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American Sociology Association Presentation

Just found out about ASA paper. Here is the abstract - yes, there are some similarities obviously. Sometimes you feel like an abstract mill - same data used, different topics ;)

Domesticating the Internet: Household Internet Use and the Domestic Division of Labour

Most recent statistics in Canada indicate that Canadian internet use is highest from home, with 62% of households using the internet at least once a day on average from home (Statistics Canada 2002). However, this amount is increasing steadily. Given that many Canadians are utilizing the internet in the home, it is timely to consider what factors within the household contribute to daily usage patterns. The household has often been cited as contested terrain between women and men in relation to unpaid work and the division of labour. What effect does the domestic division of labour have on household Internet use?

Examining the Internet in the home must include a look at social contexts of individual household Internet experiences. For example, feminist literature concerning technology in the home is useful as a framework because it focuses on the importance of social roles, the hierarchy of these roles, and the relationships of power between women and men in relation to technological skills and use (Cowan 1983; 1987; 1999). There are often expectations that technology in the home (domestic technology) will be labour and time saving devices that alleviate women’s domestic responsibilities, but this has not been the case (Wajcman 1991). Domestic technology has not lessened the unpaid workload for women, and ultimately reproduces ideas of appropriate femininity (and masculinity). The structure of the household division of labour tends to produce technologies that replicate the status quo rather than challenge them. Is the household Internet any different? If indeed the Internet has become ‘domesticated’, we need to consider what this really means to household members, and whether the household Internet exacerbates gender stereotypes and the domestic division of labour, or challenges them. The household Internet may provide an opportunity to contest household roles, the division of labour, and the expectations that women possess less technological skills.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether household roles and the domestic division of labour shape how women and men use the internet in Canadian homes by using a triangulation of methods; surveys, interviews and in-home ethnographies. The study takes place in a borough of a large Canadian city whose populace represents a wide range of ethnicities, socioeconomic statuses, and household arrangements - reflective of Canadian diversity. A detailed survey dropped off to 350 randomly selected participants were asked questions about their use of technology, location of household technology and how they communicate with their family and friends. A sub-sample of 85 participants were interviewed in their home, and asked semi-structured follow-up questions regarding their use of technology in the home. Participants were also asked to demonstrate how they use the internet, and pictures were taken of where the internet access point was located.

Given the plethora of research regarding domestic technology, there are a limited number of empirical researchers examining the household internet, particularly within the framework of domestication. What should be understood about household Internet use are the roles or the expectations that people have of one another in the household. Roles within the home are gendered, raced and classed, and are often reinforced and strengthened through social interaction between people (West & Zimmmerman 1987). Existing social arrangements, cultural conditions and practices that surround household technologies (Ribak 2001) are prevalent, and the Internet in the household must be examined with this in mind. Examining how the household Internet is becoming domesticated should also address how a technology shapes, and becomes a part of one’s gender identity, and how women and men often relate to stereotypical images of gender identity (such as men being technologically competent) (Rommes 2002).

posted by Netwoman @ 10:33 PM