:: Netwoman ::

:: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 ::

Research Study on Women & Technology

Are you a female born from 1970-1985? If so, you are invited to participate in a study on the digital histories of females born from 1970 to 1985. This study is an online survey that should take less than 25 minutes to complete. In this study we hope to learn the following:

* What is your digital history like? That is, in what ways in the past did you use computers, the internet, and related technology and media? How do you use them now?
* When did you begin using these technologies?
* When did you begin using these technologies for writing?
* What differences do things like age, socioeconomic class, access, and location (like urban, suburban, and rural) have on your computer use?
* What impacts did (if applicable) college, graduate school, and career have on your use?

If you are a female born from 1970 -1985, we welcome your input in this study. If you are not a female born from 1970 -1985, we would greatly appreciate if you would forward this study invitation to people who are eligible to participate.

Here is the link to the survey - I'm too old to participate ;) bummer....

:: Netwoman 12:21 PM [+] ::
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Women gain prominence in video game world

By SANDY COHEN

LOS ANGELES - Traditionally, the only women in video games were digital. Think busty, pistol-packing Lara Croft of "Tomb Raider," or the scantily clad walking pinups in "Grand Theft Auto."

Beyond these stereotypical male fantasies, women were all but absent from the billion-dollar gaming industry. But that's changing, thanks to a core female gamers who are increasing women's visibility and influence.

These women are programmers, designers, tech students and members of all-female gaming groups that compete against guys for cash and corporate sponsorships. And experts say the industry stands to benefit.

"For this industry to mature and move on, it has to grow beyond just that 13- to 35-year-old male demographic," said Anthony Borquez, a professor who teaches video game production at the University of Southern California. "From a business perspective, it makes a lot of sense to engage women more."

Besides, sisters are doing it for themselves.

Amber Dalton and twin sister Amy Brady created the PMS Clan in 2002. Boasting international membership of nearly 500 women and girls, PMS — which stands for Pandora's Mighty Soldiers — is a competitive group that plays
Xbox,
PlayStation2 and PC games. Its members range in age from 9 to 58, Dalton said, but most are adults.

Learning about the Clan was "an epiphany" for game designer and devotee Felicia Williams.

"Finding a community where you can say that you play games was kind of like a confessional," said the 24-year-old New Yorker, who owns "every system ever released." "Having a support group out there that loves what you love, and seeing such a diverse group of successful, wonderful women is just hugely beneficial."

Clan members compete with each other and band together in professional tournaments. They also challenge the online harassment doled out by male gamers. PMS Clan rules prohibit "belittling or attacking others in any way, even in retaliation," according to its 30-page member manual.

Guys can be "vicious," said Dalton, 30.

I think what they are doing is great. BUT - I really am not fond of the name "PMS Clan" - for obvious reasons.

:: Netwoman 11:16 AM [+] ::
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Nature vs Nurture - Women & IT

An article I came across: Women's career choices influenced more by culture than biology - located HERE. It does a good job of consider structural & institutional inequalities that exist for women in IT.

The diversity of today's American workforce challenges information-technology organizations that have "one-size-fits-all" policies, and nowhere is that more evident than with women employees, says a Penn State researcher.

"Policy makers, educators, managers need to recognize that you can't generalize to all women," said Dr. Eileen Trauth, professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST). "There is far too much variation in the paths that women take for anyone to assume that women's career motivations are the same, their methods of balancing work and family are the same, or their responses to motherhood are the same."

Trauth conducted interviews with 167 women who were working in IT in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the United States. Besides their place of residence, the women also represented a range of racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Those interviews suggested women's career choices were influenced by a wide range of factors including gender stereotypes, societal messages and family dynamics, Trauth said. But she also recorded a wide range of responses to the motherhood, career and educational choices and gender stereotypes, reinforcing her belief that recognizing such diversity may yield more opportunities for women.

"What would be inappropriate is to look at a young woman and presume that she will get married, or that she will have children or that she will leave the workforce if she does have children," said Trauth, paraphrasing one interviewee's experience. "Organizations shouldn't have HR policies based on gender stereotypes because people are motivated by different things-salary, job security, flexible work schedules."

The study is described in a paper, "Cross-Cultural Influences on Women in the IT Workforce," presented recently at the 2006 ACM conference on computer-personnel research held in Pomona, Calif. The other authors were Jeria Quesenberry and Haiyan Huang, both doctoral students in the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology.

