:: Netwoman ::

:: Friday, August 29, 2003 ::

Do Video Games Now Draw More Women Than Boys??
Washington Post - Tuesday, August 26, 2003

Ben Berkowitz reports "that more women over 18 than young boys are playing games and the average age of players has risen to 29".

Vikki Hrody, a faculty member at the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago says that 'she and her friends much prefer many of those mature games, like war titles, to the games specially designed and targeted by game companies at the female market, such as dancing themes or Barbie'. She states: "They don't hear enough about what the market is. I think they just assume that it's boys that are playing these games, (Girls' games are) very boring, there's no story line, it's almost like they play it down for girls."

It seems that many of the games that are created for girls and women are still based on gender stereotypes - on what people think girls will like - fashion, make up and hair design (Barbie who?) - and that girls have little tech skills or mental capacities to learn the mature high level games. Untrue of course. Personally, I prefer Tomb Raider :)

Some interesting thoughts here by student Uzoamaka Nzegwu. Other thoughts by Joystick101. There is a plethora of material out there on this topic.

:: Netwoman 11:40 PM [+] ::
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Been Blog cruising (vs web surfing) and found Living Room's (Christian site) archive on women's comments about blogging. Shauna posts: "I don't have a blog because I feel blogging is a bit of a male domain. I've tried to engage some male bloggers in conversation only to either be ignored or to be shouted down. " Susan's comment echoes my own research angle on how the division of labour in the home affects internet usage: "My reasoning as to why males may dominate blogging is because many women, like my friend, are moms. I have learned that moms have little time for other things like blogging."

Other's comment that they haven't noticed any gender blog divide. As Kaye would say "the jury's still out on this one". Though Jason Nolan notes an article on his blog "Most bloggers 'are teenage girls' - survey". "62 per cent of Polish blogs are written by women and a staggering three quarters are written by teenagers or younger. "

As an aside - with all the Blog Cruising I have been doing, I have noticed that I am doing much less Web Surfing. Cruising has taken over. I have also noticed that there are few blogs that comment or discuss gender and IT. Is this a boring blog topic? Is gender passe? If you have a blog for me, let me know.

:: Netwoman 7:32 PM [+] ::
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I came across a cartoon called Helen, Sweetheart of the Internet today. "It's Helen's Universe -We Just Live In It. Meet Helen, a power-wielding programmer with her finger on the pulse of the Martin-Kirby Corp. Technically gifted, Helen is as forceful as she is smart. Her attitude is simple - she's right - you're wrong. By controlling the information technology department, she controls her own universe. You won't find this comics heroine buying a bathing suit or delving into a box of chocolates! Helen may be Sweetheart of the Internet but make no mistake, cross her and she will destroy you. Depending on her mood, she may even melt your computer without batting an eye. "

Doesn't look like a bad comic, and something different by challenging IT stereotypes (besides her obvious C cup of course!) - But head to the bulletin board - scroll down and you get comments such as: "I'd like to see Helen naked or just in bra and thong panties. Rob"

Sigh. Same old Same old.......

:: Netwoman 4:24 PM [+] ::
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Online event re: Gender and ICT happening Aug. 27

Under the forum list, click on Digital Divide. "Learn about the importance of access to technology. How can technology help people with disabilities and members of low income communities?"
Then you can go to the topic on Bridging the Digital Divide -- GENDER and see what the discussion is about.

This forum is being hosted by Jayne Cravens and Latifat Kadir, an online volunteer recruited through UNV's Online Volunteering service at NetAid and living in Nigeria.

I am going to have a look and see, and will comment later.

:: Netwoman 11:05 AM [+] ::
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I have been blogging about how great it is to blog. I have commented on how blogging is a great way to create another online community. Blogging can be therapeutic. Blogging can be a rant. Blogging can be anything - just look at the blogrolls out there.

Having said that, blogging your life can leave you open to negativity and hate from others. I commented previously on how Iraqian women who blog have received negative feedback from people. This it seems, is not uncommon.

'Bad Blogger Boys' in the Blogosphere?

Recently, there has been some dissention in the blogosphere. It seems that there is much blog gender flaming going on. Am I surprised? Not really.

It all started with a blog post by DharmaGirl. I would link the site, but can't because she has since taken her site offline. Without going into much detail of the She blog- He blog, it is suffice to say that She blogged - He flamed - She retreated. It is her choice. There are no pointing fingers of judgment here.

