SIVACRACY.NET: Disempowering Girls as Users and Creators of Technology

Justine Cassell has written a short essay available here arguing that fears such as those about girls using social networking sites arise "in part because people are fearful of women becoming empowered as technology users and producers." She writes:

There are, of course, equivalent moral panics about boys and technology (boys taking cues from violent video games and planning attacks on classmates, for instance); these panics tend to paint boys as aggressors and victimizers rather than victims. The stories about boys focus on their power and the damage they can cause to society. The stories about girls focus on their weakness and the damage that society can cause to them.

She also posted another essay here talking about the disjuncture between the fact that girls use many computer technologies even more heavily than boys, but are far less likely than boys to pursue careers in the computer sciences. Both essays via aTypical Joe, who writes:

When I chose television production as a career in the early 80s, I was under the very mistaken impression that it would be a gay-friendly occupation. All those sensitive portrayals on-screen did not translate into sensitive understanding off-screen from the production crew.

I took to saying then (and please forgive me my stereotyping based only on my experience from way back when; I'm thinking it's changed since) that the television production culture was more akin to the car-mechanic culture; and as such equally pin-up, macho and male.

Now I'd say that goes doubly so for IT. Ask me nicely and I might explain why one day. Suffice it to say now that I think IT has a lot to learn and could benefit greatly from taking on some of the ways of the library (a historically female occupation I hasten to add).

Comments

i supose social,economic and intelectual inequality is something we should always watchout for. a study should exist that asks why people choose their field of study and if it was a result of a desire to be in a more visable one.

Posted by: bobc | December 3, 2006 05:28 PM

Great essay to point to, for anyone interested in the current regulatory hysteria allegedly aimed at parents. Another good essay is “Surfin’ the Net: Children, Parental Obsolescence, and Citizenship,” by Sarah Banet-Weiser. A recent white paper from the MacArthur Foundation shows that girls are creating a lot of content for the web. For historical perspective, the book from Princeton University Press, _When Computers Were Human_, focuses on the pink-collar origins of computational labor and networked communication.

Posted by: Liz Losh | December 3, 2006 06:00 PM

thanks for the guidence.expanding the scope of my knowledge is precious to me. by the way,my daughter graduated magna cum laude with a degree in accounting and finance and is now getting her masters in fraud. i did not choose this path for her, just supported her decision.

Posted by: bobc | December 3, 2006 07:00 PM

bobc, a "masters in fraud"? Is that really the name of the degree?

Posted by: Ann Bartow | December 3, 2006 09:01 PM

master of science, economic and insurance fraud. she works for a cfo of a medium size ins company. probably be cfo herself someday.

Posted by: bobc | December 3, 2006 10:12 PM

Your daughter sounds wonderful. Still, there is something that strikes me as amusing about a "Masters in Fraud." Maybe she will turn to academia and become a "Professor of Fraud"? Just teasing.

Posted by: Ann Bartow | December 4, 2006 11:12 AM

yea, we both laughed when she told me of her plans...lol. the only thing i warned her of was to be aware of the power that some involved might have....

Posted by: bobc | December 4, 2006 04:44 PM

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