The interviews with women in the United States also were the basis of another paper, "Understanding the 'Mommy Tracks': A Framework for Analyzing Work-Family Balance in the IT Workforce" published in the April-June 2006 issue of the Information Resources Management Journal.

In this article, Quesenberry, Trauth and Allison Morgan-another IST doctoral student-argue that American women working in IT have devised a number of strategies to balance work-family responsibilities. Some of those occur in the workplace-such as flexible hours-and some at home-such as supportive partners, spouses and parents.

Because of those differences, Trauth argues against organizations establishing a single "parenthood track" for employees. The researchers also saw significant differences in the influence of culture on career choices. In China, for instance, to refer to a woman interested in IT as a "geek" is a compliment. In Ireland, IT work is seen as "clean" work while in India, women's exam scores determine their careers-unless they are members of the highest social class who are not expected to work.

The Penn State researcher said the stereotyping of women may be one reason for the under-representation of women in the American IT workforce. A 2004 industry survey indicated that women account for only 32.4 percent of IT workers. That is a decline from 1996 when 41 percent of IT workers were women.

:: Netwoman 12:43 PM [+] ::
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More Tid-bits

-Schools to Ban Access to MySpace, Facebook, Kairosnews, and other Online Dens of Terror:

There's a bill afoot that's designed to protect kids from "social networking" sites, i.e., those online dens like Facebook and MySpace where evil predators lurk in the shady maltshops of cyberspace. Schools and libraries receiving gov'ment "me too" money for internet access will see those funds dry up unless they agree to block these deadly sites

-Jill talks about the myth that women don’t play games:

Let's look at the facts. Apparently 24-35 year olds are the heaviest gamers. According to a recent survey, 65% of women in this age bracket play games. Only 35% of men in the age bracket do. The survey found that women play "slightly less" console games than men and that many more women play casual games, like flash games in web browsers, solitaire or online Scrabble.

-Terra Nova - Pink Games Rule

-My genitalia has nothing to do with being a geek - talks about a woman's exclusion from an Xbox focus group - no chicks allowed...

-Forget the Booth Babes at E3 - here are the Dudes at E3 - oh look, they're wearing clothes!

:: Netwoman 1:49 PM [+] ::
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Link Round-Up

Some goodies that I haven't blogged about yet:

Microsoft at E3 - a recap of the presentation given by Microsoft at E3 over at Gamasutra. Here's an interesting bit that caught my eye:

Discussing the connection between Xbox 360, Messenger, and PC, Gates indicates that they will now be sharing MSN Messenger and Xbox Live messaging - the concept is called Live Anywhere, and will be part of Windows Vista. This means that you have "one online community", Gates suggested.

This will be fascinating to see - the Live Anywhere concept and building a strong online community of gamers.

He discusses Windows Mobile - indicating that the richness of mobile games is just beginning - suggesting that you can start games on Xbox 360 and continue them from your phone, set up downloads on Xbox 360 from a phone, and so on.

Ah yes, the beginnings of the mobile gaming boom - ubiquitous gaming - this combined with the 'live anywhere' will be key to this

I found a new blog called Shrub.com Blog, which sometimes talks about women and gaming. The link to her video games category is Here and this is a nice piece about online gaming communities.

Here's an article called "Globally, the media shows little interest in women's issues":

The International Federation of Journalists, the world's largest journalists' group, says that stereotyping of women in media and the restricted entry of women into the charmed circle and largely male world of management in journalism are key obstacles to gender equality in the media industry.

"Around the world the struggle for equality in media is a constant battle for recognition of women's rights. The issue is always there whether it is in discrimination over jobs and pay or in the diet of sexist and titillating journalism that still contributes to the difficulties faced by women in all sections of society," the IFJ said.

Gamers get social - Promoters push punk-rock gaming parties:

It's Saturday night at the Gladstone Hotel and everything looks normal – it's packed to capacity with a drunk and lusty crowd watching an Idol wannabe belt out Bon Jovi on the karaoke stage.

But on the other side of the wall at the Melody Bar, the hotel's frequent home for poetry readings and other art events, a different kind of creative freestyling is underway.

A lone rocker dude stands in front of a TV using what looks like a toy guitar, burning up the licks to Franz Ferdinand's Take Me Out. Behind him, a dreadlocked babe shows off her fancy footwork on a large foam pad, keeping in time with beats that flash onscreen, accompanied by the B-52's. Their clash of sounds barely registers with me – I'm too busy getting fragged to hell in a fierce round of Halo 2.