But why are we still talking about our virtual safe houses that are consistently being threatened by anger, resentment and negativity? It seems that every time women use the Internet for community building, communication or whatever - some men try to destroy it? (See endless research concerning women's experiences in list-servs, chat rooms etc). Is the Internet still a boys club? Maybe so.

Kalilily writes: "So when bad boy Rage Boy spoilingly shuts down a fellow female's blog for fun and fame, I say shame, shame on you, you sad, bad, boy blogger. Is that what blogging is about? Slash and burn? If you don't like it kill it? ...It should be, as Jeneane both says and does, 'giving and receiving one another's voices.' Bad blogger boys don't really know how to do that. Instead they slash and burn, wielding words like daggers and knifing any kind of safe giving and taking. Rage. Sad. Bad. Boys."

So here we are trying to convince women to use technology more, to become innovators and creators rather than users, to incorporate the Internet (for example) into their everyday lives. The Internet perhaps should come with a warning label perhaps. Warning - Gendered Internet Zone.

Women have their own ways of dealing with the negativity in gendered virtrual spaces. Some fight back, some retreat, some do nothing. We all have our ways of dealing with it (but why do you ask do we need to 'deal with it' - why is this even happening?). DharmaGirl commented:

"I didn't actually choose to run. I had been thinking about shutting down my blog for awhile, because I'd been getting sick of all the nastiness going on in the blogosphere, especially on forums. Nothing like this had happened to me before though, and I figured it was the most opportune time to do what I'd already been planning on doing anyway."

So, where do we go from here?

:: Netwoman 7:18 PM [+] ::
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Interactive Media Conference

The real and virtual will collide at the 2003 Interactive Media Forum:

Identity & Cultures in Cyberspace
October 27-28, 2003
Marcum Conference Center
Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
www.muohio.edu/ims/conference

Join us for a widely diverse array of research that pushes the bounds of interactivity into the spheres of human interaction and creativity. At a basic level, we'll attempt to understand how people are creating, communicating, learning, and interacting on the Internet. Beyond that, we'll branch into more theoretical discussion on the premise of the Internet as a virtual society with unique and characteristic cultures.

The conferencees features keynote speakers Dr. Michael Heim of Heim Seminars and Dr. H. Lewis Ulman of The Ohio State University.
Speaker topics featured in the conference will include the following:
"Race and Gender in the Far Corners of Cyberspace"
"These bodies are FREE, so get one NOW!": Advertising and Branding in Virtual Worlds"
"Using Interactive Technology to Preserve Culture"
"Constructing Empowerment through Democratic Discourse: Cultures and Identities of Women's Communities Online"
"Total Information Awareness' as a Slogan for the Left: Towards an Open Source World"

For more information and to register, see our web site at http://muohio.edu/ims/conference/index.html

Sponsored by the Center for Interactive Media Studies, Miami University
Questions? Contact conference coordinator, Christine Starkey, at
starkecr@muohio.edu or 513.529.1637.

:: Netwoman 7:24 PM [+] ::
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Gender and ICT Awards Application Form Now Online

The APC WNSP and GKP Gender and ICT Awards application form may now be submitted online. The awards, which aim to honor and bring international recognition to the innovative and effective projects by women to use ICTs for the promotion of gender equality and/or women's empowerment, are accepting applications until September 10, 2003. Winners in four categories will receive US$8,000 each and will be recognized at a special event parallel to the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva from December 10-12, 2003.

The project website will become a knowledge base of outstanding gender and ICT initiatives that can be shared between and among communities and regions. Applicants are encouraged to use the online form, to facilitate the collation and selection process. Applicants who may have a problem accessing the site or submitting the form online may use the e-mail form to submit their information to awards-apply@apcwomen.org.

For more information about the awards, please visit www.genderawards.net. If you or your organization wish to receive an application in MS Word format, please write to awards-info@apcwomen.org.

:: Netwoman 7:17 PM [+] ::
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On Friday I wrote: " If you blog it, they will come....." though this may not be the case unless you have RSS. I have checked Blogging Tech Guides . I have spent numerous hours trying to implement RSS and feeds into my blog - and I am still trying to figure it out. Staying on top of the tech world is challenging for people who are not totally tech savvy (and I thought I was!). I fear I will fall behind other blog gurus and tech divas. What does that mean for my blog? My net reputation?!

It is just not working for me. I thought RSS for Dummies would help - but no. I have decided that (for now) this is a FEED FREE zone. If folks want to read my blog, they will have to come and visit it.

