Cockburn, Cynthia & Ormrod, Susan (1993) Gender and Technology in the making. London & Newbury Park: Sage Publications
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=85mwBllqv98C&printsec=frontcover&dq=gender+and+technology+in+the+making&hl=en&ei=ZiiZTPmaF43RcfTvuZMP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
(Accessed 9 September 2010).
Gender and Technology in the making is a useful book that was found online from Google Books. Dr. Cockburn and Ormrod, the authors, are renowned in the field of feminist research and gender studies and have produced many works in previous years on the gender relations of technology. Though the text was produced in 1993, it provides sound insight into the ways in which technology as a whole is gendered, and an earlier perspective to the gender hierarchy in technology. The text was published by Sage, a notable academic publisher and has been cited a number of times by authors of other books and journals. The issues raised in the book are extensively researched and provide a globally relevant piece of writing, despite being produced in the United Kingdom.
The book in its entirety discusses the idea that, the inferiority of women and their involvement with technology has come about as a result of the overt stereotyping of genders in our society. This creates the belief that women have less expertise and general competence in the field of technology. Conversely, men, by the same standards, are perceived as being capable and dominant users of technology, thus highlighting a hierarchy of gender in regard to technology. Furthermore, Cockburn and Ormrod attempt to provide a feminist strategy to overcome such gendering. Overall by using a number of technological examples, such as the microwave, and key theories concerning the gendering of technology, such as the enhanced agency that comes with the relationship between masculinity and technology, the text works to effectively examine and develop sound feminist reasoning to look beyond gender stereotypes in technology.
Dholakia, Ruby Roy, Nikhilesh, Dholakia & Kshetri, Nir (2003) ‘Gender and Internet Usage’ The Internet Encyclopedia- Citeseer, pp.1-34.
http://ritim.cba.uri.edu/wp2003/pdf_format/Wiley-Encycl-Internet-Usage-Gender-Final.pdf
(Accessed 13 September 2010).
This article is a highly valid source found using Google Scholar that examines the ways in which technology is gendered. This scholarly article was published in 2003, well into the existence of a variety of new age technologies, such as the Internet. At the time Gender and Internet Usage was written, the authors, Dholakia, Dholakia and Kshetri were university professors from the University of Rhode Island in America. Now they continue to flourish in the fields of technology, marketing and business. Though the article has a different geographical location, the content is highly relevant as it examines and provides strategies to overcome the inequalities of gender in communicative technologies, especially the Internet, on a global scale. Additionally the text was published by the well-founded public online search engine for articles, Citeseer, developed in 1997 by a research institute at Princeton University.
The text investigates differences in gender in the assumption and use of information and communication technologies, with particular reference to the internet, and how these disparities have come about because of a variety of cultural and social expectations of males and females. Through a substantial amount of source analysis and examples, the text provides a more research-based presentation of the relationship between gender and technology.
Herring, Susan C ‘Gender and Power in On-line Communication’ (2003) In: Holmes, Janet & Meyerhoff, Miriam (eds.), The handbook of language and gender. (pp. 202-228). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd
http://ella.slis.indiana.edu/~herring/gender.power.pdf
(Accessed 13 September 2010).
This chapter was located on the author’s publication section of her university homepage. The author has produced an exceptional number of works over the past twenty years and is notable within her fields of study. Currently, she is a Professor of Information Science at Indiana University and has an extensive background in the fields of linguistics, technology and computer-mediated communication. Published in 2003, the chapter is both contemporary and appropriate when examining the ways in which technology is gendered, especially given that the author is a university professor and our level of research is at a university level.
Herring discusses the potential for technology, particularly the Internet, to become gender-neutral in the future if it is not already by considering the notions of access, evidence, computer-mediated communication, the World Wide Web and future scenarios. She accepts the notion that there are gender inequalities in society, but argues that these disparities of gender dissipate given the anonymity and lack of physicality in the online context. Therefore contending that male dominance and female subordination evident in everyday society, do not apply to the same extent online. This text provides a pertinent counter-argument to the notion that technology, particularly the Internet, is gendered.
Kirkup, Gill & Keller, Laurie S. (1992) Inventing women: science, technology, and gender. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press in association with The Open University and Blackwell Publishers Ltd
http://books.google.com/books?id=d8fSSELO8E4C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
(Accessed 12 September 2010).
This text was found using Google Books. It is an assortment of articles written by individual authors with an ongoing commentary by Kirkup and Laurie. The editors of the text have a largely academic based history, with a strong emphasis on the gendering of technologies. The text was released in both UK and USA markets and therefore is relevant on an essentially global scale. Well-established and recognised publishing companies published the text in 1992 and it has been cited frequently since its’ release. Though it is an earlier piece of research into the gendering of technology, it is highly valuable in providing a largely feminist-based approach to gender inequalities in technology. The book as a whole presents the notion of gender in technology and science using a broad range of voices and perspectives. The authors address a number of key issues concerning the relationship between gender and technology, particularly stereotypes of male superiority in technology and female submission, as well as existing social and cultural perceptions of what is suitable for each gender. Furthermore, the struggle of women to overcome the perception that they have little education, intellect or experience for technology, and how a feminist approach to gender relations and technology can improve the situation are examined, thus presenting a suitable piece of research for the above mentioned guiding question.
Nass, Clifford, Moon, Youngme & Green, Nancy (1997, 2006) ‘Are computers gender-neutral? Gender stereotypic responses to computers with voices’ Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27.
http://www.stanford.edu/~nass/comm369/pdf/GenderOfRecordedSpeech.pdf
(Accessed 13 September 2010).
This article was found using Google Scholar and has been taken from an online journal. The Journal of Applied Social Psychology comes under Blackwell Publishing, a well-known academic publisher. The authors of this article, Nass, Moon and Green were professors at Stanford University at the time of publication, with significant focus in the fields of communication, interactive media and business, thus presenting a highly scholarly source. Though produced in America, the text is extensively research study-based, more so than theory-based, thus it is significant on a relatively global scale. The content presented is both exceedingly relevant and appropriate in examining the ways in which technology is gendered. The study in the article examines how small gender prompts provoke responses based on biological stereotypes, such as men are assertive, whilst women are emotional. Though the article does not directly present theory-based content, it works to effectively expose the capacity to gender stereotype, reinforcing the notion that technology is not gender neutral. Therefore implying negative implications for gender, particularly women.
Laura Minnock
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