Welcome to Drunken Dance Dance Revolution, the evening portion of D-Day, a new monthly video-gaming throwdown being held the second Saturday of each month at the Gladstone.

We've already missed the afternoon all-ages Halo tournament and early-evening multimedia screenings. But we've made it to the part that combines the essentials of gaming and beer.

From pool to pinball, having games in a bar is nothing new. Something like Drunken DDR just brings it up to date with rocking, dancing, visually stimulating play that really makes you move. And these are exactly the sorts of games that players may need a little bit of a buzz to really get into. It's not so different really from the karaoke going on next door. The only question is, how long until games aren't shuffled to the side room but instead take centre stage?

Sounded good until they talked about guys getting together and drinking beer - somewhat of a boys club...

I came across this article about teachers and students, and how email has changed how they communicate: Virtual Office Hours, 24/7. I've noticed a change in how I communicate with my students over the last 5-6 years. Email gives the impression that you are always available. I've had students complain when I didn't respond to them on the same day. Or, they expect me to be at the computer all the time (which I am, but it doesn't mean that I am always working). Other things they talk about are about how this process fosters overfamiliarization. I've had to speak to a couple students about their email messages, and how they improper and impolite. Some get it, other's don't.

:: Netwoman 1:09 PM [+] ::
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Event Wrap Up: Girls 'N' Games

Here is a wrap-up of the Girls 'N' Games conference that I blogged about earlier. it looks like it was an interesting discussion with some important points in relation to women & gaming and designing games of the future. Some of what they talked about I've already talked about here, but here is a recap:

-there has been a persistent interest from females in action adventure games, which is now moving into Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOs) such as World of Warcraft (WoW) and other online games including Second Life.

-a game needs to allow people to do things the developers never intended; creative game playing, problem solving, gender-bending and so forth

-we should be cautious to avoid the pitfalls of 'girl game design' and try and avoid working off stereotypes

-player-generated content is needed and necessary

-stereotyping by gender, both male and female, can lead to missteps in game design that alienate the targeted genders unintentionally

-we have to take into account is that women have a lot of other things to do compared to teenage males and females

:: Netwoman 12:56 PM [+] ::
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Video Games & Education

The summer term has started, which means I am teaching again. This term it's Gender & Higher Education (which doesn't only cover gender of course - but other 'isms'). I always have a technology section for this course, but this term I've added Video Games & Higher Education to the list of topics. In fact, I've had students approach me about my references to video games in lectures - the like it, they can relate to it, they play it - so we need to talk about it and unpack it.

I came across an article about this very topic today: Do Gamers Score Better in School? by David McDivitt:

...during the course of writing this article, it has also dawned on me that I (and my students) am carving out new territory in the world of education. They tell me I’m a “trailblazer” for using video games to teach serious subjects....Our chance first arrived last fall when we started experimenting with a new turn-based strategy game called Making History by Muzzy Lane Software. It’s the first video game I’ve come across that is designed to work in the classroom at higher grade levels, namely high schools and colleges. The game tasks students, either in teams or individually, to assume leadership of a country in the World War II timeframe, from about 1938 to 1945. You can choose a variety of scenarios and time segments depending upon what you’re teaching in class. The key is that students become responsible for the fate of their country. As a simulation game, the kids actually live the history, they don’t just read about it.

I won't go over the methodology here, but his gaming group had a deeper understanding of the material - in this respect historical information and context of wars. It's a fascinating experiment, something that we should examine more closely and consider when teaching technology & society.

Our students . . . these digital teenagers . . . see technology, including things like video games, as a seamless part of their every day lives. They see the Internet the way we see telephones: "what’s the big deal?" But try living without it! Recent studies have shown that teenagers don’t even consider the Internet to be a technology. It’s just there.

If the military can use virtual reality & games to train soldiers, we can certainly utilize video games as a learning tool in the educational process. It will be interesting to see where all this heads in the next 5-10 years.

