chapter 8 - gender and technology

Question 1

how is gender viewed in tech design and use?

Answer 1

• invisible
• not important consideration
• need to be seen as a complex interplay of biological and physiological features and interactions with the social world

Question 2

what is gender?

Answer 2

more than an individual’s identity and personality, cultural ideals and stereotypes of masculinity and femininity (symbolic) and the sexual division of labour in institutions and organizations(structural)

Question 3

” individual’s person experience of their gender, which may or may not align with their sex and may include of be define along a spectrum of unique identities “in between” or outside male or female”

Answer 3

gender identity

Question 4

what are the 3 key observations surrounding gender and tech?

Answer 4

1. Tech treated as neutral objects and designed with no gender in mind
2. Tech perceived as impacting all sexes equally
3. Debates around gender issues are often initiated only after the design of a tool is completed

Question 5

true or false: debates around women and technology is historically grounded in discussions of women in science, household work, and paid labour

Answer 5

true

Question 6

what are the 2 opposing views informing our understanding on tech and women?

Answer 6

1. women’s liberation view
2. women’s oppression view

Question 7

women’s liberation view?

Answer 7

advocates that technology can liberate women by

• Supporting fertility choices
• Easing the burden of household work
• Creating alternative, flexible work environments particularly suited for women

Question 8

women’s oppression view?

Answer 8

states that women will

• Be enslaved through these technological advances
• Have fewer choices in general
• Become more reliant on the existing technologies

Question 9

what does Stanworth provide an overview of?

Answer 9

what kinds of tech are grouped under reproductive technology which includes birth control, foetal monitoring, and infertility programs

Question 10

what does Wajcman stress?

Answer 10

most discussions view technology responsible for social change in society and for the well-being of women

Question 11

what does Shorter see about women?

Answer 11

victims of their own bodies and reiterates that reproductive technologies have allowed them to become equal to men

Question 12

what is the 3rd view that could advocate for women’s inclusion in shaping tech?

Answer 12

women’s inclusion view

advocates that women need to be more integrated into the technology debate not only as users, but also as active participants

Question 13

what kinds of household tech continue to proliferate?

Answer 13

vacuum cleaners, dishwashers and irons

Question 14

what does Ann Oakley’s book shows?

Answer 14

shift in how industrial sociology views housework by arguing that it is also work, even if unpaid (women’s work in home)

Question 15

what is alienation?

Answer 15

deep separation between labour and identity

Question 16

what are the 3 characteristics of housework according to Wajcman?

Answer 16

1. privatized
2. decentralized
3. labour incentive

Question 17

privatized?

Answer 17

housework is not visible and is not directly compensated or acknowledged in the same way as many other forms of work are

There is no final product celebrated by a community

Question 18

decentralized?

Answer 18

dependent only on the homemaker

no formal roles, tasks, or deadlines, making it difficult to determine when work is complete

Question 19

labour incentive?

Answer 19

many jobs in the service sector require long hours but are not necessarily physically demanding

Housework is physically labour intensive and has no pre-established beginning and end

Question 20

why was household tech endorsed and what term was developed from it?

Answer 20

facilitated the work of homemakers

labour-saving technology = direct impact of technology on housework

Question 21

what did Vanek say about this?

Answer 21

despite the increased reliance on household technology by homemakers, no conclusive evidence could be found of actual savings of labour and time

Question 22

what did McGraw conclude on this as well?

Answer 22

“substantial changes” in household technology left sex, hours, efficiency, and status of the household worker essentially unaltered”

Question 23

what is the use-actor gender gap?

Answer 23

women are represented as users, but not as engaged actors in the process of tool development

Question 24

what gender was more likely to own a computer between me and women and add info?

Answer 24

men
- even though women were the primary users of computers in the workplace
- have equal levels of access yet there are differences

Question 25

who uses social media more and why?

Answer 25

women

• used to draw attention to key social problems such as giving a voice to women who have been sexually assaulted or harassed

Question 26

true or false: change in social media is fast and discrimination is not coded into the very design of these tools

Answer 26

false

it is slow and does show discrimination

Question 27

what is gender resegregation?

Answer 27

women are placed in positions perceived as more feminine jobs that women occupy ( “women’s work”)

eg. secretaries

Question 28

“women, commonly working in the Global South, who are paid minimum wage for routine data-entry jobs”

Answer 28

Cybertariats

Question 29

what are the 3 prime explanations for the absence of women in data entry jobs?

Answer 29

1. gendered socialization
2. gendered roles/school departments
3. toxic workplace environments

Question 30

gender socialization?

Answer 30

gendered construction often occurs early in socialization and in many cases is hidden rather than overt

effect of socialization evidenced in how teachers behave towards girls and boys in elementary and secondary schools, often placing different expectations on them

Question 31

gendered roles a

Answer 31

many jobs are gendered and this can influence career choices

eg. nursing is still considered a more feminine job, while computing is often considered more masculine

Question 32

toxic workplace environments?

Answer 32

some work environments are male dominant and females struggle to feel accepted

This is often the case in game development, where men game developers still outnumber women; in the UK only 4 percent of developers are women

Question 33

“neglect of considerations related to the body in the design and use of technology, including a person’s body shape, ethnicity, and specific gender characteristics and features”

Answer 33

body erasure

Question 34

what are the 3 reasons for bringing the “body back” into the discussion of tech?

Answer 34

1. tech interacts with the body
2. not all bodies are the same
3. tech does not determine the body

Question 35

how does tech interact with the body?

Answer 35

directly interacts and integrates with the body, often becoming entangled

McLuhan - close interplay between what our bodies do and what technologies allow our bodies to do

Question 36

how are not all bodies the same?

Answer 36

assumption that the body can be erased is problematic simply because not all bodies are the same

example - development of the bicycle as they were designed so it was almost impossible to ride in typical women’s clothing

Question 37

how does tech not determine the body?

Answer 37

• assumptions of technological determinism are responsible for body erasure
• reproductive technologies - intro of birth control pill was seen as a major positive change for women
• not all positive - reproduce existing inequalities of power, wealth, and marginalization

Question 38

what did the pro-ana case study do?

Answer 38

• brought the body back to the internet and into the virtual realm

Question 39

what did the study of boero and pascoe show?

Answer 39

shows that boundary work in pro-ana communities also embodiment work

Question 40

what is boundary work?

Answer 40

establishment of boundaries around who is a member of the pro-ana community and who is an outsider

Question 41

what is embodiment work?

Answer 41

work done to bring discussions around the body to the forefront through the display of images, text referring to the body, and the discussions around ideal body shapes

Question 42

what does Yeshua-Katz and Martins (2013) argue?

Answer 42

body serves as a means to demonstrate membership in the online community and that members seek social support from others online
- these women get little support in their physical, everyday communities because of the stigma surrounding individuals living with anorezia nervosa