that if women were more willing to explore new areas of expertise and vocation there would be much less of a gender gap to speak about.
It has been noted that women are “targeted as consumers of household and domestic technologies.” It has also been suggested that this “may have contributed to many women’s passivity toward computers or resistance to a relationship with the ‘intimate machine’.” While on the other hand men “may foster positive, intimate relationships with computers because computers are obedient, unquestioning partners.” I am aware that this has been noted previously, but I feel that it accurately paints a picture of why there exists a gender gap online.
Throughout history there have existed numerous gender gaps that women have had to overcome. In recent years women have become nearly equal among men in most, if not all fields. It almost seems like men, desperate to establish their superiority, tried to claim the cyberspace that is the internet as their own. However, just as the gender gap in other fields has largely been breached I think that the online gender gap will soon follow suit.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with some of the previous posters in the fact that the article, in particular many of the citations, seems outdated. Many seem to be based on sexist notions of almost twenty years ago that have long (in my opinion, I easily could be wrong) been refuted. This quote especially confused me: "Recently, feminist theorists of science and technology have offered a range of approaches to reversing this historically established set of trends, including reassessing the social nature of facts and truths that mark women as biologically unable to work with certain technologies"
ReplyDeleteI wasn't really aware that there were these "historically established facts and truths." That's preposterous. I'm almost more shocked that these "facts" needed to be reassessed. It's unfortunate that these ideas were even allowed to propagate in the first place.
One thing I agreed with was Haraway's concept of cyborgian identities. At least in my online interactions, people are generally vague about their personal information, thereby making your gender irrelevant in your interaction with other people in cyberspace. These generally anonymous identities are common.
I did like the quote included from a different Selfe article in which it was stated that these students realized “what the Web is and is becoming ...a shifting landscape of individual and collective identities,one inhabited by individuals . . . who have the potential to write new kinds of postmodern identities”. This is the thinking I fall more in line with. I just don't believe the internet is the gender conflict that this article portrays it to be.
First off I was shocked to learn that only 25% of women used the internet only four years ago. I always believed women to be the more social sex. Whenever I pictured the internet and its social networking sites, I pictured women authors. Gender separation in society is mirrored online and for some reason I did not think that was true until I read this article. I guess I remembered Haraway and how her feminist writings lead to blur the lines of gender online yet that is not the case. I suppose I could understand the reasoning behind the dominant presence of males on the internet because of the “masculine realm of mastery and machinery”. Women, minorities, and handicap are still slowly adjusting to postmodernism just like DeVoss and Selfe has mentioned. Men have dominated the world with their privileges and abilities for centuries and it surrounded machinery. As equality emerges, machines are available to more than just the white male population. When the Guttenberg Press was invented only a certain class of men was able to benefit from it then it slowly was made to be used by all, I can view the same situation with the internet but to a lesser degree. I believe that men still have a want and/or need to be the dominating sex. I also do see them dominating the cyber world as an example of their so called “superiority”. I have never seen the cyber world as a man’s world then again if we are living in a man’s world, then the internet is an extension of it. I just hate to look at the internet as an asset of one body of people; it should be shared equally amongst all groups. I can see how the internet is used for women and men to create identities for themselves and I can see how it can harass women. Not only does it harass them, it also objectifies them which I greatly dislike but do not know how to fix. I believe that as time progresses, the gender (as well as minority) gap online will be erased. It might not be in the form of a cyborg but I do believe that technology will blur gender lines. Then again there will always be the need to identify one’s self which would result in the gender separation but I believe it would increase the internet’s demographic.
ReplyDeleteWell, the gender gap is still evident in computer usage as the majority of computer programmers tend to be male. Also, from personal experience, guys tend to know more about computers and the inner-workings, how to make them run and other such topics relating to computers more than women. In my experience the boys in my dorm are more likely to know more about computers and I would go to them over the girls in my dorm. This seems to be a continuing trend but there are more girls nowadays that seem to be exploring and learning more about computers now. This stereotype is not always 100 percent accurate, but it many cases holds true.
ReplyDeleteWomen are seen more as a caregiver/housewife figure still in society. they are seen as always getting ready and dainty although they have made leaps in the past years in breaking down this barrier but not to the extent necessary. In my opinion, it seems more likely that the trend may decrease some but stay relatively the same because women nowadays want to be equal with men so therefore demand and actively seek it. Although, from experience, women tend to shop and go on social networking sites more than men and men use it for different reasons. The younger generation may be a little more difficult to determine though because both men and women use the internet as social networking (like in the case of facebook and myspace). Also, more men are starting to turn to the internet for shopping because it is seen as a more effective way of shopping, you dont even have to leave your house.
I think in general it depends on the man to determine whether or not he will accept a woman on the internet. Some men are more open to the idea, while some men are opposed to the idea. It all relates back to their willingness to accept women in general, but specifically as their equal.
Re: Natasha
ReplyDeleteThe article appears to have been published in 2002, so four years prior would have been 1998. Of course, if the article was written a year or two before it was published, that data could conceivably be corresponding to 1996 or 1997. I agree that the statistic seems extremely low and is surprising, but I think taking the year into account lessens that shock. After all, Internet use itself was not nearly as widespread in 1998 as it is 11 years later!
I think the gender gap has already been closed quite a bit. According to data from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, men are "slightly" more internet internet users than women and the percentage of women using the internet still lags "slightly" behind the percentage of men. Not to mention, this data is from 2005!
I think gender roles typically perceived by society offline directly correlate with the gender gap online. That is, I do not believe that the Internet facilitates the gender gap--I believe such differences are already present.