:: Netwoman 12:43 PM [+] ::
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Gender & ICT Symposium

The 3rd Christina Conference on Women’s Studies & The 4th European Gender & ICT Symposium

Gender, Images and Global Contexts
March 8–10, 2007, University of Helsinki, Finland

Gender, Images and Global Contexts brings together two successful conferences: the Christina Conference on Women’s Studies, organized in Helsinki in 2003 and 2005 and the European Gender and ICT symposium, previously organized in Amsterdam (2003), Brussels (2004) and Manchester (2005). It explores the challenging phenomena of gender and ICT that take place in-between the cultural images and societal contexts in the processes where the local intertwine with the global. We invite scholars, students, educators, policy makers and other practitioners to consider the challenges and possibilities brought forth by global information and communication technologies for working practices, education and feminist theorization. The conference aims to be a meeting point for researchers from different disciplines and research schools.

We invite abstracts addressing gender and ICT from the perspectives of
* cultural images
- representations of gender, sexuality and technology, or, of gendered
agency in technically mediated society and digital culture
* work
- design, production and use processes, work and technology, new forms
of work in technically mediated society, global economy and global
division of work
* education and policy
- teaching and learning using ICT; gender and e-learning; gendered ways
of learning technology, including learning styles and pedagogies;
design of ICTs in education, policies of inclusion.
* feminist theory
- theorizing the phenomenon of gender and ICT in between images and
global processes of trade and work; gender inscriptions in ICT and in
computing science

Keynote speakers:
* Karen Barad, University of California, Santa Cruz, US
* Celia Lury, Goldsmith College, UK
* Susanna Paasonen, University of Jyväskylä, FI
* Els Rommes, Nijmegen University, NL
* Jenny Sundén, Royal Institute of Technology, S
* Marja Vehviläinen, University of Tampere, FI
* Gabriele Winker, Technical University Hamburg, D

International advisory committee:
Anne-Jorunn Berg (N)
Hilde Corneliussen (N)
Wendy Faulkner (U.K)
Liisa von Hellens (Aust)
Clem Herman (U.K)
Malgorzata Radkiewicz (Pl)
Els Rommes (NL)
Heidi Schelhowe (D)
Malin Sveningsson Elm (S)
TL Taylor (Denmark)
Maureen Mc Neill (UK)

Organising group: Susanna Paasonen, Marja Vehviläinen, Kirsi Saarikangas, Aino-Maija Hiltunen, Eeva Raevaara, Outi Pajala

Organisers: Christina Institute, University of Helsinki and Department of Women’s Studies, University of Tampere, and HILMA- University Network of Women's Studies.

Fee -- sorry, no grants available!
120 euros (paid before Jan 15, 2007)
50 euros for (unwaged and undergraduate) students 150/70 euros after January 15, 2007.

Dates:
CFP May 2006
2nd CFP September 2006
Abstracts Oct 15th 2006
Notification of acceptance by: Nov 15th 2006 Early bird registration until Jan 15th 2007 Conference March 8-10th 2007.

:: Netwoman 10:06 AM [+] ::
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The Old School is Closing

WomenGamers.com has a discussion article about the cultural shift in the gaming community - in particular, the online gaming boom:

But are all of the boons of online gaming worth it, and are all of those boons really as attractive as they sound? I don't think so. I think that online gaming is stripping away old-school console gaming culture and making it less about community and more about competition. With more and more gamers going online, arcades are slowly dying out. And remember those late night Goldeneye parties? They may one day be no more.

The jist of the article is that while online gaming does has some advantages, we are losing something. The author of the article suggests that online games is LESS about social interaction and community building, and more about competitition.

Naturally, I have to disagree. I think one the key points that the author is missing here IS the community building aspect of online gaming. Playing the game online is a effective way to connect with other gamers, particularly in a genre or a game that a person plays regularly. This is especially important to women gamers - playing the game online can easily connect you with other female gamers, and build community. I'm not clear why the author states there is less social interaction in online gaming then arcades or gaming at home with others.

In fact, online gaming is all about social interaction. Depending on the game, you can combine your Instant Messaging, audio and visual to interact with others that are playing. In games such as Resident Evil Online, there may be less opportunity to use MSN (for example) while the game is playing (unless you have all your media set up close), but the phrases the characters use can be used creatively to communicate strategies to solve the level (For example: Yes! No! This way! Thank you! Help! These are only some of the verbals - there are others that can be used to convey one's message). What I've also seen is players using non-verbal cues to communicate: Standing in an area to show that the other player should go to that spot; kicking at an area at the ground to show that there is something to pick up - and so forth. How is this not social interaction and community building?

