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| Photo not taken in '97 |
I don’t know if disagreeing with Dale Spender’s views and opinions makes
me a sexist but I found some arguments to be a bit bold. Spender (1997)
discusses the inequality women face in regards to computer technologies as well
as the monopolistic practices of men that keep them out. Throughout the article
I felt she didn’t make suggestions as much as she stated her information as
fact.
Spender briefly covers some of the key historical points in regards to
gender inequality and technology. Spender mentions the introduction of print
over 500 years ago which resulted in women not being allowed in universities
and other halls of learning (1997). Spender also mentions the all-male
political parties that passed laws that prohibited women from becoming learned
(1997).
I obviously wasn’t around for the introduction of print but I was around
in 1997 when this article was written and the two are very different times
periods (obviously again). Spender (1997) does mention this massive difference
but follows it by playing the part of a 16th century victim which leads me to
some questions: Were women not allowed
to buy computers in 1997? Not allowed to take computer-based classes? Not
allowed to use the internet? She mentions that girls weren’t taking
computer-based classes but that it was their own choice not to do so. In fact,
most of her points simply came back to choice or preference; it wasn’t that
women were kept out; it’s that they chose to stay away. Spender (1997) states
that economic factors contributed to the low adoption of this technology among
women with statements like “women don’t have the money to buy computers … [or]
hold internet accounts”. But this wasn’t the 1950’s where women stayed home and
men went to work and controlled the money; I’m sure the initial high price of
computers and internet affected both genders equally.
This is only my reflection of the study and for the sake of winning back
any female readers (Rae – my only reader), I will fast-forward to today. If
these inequalities did exist way back in 1997 as Spender suggests, these
‘inequalities’ seem to be all but gone in today’s digital environment. The
‘closed doors’ (Spender, D 2007) are now open and girls aren’t afraid to use
them. I am currently doing a major in digital communications (with some pretty
technically heavy subjects) and my classes are full of girls (not that I’m complaining).
Any hesitations that women had towards using the internet are now a thing of
the past and they are now contributing freely to the over-whelming mass of
information currently on the internet. I would have said feely and confidently
until I discovered the term ‘trolling’.
Trolling is the act of posting insulting, hurtful and even sexually
violent opinions on a piece of innocently posted information and it could quite
possible cause women to revert back to Spender’s idea of women back in 1997.
Some of the comments discussed by Karalee Evans (2011) and Vanessa Thorpe
(2011) were shocking to say the least. These ‘trolls’ are giving my gender a
bad name and it needs to stop (obviously this is not the main reason why this
needs to stop but you get my point). I can honestly say that the video “The BBC
confronts an Internet Troll” was the first video in this subject to draw an
emotional reaction; I wanted to jump into my computer screen and punch that guy
in the face so hard! In what little reading I have done on the act of
‘trolling’, my far-from-expert’ opinion is that more companies need to adopt
the comment screening process if these trollers are to be stopped; that or the
BBC needs to start getting physical. I’m happy with either outcome.
Thanks for reading.
References
Spender, D.
(1997) 'The Position of Women in Information Technology - or Who Got there
First and with What Consequences?' Current Sociology 1997 45: 135-147. http://csi.sagepub.com/content/45/2/135.citation
Thorpe,
Vanessa (2011) Women bloggers call for a stop to 'hateful' trolling by
misogynist men, The Guardian, Sunday 6 November, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/05/women-bloggers-hateful-trolling
Evans,
Karalee (2011) Men call me things: it's not as romantic as it sounds, The Drum,
11 November,
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3659712.html
‘The BBC confronts an internet
troll’
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/02/07/the-bbc-confronts-an-internet-troll-on-national-tv/
