Reading Notes
January 21, 1998
Discussion in class was in reference to the Dale Spender
article
"Nattering on the Net"
First responses/ impressions
* article served to increase fears about venturing onto the net
* long-winded, repetetive circular argument
* cliched set-up with historical context at beginning- historicallly
incorrect, exagerrated accounts
Basic Ideas
* men are territorial on net- women are not wanted
* sexual harrassment is a common occurrence
* women are socialized away from pursuing the valuable resources offered
on the web and computers in general
* girls are easily discouraged by boys, in classrooms- by teachers, and at
home by parents
Framework of Spender's argument--simplistic &
highly debatable
* historical- printing press as technological analogy, nunneries-acted as
refuge & schools were closed
* after this women were excluded from knowledge; previously they had
validity as healers- a source of important knowledge
* universities & certified doctors came about making it forbidden to
practice medicine without license
How does this history bear on reality and gender of cyberspace
some statistics discussed in class did not support this
connection
*an important point* Why have the numbers of women in science decreased
since the 1980's?
Shortfallings of the Spender article
include:
* the "we" were anglo Austalian/ American professional or middle class
educated women of a higher income level, not employed the same as men
* over 93% of the internet is in English which excludes the majority
of the world & acts as a form of coercion
* because of the amount of money & time it takes (access) to be
"nattering
on the net" this increases the divide between the have & have nots
* suggestion that men & women approach computers (use of) differently
women- as if they were telephones to be chatted upon or household
appliances meant to simplify one's life
men- as if they were toys
was felt by some to reinforce detrimental stereotypes
Other comments or grist for the mill- not necessarily in direct relation
to the Spender article
* theory is represented as a male domain
* computers think, thus bring different ways of thinking about people &
gendered existance
taken by Jessica Bergmann