The author also talks about the decline in Arcades in public spaces:

For example, the arcade is slowly becoming a thing of the past. I can remember when arcades were staples in shopping malls. Now, the arcades there are offer scarce varieties. If it weren't for shooting, dancing, and racing, the only games to play in arcades would be the ticket-spewing carnival games...he arcade used to be to gamers what the coffee shop is to writers. When you needed a break or wanted to hang out with like-minded people, you headed to the arcade. Not only could you try out new games that more often than not were eventually ported to consoles, but you had an opportunity to meet new friends.

While we still see some arcades in our community, there certainly are fewer then before. While some of this is certainly related to at home gaming, we also have to remember how we socially construct video-game players - the teenage boy, who travels in a gamg of youth. Anyone who's been to a mall knows about the increase in mall security, and the constant surveillance of teenagers. While society will tolerate the senior mall walker, the seniors who spend endless hours networking with their friends in the mall drinking coffee or playing chess - are never challenged. It's ok for seniors to hang out at the mall, they're not threatening.

Teenagers, however - apparently are, and they are constantly asked to disperse and leave the mall. In some stores, there are limits to the amount of teens they'll allow in stores (this is especially the case in convenience stores). While I am not trying to ignore that yes - teens can be a pain in the rear-end, but to construct them as deviant and destructive in social places/spaces is problematic. Are we surprised that there are less arcades? No. Are we surprised that many teens have moved their peer cultures & networks online? Not really. Where else can they go?

Meanwhile, social interaction is limited in online gaming communities. Sure, you may meet a guy from Germany while playing Splinter Cell but can you invite that guy from Germany over to your house or to catch a movie at the multiplex? No. The relationships you build in online gaming communities are limited only to the game. Unless you are playing Splinter Cell, you will never hear from your German friend. You won't run into him at the grocery store and you probably won't compare war stories about your favorite Final Fantasy game. Chances are you will never even know his real name or any facet of his personality. When you play online you are not making friendships; you're making acquaintances.

Unfortunately I think they author is making some broad sweeping generalizations here. First, do I want to invite gamers to my house and play? Likely not, nor do I expect to meet people I game with online anywhere near my house - this is part of the appeal. But I'm not clear on why I wouldn't know anything about people I game with online. If I wanted to, I could build relationships with fellow online gamers - why not? I think the author is proposing a perspective that doesn't give the internet a lot of weight - how can this person say that the relationships I build online are ONLY or simply acquaintances? Can they take that away from me? no. We also know from past sociological research that people do not replace F2F interactions with online interaction; it's a combination of the two, one enhancing the other...

Finally, I think the author is really proposing a problematic dichotomy here - it's either online or offline; offline = good; online = bad. There's an assumption that people will only do one or the other. At this point in gaming, this is certainly not the case, if only for the reason that many games are still not available online. But to assume that online will take over offline (and that it will be a bad thing)is just incorrect. To assume that people will not, cannot or won't build relationships because of online gaming is just wrong.

While the author raises some interesting points, much of it is opinion based with little empirical support. I think this article would've been more useful if it were framed in a way that asks questions about where the gaming world is headed, and pointing out areas that we need to address; what are the implications of online gaming? what kinds of social interactions & community building are taking place in the online gaming world (or not)? We need to ask questions. We need research, not generalizations. There's too much of that already.

:: Netwoman 9:30 AM [+] ::
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GIRLS 'N' GAMES CONFERENCE

TUESDAY, May 9th, 2:30-6:00pm

EDA space www.eda.ucla.edu Streaming live
UCLA Westwood 11000 Kinross

At the wake of the world's largest trade show on electronic entertainment - where are the women and what do they want? Public conversations about girls and games, women's participation in game design and play with speakers from Europe, Asia and North America.

Games for and by Girls -- moderated by Brenda Laurel, Art Center + Jill Denner, ETR Associates
Mary Flanagan, NYU
Tracy Fullerton, USC
Nicole Pinkard, University of Michigan
Jen Sun, Numedeon Inc.

Girl Games International -- moderated by Justine Cassell, Northwestern University + Yasmin Kafai UCLA
Mimi Ito, USC
Daniel James, Three Rings Inc.
Holin Lin, National Taiwan University
TL Taylor, IT University Copenhagen

Girl Gamers -- moderated by Henry Jenkins, MIT + Carrie Heeter, Michigan State University
Betty Hayes, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Nicole Lazzaro, Xeodesign
Celia Pearce, UC Irvine
Morgan Romine, Fragdolls Ubisoft

RECEPTION to follow

For more info, go HERE.