Even so, I find the readings to be a tad dramatic and generalizing. My mother was an engineer, working with communications technology, for over 25 years. I think stereotyping men to be more understanding of computers and technology is an over-generalization that serves to widen the gender gap online.
I agree with Marsall's conceptualization of gender, as I find that it is much less narrow-minded than other beliefs. "The view about gender being proposed here, argues that gender both enables, and restricts, behaviour--it is neither merely positive nor merely negative, although it could be predominantly one of the other. Gender can be seen as essential, innate or natural, and it can be seen as an 'addition' to something else" (Marshall, 2007, x)
P.S. Link to Pew data: http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2005/How-Women-and-Men-Use-the-Internet.aspx
The technology field was considered to be a male-dominated field. Women are less accepted in the fields of science and technology. (33-34). The supposed general roles in society contributed to the gender gap online. Women were left in the dark when it came to the introduction of new technologies and the knowledge of how to use them. Men did not accept them in these fields of study. However, women continued to push on and fight for their roles in technology. Regardless, today it seems to me that this gender gap online is not as extreme. There are many opportunities for women to contribute to the online world without discrimination or exclusion. Many sites are created for women and by women. The internet is opening many doors for them.
ReplyDeleteI could go both ways to answer the second question. It is yes and no. Yes, there are many men who do not want women to be allowed into the male dominated cyberworld. However, there are also men who want women to have their equal place. To assume that all men don't want women in this "word" is not accurate at all.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that gender roles perceived by society contributed to the gender gap online. Men are known to be good at technology and competitive. However, everything about women is about enhancing relationships. Even though in today’s society, male and female both use computer and online resources, male are more into the field of technology, such as programming, fixing computers and playing computer games. These areas are dominated by men mostly. Women, instead, are more involved in online communities to keep in touch with their family and friends. Therefore, the gender gap online are closely related to the gender roles in the society.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don’t think that men are unwilling to accept women into their male dominated cyberworld in terms of mastery on technology. Since the resources are open to everyone so that everyone has an opportunity to master technology. However, due to different characters of men and women, they are interested in different things. Therefore, mastery on technology really depends on personal interests and choices.
-Duoduo
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ReplyDeleteI believe that gender roles perceived by society contributed to the gender gap online. Men are known to be good at technology and competitive. However, everything about women is about enhancing relationships. Even though in today’s society, male and female both use computer and online resources, male are more into the field of technology, such as programming, fixing computers and playing computer games. These areas are dominated by men mostly. Women, instead, are more involved in online communities to keep in touch with their family and friends. Therefore, the gender gap online are closely related to the gender roles in the society.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don’t think that men are unwilling to accept women into their male dominated cyberworld in terms of mastery on technology. Since the resources are open to everyone so that everyone has an opportunity to master technology. However, due to different characters of men and women, they are interested in different things. Therefore, mastery on technology really depends on personal interests and choices.
As stated in the reading “all humans have a penetrating understanding of the social systems in which they exist” (32). What people learn as their place in the social system is then transferred to the online community. It is the system that people are comfortable with and so they hold onto it. However, the system within online communities doesn’t have to be the same as that in the offline world and I believe that people are slowly starting to realize this. Gender has very little reason to exist online. Its only purpose is to reflect the social norms in place offline.
ReplyDeleteI also do not believe that men are actively seeking to exclude women from online communities. Social norms are in place that seem to restrict what a woman’s interest in technology ought to be, however as I stated before, I don’t see where the social system in place in the offline world really has a place online. In addition I fine the idea ridiculous that unlike women, “men… may foster positive, intimate relationships with computers because computers are obedient, unquestioning partners” (33). It is a social construct that men are dominant and women are submissive. The practice of dominance happens among females as much as men, the methods are simply different or more subtle in order to fit into the social norm. I also did not understand what was so significant about the example of Heather and her webpage. The reading suggests that when Heather presents images of herself on her webpage she is creating “a sense of self without being one self” (37). Offline, people are a combination of who they present themselves to be and who they are perceived as being. The same goes for the self online. The multiple selves that the reading is talking about are really just aspects of the self.
I believe that it is not necessarily the advances of technology that will diminish the gender gap online, but rather the acceptance that gender is impossible to accurately determine online, and has no purpose. There is no need to identify oneself as a man or woman online. If a woman wants to discuss and compare engine capabilities on a car website she need not disclose that she is a woman. Peoples interests are varied and if one feels they must disguise their gender in order to explore their interests then so be it. It’s what makes the possibilities for the social constructs of the internet so fascinating.
Gender roles offline have greatly contributed to a gender gap online. Men are considered to have more in depth relationship with computers and the Internet. Devoss and Selfe state that, “men foster intimate relationships with computers because computers are obedient, unquestioning partners.” This suggests that men, unlike women, feel this way in the outside world as well. Furthermore, women who are perceived to only care about kitchen appliances or technology related to beauty are viewed to not care about the Internet or computers. Devoss and Selfe believe that it may have, “contributed to many women’s passivity toward computers or resistance to a relationship with the “intimate machine”.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with Devoss and Selfe that gender gaps exist online partly because of gender gaps offline. I do not, however, agree that men are unwilling to accept women online. Men have been perceived to have a strong interest towards the Internet and because of this men participate and are more involved than women online. But I do not think this illustrates that men are rejecting women who do in fact want to be involved online. I think that in the past men have been unwilling to accept the advancement of women in the technological sphere simply because society viewed women as inferior at that time. But no longer do I think this holds truth. New media is constantly developing and as so it is becoming more and more gender neutral. For example, video games played online are gender neutral. Both women and men play them. You don’t have to show your gender or you can even lie about your gender. So in that sense, gender is neutral and not really an important issue.