Addendum Aug 26: Pattie Hastings pointed me to a useful site for RSS info. RSS - A Primer for Publishers & Content Providers gives an overview of RSS and provides a clear explantion of what it is all about. There is hope!

:: Netwoman 5:19 PM [+] ::
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Clancy posted about a useful link to Blogging across the Cirriculum. This is an information site about blogging and what it is all about. Hastings uses Blogs in her classes and has great success with them, and this seems to be a growing trend. Kaye Trammell is also incorporating blogs into her course about online journalism.
Not only are blogs in the classroom fun, but I think it gives many people the opportunity to experience a new and emerging online medium. They might not have had this experience or chance to do so before. Keeping up with new things online is a task in itself, and if one is not familiar - or lacks the tech savvy - then people (with less access or skills) may fall behind.
There are other online methods or tools as well, such as Wiki. Lawley talks about Wiki's and the problems with them:
"It's easy for me to consider using blogs in a class-I can implement them in a way that I'm relatively sure will cause minimal frustration and confusion for my students. But wikis are another story. I can't see subjecting my students to this level of frustration-with formatting, with renaming, with organizing, with finding information."

I am not using Blogs this year in my course (as of yet) - but rather WebCT. I think Blogs could be quite useful to hearing people's experiences first hand. Blog sisters posted a site about a woman's blog in Iraq. Here you can see first hand what life is like for women in Iraq. Traditional teaching methods (articles, texts etc) would never permit this type of learning. Blogs have added a whole new dimension to my pedagogical framework.

At this point, my opinion of Blogs are quite positive, perhaps even Utopian.

:: Netwoman 11:36 AM [+] ::
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Kaye pointed out and excellent little blog entry to me. Weekly INCITE has an entry that talks about photoblogging, and how issues of gender emerged withing the research. Kris asks such questions as:
"In an ethnography of internet practices, does gender become an issue only if the participants suggest it as an issue? Or can it emerge as an important issue outside of photobloggers' awareness of or interest in it as such? The photobloggers I talked to were keen to talk about gender and photoblogging, but it didn't seem present as a factor in their day to day practice of photoblogging (in their awareness of that practice)".
These are interesting questions - and I am thinking about my responses to them (more on this later), and I might ask for more clarification on their questions. But Hilde Corneliussen's research I think might be useful here. She is currently writting a paper where she argues that:
"that the informants share an understanding of gender and computing - a hegemonic discourse - which creates different expectations to men and women's relations to computers...". While her research relates to computer use, I think that people's photoblogging is similar to discourses of computer use. People 'do gender' daily - knowingly and unknowingly (see "Doing Gender" - Candace West & Don Zimmerman, 1987. They argue that the notion that gender is constantly constructed or "accomplished in everyday interaction" p125). How can this not be a factor in practices of photoblogging?

:: Netwoman 11:52 PM [+] ::
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I came across Blogs by Women yesterday. A good collection of around 1000 women bloggers! The ring itself is closed because of the large amount of women in the ring (and the new bloggers who want to be added), and it is hard for the owner to manage. But this is excellent! The amount of women out there who are blogging is huge. I am looking forward to going through the long list of sites to see what women have to say.

Hey, do people blog on the weekend? Only a few of my favourites have new postings...is it the weather? Is it being at home with the family? Where is everyone?

:: Netwoman 8:19 PM [+] ::
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If you blog it, they will come.....

I found an article in the BBC News that talks about how the "Web gives a voice to Iranian women". Alfred Hermida offers a discussion about Iranian women blogging, much like the way we talked about chatrooms previously. Blogs offer Iranian women an opportunity to talk about subjects that are usually taboo for them. Which Iranian women have access to the Internet a a blog? Is it a class issue? If blogging for Iranian women is actually instrumental to them, then once again we are faced with issues of access - and making sure that all women have access and the skills to use the technology.
How do these women negotiate the conflict between their religious beliefs and voicing their beliefs online?
One woman states that she has received negative feedback online from men: "I had some negative responses, people saying I am disrespecting the image of an Iranian woman. Some people even insulted me". As easily as Iranian can speak freely on the internet - people can criticize and harass just as freely. This reminds me of my undergraduate work. I would like to think that the positives outweigh the negatives, and that these women are able to build a community and share experiences with one another.

