[ Prev | Next | Index ]

[24 Hours of Democracy]

Democracy, Women and the Internet

Ms. Susan Simmons, Association for the Promotion and Advancement of Science
Education

The Internet, in its simplest form is a communications medium. It is a
warehouse of information from the physical world, including letters,
publications, music, video and so forth, harnessed in one electronically
accessible place, cyberspace. Through the Internet, we can interact with
family, friends and colleagues in distant communities, research a specific
topic by visiting on-line libraries and universities or peer into museums
and public organizations by visiting their on-line sites. In fact, there is
very little that we do in the electronic world that we do not already do in
the physical world. What is different however, is that we can do these
things easily, from our homes, place of work and public institutions by
using three physical objects, a computer, a modem and a telephone line. In
effect, what we are doing is bringing the world in rather than moving out
into the world.

Much of what we hear today regarding the Internet focuses on technology,
access and the numerous places we can visit. It is rare, that we discuss
styles of communication and the information we are accessing.
Communications style, or voice, and the content of the information we are
receiving are key issue for a democratic electronic society. I say this for
two reasons: 1) communication is to the Internet what a heartbeat is to
humans, it is the pulse that keeps us alive and 2) communication in North
America is gendered: women and men generally communicate in different ways,
presenting and presented as different beings through these communications.
"Research on gender and language reveals that female language strategies
invariably emulate the subordinate, non-aggressive role of women in Western
society. And, language about women does no better" (Mulvaney, 1994).

So why is it that many of us maintain the belief that the Internet, "holds
promises of a more participatory democracy"(Mulvaney, 1994). If the
physical world is gendered and for many women inequitable, then how is it
that the cyberworld is genderless and to some, seen as equitable. While the
Internet hardware and software aren’t of course gendered, the way in which
the Internet is constructed, the language we use to describe it, the
messages we communicate through it, are. The Net is unquestionably the
product of a gendered society. This paper highlights some of the issues
that have surfaced regarding women’s use of the Internet, our involvement
in it’s development and some specific actions that we can taken in order to
build an equitable electronic society.

I have divided this paper into three sections, each of which represents a
specific aspect of Internet life. First, I review the hardware component of
the technology, that is, telephone lines, modems and computers in relation
to women getting on-line. Second, I examine the experiences of women who
are currently on-line including samplings of information they have been
sent or received. Finally, I identify specific actions required by the
Internet world in order to increase women’s participation in the evolving
electronic community.

Getting On-Line--communication lines & service providers, modems and
computers

Many of today’s problematic and political Internet discussions focus on
Internet accessibility. Definitions of access range from a "hole in the
wall", where you connect your modem, to net literacy, where you know how to
use the hardware, can access the software and work with mindware (or
content). From these discussions, I have uncovered a variety of access
issues from a woman’s perspective.

First and foremost, there are three key pieces of netware that we need to
access the Internet: 1) a communications line & service provider, 2) a
modem and 3) a computer. Although these three items may change as time goes
on, in today’s world, they are the current means to achieving basic
Internet access. Associated with each of these tools is, of course, a price
tag. Resources cost money that many women don’t have. "On average, women’s
salaries are 40 percent lower than men’s, leaving women with less
disposable income for computers, modems, software, on-line services and any
additional phone charges" (Truong, 1993).

With communications lines, cost concerns revolve around consistent and
constant pricing. That is, women are not prepared to be charged by the
minute (nor do they wish to pay additional costs for accessing various
publications). Price structures needs to be consistent so women do not have
to calculate every move we make on the net in terms of cost. In a recent
survey by Interactive Publishing Alert sixty-one percent of the female
respondents polled stated they would be unwilling to pay extra to subscribe
to an on-line publication; most said they wanted it included in the price
of the on-line service they subscribe to already (Resnick, 1995). Charging
for Internet access by the minute or by each and every publication,
inhibits women’s access to the Internet. In turn, women’s abilities to
communicate technologically as effectively as men, and to freely discover
and exhibit information, are compromised. As information becomes a valued
commodity, and the Internet the means by which we obtain and sell this
commodity, women risk further marginalization if they are financially
ill-equipped to participate in global electronic communities.

Modems represent an additional economic barrier for women. Although modem
prices are decreasing with the development of newer and faster models,
there is still a cost factor involved. When the time comes to make the
decision whether to buy a modem or new clothes for the kids, chances are
woman will pick the latter. Additionally, the majority of women do not have
a great deal of disposable income, and many women, who may view modems as
toys, do not place them on the top of their disposable income shopping
list. Further, modems are getting faster, and faster modems cost more
money. A combination of increased cost for higher-end equipment and women’s
lack of financial resources hinder women from fully participating on the
Internet.

Computers represent a two-step stumbling block for women accessing the
Internet. In addition to the obvious economic barrier, there exist
socially-constructed differences in male and female attitudes toward
computers and computing technology. In general, females and males use
computers and computing in different ways and are interested in them for
different reasons. Computer interest and attitude may impact men’s and
women’s Internet usage and has most certainly affected the Internet’s
development.