I wish I was closer so I could go - this looks GREAT!

:: Netwoman 9:24 AM [+] ::
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LINC-ing Families

Some news from Microsoft, and their collaboration with Academics:

HCI Research "LINC-ing" the Family; Making Personal Search and
Organization Easy

One of the papers Brush co-authored for the conference, "LINC-ing" the
Family: The Participatory Design of an Inkable Family Calendar," is typical
of the work Microsoft is presenting at CHI 2006. The research was done in
collaboration with Carman Neustaedter, Ph.D., student at the University of
Calgary and Microsoft Research intern, and it received a Best of CHI
nomination from SIGCHI. It is one of three Microsoft papers nominated for
Best of CHI this year.

The LINC paper presents innovative research into a digital, inkable
calendaring system to be used in the kitchen and profiles technology
designed to help families juggle the myriad activities of everyday life --
from soccer games and piano lessons to doctor's appointments, work
schedules and more. The researchers found that coordination is not
typically done through the family calendar; rather, the family calendar is
a tool that provides family members with an awareness of activities and
changes that in turn enables coordination. Thus, digital calendars should
provide tools that enable families to use their own coordination routines
and offer the flexibility of existing paper calendars.

"A paper calendar is at the heart of many families' coordination
routines, yet once family members leave the home, the information made
available by the paper calendar is often inaccessible," Neustaedter said.
LINC brings one of the many benefits of technology into the home and unites
the flexibility of paper calendars with the ability to digitize scheduling
information. This makes the family's calendar information available from
virtually any location, be it a computer in the kitchen, a work PC, a
mobile phone or even a Web browser at the Internet cafe.

"Home technologies must seamlessly move into the home and fit into the
everyday routines that people already employ, or people will simply not use
them. This is our goal for digital family calendars," Neustaedter said.
LINC was recently deployed in four family households, two in Seattle and
two in Calgary.

I have found that families today are quite busy, and there's a clear need to find a way to organize & manage work, family, leisure/entertainment and children's activities. There's much on the go, and people are just adding more to their plates...

:: Netwoman 10:09 AM [+] ::
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Road Trip
Originally uploaded by Netwoman.

And now for something completely different...

Warm weather brings less ambition to be at the computer or playing video games (imagine that!). Flipping thru some of last years summer pics, I came across this one from a road trip to Philly - the long trek home....sun setting...no one on the road...just lost in the hum of the car and the music.

Even though I am in spending more time in my backyard, I am not without technology - I have my iPod Shuffle with my favourite songs of the week and soon my laptop, which should be back from the shop today (meaning my wireless and ethernet are working again - yay!). Part of me just wants to sit under my tree and just listen to the outdoor sounds - and sometimes I do, but losing yourself in your music under your favourite tree is a bonus. I truly am a cyborg, always with some sort of technology with me...

:: Netwoman 9:01 PM [+] ::
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Femininst Gaming Manifesto

I've been meaning to blog about this for some time, but things have just been too busy. I came across a Feminist Gaming Manifesto, written by Matt Wilson. Part one is HERE, and Part two is HERE. Here's a snip from part One - this is definitely worth a read:

I'd consider the indie gaming community, and most certainly the people I've met and whom I call my friends, to be a well-meaning, fairly liberal bunch. And I mean liberal in the sense of 'open to progress,' not just in the political sense. Even within the indie niche of an already small hobby, we can look around and say, yeah, we're mostly dudes, and most of us are prepared to say that's not a good thing. I think we're all likely to be unhappy with any evidence that suggests that we're a male majority because there are at least some women who feel unwelcome in the gaming community. I personally don't want my hobby to exclude anyone, and I would hope that you'd agree.

So what's a bunch of well-meaning guys to do about it? Why is the problem perpetuated? This is my take on what the problem is and what I plan on doing to rectify that problem. As a part of the group, I consider it my responsibility to try and effect a change.

Part 1: So what's the problem?

I was considering using big fat scary words like oppression, but I decided against it. Let's get to the point: the numbers ought to speak for themselves. If they don't, take the cases of the very few women who speak out about feeling uncomfortable or literally unwelcome as the tip of an otherwise silent iceberg. Anyone who's been involved with any kind of marketing or survey knows what it means when one person speaks up: there's 10 more who didn't.

:: Netwoman 9:55 AM [+] ::
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