:: Netwoman 9:35 PM [+] ::
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New York Times Article today: 3 Women and 3 Paths, 10 Years Later By KATIE HAFNER talks about women in tech fields. Has anything changed in ten years? "Of the 61 M.I.T. students receiving Ph.D.'s in computer science and electrical engineering in 1993, 10 were women. In 2003, 63 Ph.D.'s were awarded; 10 went to women. " It appears not.
Hafner talks about Ellen Spertus and where is now - teaching at a small liberal arts college where she mentors women in the field.
A couple of things bother me about this article. There is frequent use of the word 'geek' and nerd' in reference to people who are into computers and technology. I thought we were trying to get away from this image in order to attract more young girls and women to the field. Do we want to be geeks and nerd? I don't think so. Spertus says "I wanted people to know that geeks aren't just men". Young girls don't want to be geeks do they? If we are thinking about role models (and Spertus is a good one), we need to change and challenge this discourse. Spertus was named "Sexiest Geek Alive" in a Silicon Valley pageant in 2001". Again, to me a bit troubling and not helping overcome sexual stereotypes for women.

:: Netwoman 1:22 PM [+] ::
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I was reading Hilde's Blog yesterday and she commented on mamamusings' discussion about Unlocking the Clubhouse by Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher. I am glad that Hilde posted this because mamamusings gives a good summary of the some of the problems facing women in the technological sphere, and some of the ways to overcome these obstacles. mamamusings connects some of her own experiences with the arguments presented in the book, which brings some real life, first hand experience to reading her summary.

:: Netwoman 11:47 AM [+] ::
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Christian Crumlish Comments - "By the way, you know what the secret of blogging is? You just put a stake in the sand and the next thing you know you've got a tent there. People come by. Few return but some keep coming back." Blogs give new meaning to surfing aimlessly on the net - a new and better reason to surf - with a somewhat voyeuristic tinge by reading about what people are doing and thinking. Virtual "Sliver".

Clancy Ratliff - Department of Rhetoric, University of Minnesota has a proposal for a new study online. "Gender Conflict in the Blogging Community and Why Women Blog: Proposal for a Pilot Study". Clancy states that "The purpose of this study will be to understand gender conflict in the blogging community and the reasons women are attracted to blogging using a mixed-method design of a survey, case study, and observation resulting in a cultural picture. At this stage in the research, gender conflict in the blogging community will be defined generally as differences in ways of seeing the blogging community that are, for the most part, divided along gender lines." Also noted in the proposal is that there is an "Old Boy's Nework" in the blogging community. For example, "women's blogs are not being read or linked to as much as men's blogs".

This is a timely project given the increased number of blogs that are surfaced. However, something rings in my mind - "The things change, the more things stay the same". Here we are in 2003 still addressing issues of gender and technology. It seems to me that little has changed, and we are conducting similar research on blogs that we did in chat rooms in early Internet days (95-96). Is the medium the message?

:: Netwoman 8:10 PM [+] ::
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I can see I have the Blog bug. No, it's not West Nile - I am sure. It is the Blog Bug.

To blog or not to blog? That is the question of the day.

I came across an old article by LISA GUERNSEY - "Telling All Online: It's a Man's World (Isn't It?)" written in November of 2002. She states that there are an abundance of women blogging. I am truly curious what the stats are on this. Do women blog more than men? How is the content different between women and men? Do men comment more than women? How might the comments be different? Is anyone doing any research on this? And do we need to know this?

Actually, after some digging/surfing, I see that Susan Herring is actually doing something like this. I am interested to see some of her results on this, since we seem to share similar questions about blogging.

After some MORE digging, I found some updated information about blogstats: Blogging By The Numbers By Robyn Greenspan.

This article states that:
*there are roughly 2.4 million to 2.9 million active Weblogs as of June 2003
*blogging is split evenly among the genders
*Blogs seem to be read mostly by men (60 percent vs. 40 percent women), in homes where the total income is more than $60,000 per year (61 percent).

As Kaye Trammell bloguru would say "it's a blogolution!"

:: Netwoman 1:25 AM [+] ::
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BRIDGING THE GENDER DIGITAL DIVIDE THROUGH STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

Africa Launch of the Digital Diaspora Initiative and Global Advisory Committee meeting Kampala, Uganda
(May 5-6, 2003)
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/UNIFEM/ddi_ug.html

This initative seeks to address the gender digital divide in Africa:

"The particular opportunities presented by ICT as means to foster women's economic security and rights in Africa, while being tested on a small scale in the region, remain largely untapped. Constraints of infrastructure, cost and content as well as gender biases in the use and development of ICT constitute significant barriers to use for most individual entrepreneurs or micro- enterprises"

I am interested to hear about how the conference went and what kinds of things were discussed as possible solutions.

:: Netwoman 1:05 AM [+] ::
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Thoughts on Researching Gender and the Internet:

Gender and feminism are still trigger words for many people. Negativity and hostility still run rampant. The best are the comments against feminist researchers. At a recent workshop I went to, one of the guest speakers from a large company blamed feminist researchers for the decline in 'good scientific research'. He stated that feminist researchers cannot write properly, and they don't produce good empirical data that is worthwhile. This was seriously disturbing. I am not sure why I was so surprised. But I walked out.

Also, when I presented my work on gender, I was surprised that there were many junior academics that did not understand what gender really is, or how it is signficant in their own research. After spending most of my presentation talking about what 'gender' is (not sex - and not my real presentation on my data), I felt that I had to justify why I am doing research on gender and the internet. Interesting.

What I really wanted was for people to think about how gender is important within their own research, and give me feedback. Instead, I am once again faced with justifying my research interests.

So, that was a bit frustrating, and makes me wonder why I am doing this. Then I realized that this was a perfect example of WHY I SHOULD BE doing this research.

I am interested in other people's experiences. Have you encountered similar experiences? Please comment and let me know.
Netwoman.

:: Netwoman 9:28 PM [+] ::
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Women on the Web
http://www.onlinecasinonews.com/ocnv2_1/article/article.asp?id=3821

"Western Cape tourism and gambling MEC Joyce Witbooi is on the conference circuit urging women to embrace technology, and as importantly, urging technology companies to build female focused tech.

'We have to determine why technology seems to be male-dominated. If need be, adaptations should be made to make technology more accessible to women.' said Witbooi"

Several questions surface for me here. Two issues - usability and access.
What exactly is "female focused tech"? This rings of essentialism here...
Technology needs to be more accessible to women, but for marketers? And for gambling? Women are using online slot machines more then men.

:: Netwoman 8:50 PM [+] ::
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Canadian consultation on ICTs in preparation for WSIS

OTTAWA, August 12, 2003 -- Canadians are invited to help shape Canada's vision on how the world can work together to translate information technology advancement into worldwide social and economic benefits.

Aiming to gather heads of state and government, executive heads of United Nations agencies, industry leaders, non-governmental organizations and civil society, the World Summit on the Information Society is being held under the high patronage of Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General, with the International Telecommunication Union taking the lead role in preparations.

The Summit is being held in two phases with the first happening from December 10-12, 2003, in Geneva, Switzerland, and the second in 2005 in Tunis, Tunisia.

Key issues for discussion include infrastructure development and the possible financing of universal access to bridge the digital divide, systems security and user privacy. The Geneva portion of the Summit is mandated to issue a declaration on these issues and establish an action plan.

Canadians wishing to contribute to the Summit by making their views known are invited to read the consultation document and submit their comments online at http://www.wsis-smsi.gc.ca. Comments are welcomed by September 30, 2003.

This consultation is being administered by Industry Canada in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

For more information, please contact:
Media Relations
Industry Canada
(613) 943-2502

:: Netwoman 4:59 PM [+] ::
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And so I begin my Netwoman blog. I thought I would do a search to see what kind of blogs are out there concerning gender and ICT, and surprisingly, there are some. I am very new to this blogame despite the fact that I have been online since 1995. I feel like a newbie all over again.

I hope to gather some resources on Blogs that talk about my field, and also gather some useful resources as well. I can see already that this is a time consuming hobby - but I think it will worth it. While I should be spending time doing my dissertation, this is much more fun.
regards,
Netwoman

:: Netwoman 4:35 PM [+] ::
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You must be curious, you are here.....

My name is Tracy Kennedy - I am a Netwoman.

I have been online since 1995 and have been research women and the Internet ever since. My reason for this blog? Truthfully, I still get a 'chilly' reception from people when I tell them I research gender and the Internet. This is very interesting to me because many people feel that this area is either not worth studying, or not necessary to study. Afterall, in Canada, the stats indicate that men and women are both online in equal amounts. The Digital Divide has closed right? Men and women have equal access to the Internet, right? (but do they really?). What does this really mean? What are women and men experiencing in the virtual world?

Stay tuned for comments about my own research regarding gender and the Internet in the home, and other discussions about research the is being conducted. Many thanks to "Kaye" - the blog guru - for her help with this blog.

:: Netwoman 1:56 PM [+] ::
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