Fewer women than men receive Bachelors degrees in computer science (where
many of our Internet developers first learned the tricks of the trade).
Women received 35.7% of the degrees in the field. (Frenkel, 1990) Women
represented 29.9% of the masters recipients and 14.4% of all computer
science Ph.D recipients; within a year this number declined by 3.5%
(Frenkel, 1990). Out in the work force, the statistics are no different.
The National Science Foundation "report on women and minorities, although
women represent 49% of all professionals, they make up only 30% of employed
computer scientists" (Frenkel, 1990) and at this point in time, it is the
computer scientists who are doing a great deal of work in the area of
Internet development and without a doubt they are predominately male.

Until very recently the majority of net users were people with computing
backgrounds. Interestingly, the gender gap that exists in the field of
computer science is close to that which we see in cyberspace. A recent
survey conducted by Matrix Information and Directory Services in Austin
Texas showed a 30% female Internet usership. The Graphic Visualization and
Useability Center’s 3rd WWW User Survey reported a 15.5% female World Wide
Web usership. This figure is perhaps even lower than general Internet
services such as e-mail, because of the higher-end equipment needs,
although no specific studies have been done in this area. It is also an
area where we see many Internet developers, crafting the future. In
addition, the Centre also reported a high percentage of users of both
genders with backgrounds in computing and / or education. These findings
give us insight into Internet culture and lead us to wonder if people,
women in particular, are not dialing in because they see the Internet as a
communication device for computer scientists.

That is not to say that women are not interested in nor using computers.
Look at most offices in any city in North America and chances are you will
see a computer, and behind that computer, you will see a woman, busy,
working at an automated task. "Task" is the key word. When we examine how
and why males and females use computers, a key difference in approach and
attitude becomes apparent. "While men may be passionate about computers,
women use computers as tools for solving problems (Frenkel, 1990)." In
other words when women do not see computers as efficient tools, they lose
interest. This gendered difference in approach to computer use may, in
part, explain why women dial up less often than men.

In many instances, the Internet is promoted to users as a recreational
vehicle not a tool. This view is unappealing to women for the simple reason
that many just do not have time to play. Much of the writing we read about
the Internet uses technology jargon, such as electronic highway, surfing
the net, browsers, words which can easily be associated with recreation, or
time on one’s hands. "The two commonly used metaphors for network use,
‘surfing the Internet’ and ‘cruising the information highway’, are
potentially neuter but can also easily be assigned macho overtones"
(Cunningham, 1994). Netscape has recently added a new graphic to its
netsearch page which has the picture of a racing car and reads "Test drive
a Netscape server, 60 days unlimited mileage."

Besides the view of the Internet as a recreational vehicle, the Internet
and computers are consistently associated with games. In fact, there are
few ads from service providers that do not include the word "game". For
women, who are often working and rearing children, there is little time for
game playing. This image of the technology may not be fostering women’s
appreciation for the Internet’s potential as an efficient and effective
communications tool.

It should come as no surprise to us how this view of the Internet has
evolved. Computer software designers, including Internet software designers
are predominately male and "on-line environments are largely determined by
the viewpoints of their users and programmers, still predominantly white
men" (Truong, 1993). "When a group of educators with software design
experience was asked to design software specifically for boys or for girls,
they tended to design learning tools for the girls and games for the boys.
When they were asked to design software for generic "students," they again
designed games -- exactly as though the students were boys (Huff and
Cooper, 1987)." It is not difficult to see the impact of this same
inclination on the Internet, its associated software and even the content
we see on-line. The majority of Internet developers, users and information
providers are male. What we have developed is a computer networking system
that has and is being developed, marketed and used by a majority male
audience. If we are to take full advantage of the technology available to
us we must break this cycle.

Life On-Line

If I had a dime for ever time someone told me that inequality does not
exist on-line simply because users have no physical presence, I would be a
millionaire today. The idea that a person’s physical appearance is all
there is to their gender identity is preposterous. Further, the notion that
"women’s issues" do not exist on the Internet because it is genderless is
absolutely ridiculous. Unless there is a magic equity button in the
infrastructure that I am not aware of, there is no reason for women and men
to believe that life on-line will be any different than life off-line.

Harassment

On-line life is plagued with the same social ills as off-line life. If you
are not convinced of this then why did one woman receive an untraceable
e-mail bomb containing hundreds of sexual and violent messages--the mildest
of which was Shut up, bitch, after apparently offending someone in an
Internet newsgroup (Peterson, 1995). And why are women asked questions like
"When was the last time you really enjoyed sex? Was it goooooooddd?"
(Peterson, 1995) when they join in public discussions? And what about
experiences like, "After the first time I posted to [a newsgroup] an
individual e-mailed a ‘welcome to the group.’ After a short conversation
about a political issue, I got, out of the blue, a request from him for an
exchange of nude photos (We, 1993)".

There is an on-line culture, and along with this culture there are
definitely dos and don’ts in terms of conduct. Culture is a combination of
"knowledge, beliefs, customs, and morals which is shared by members of a
society" (Karp et al., 1989). Alongside culture there are "cultural
expectations: fundamental rules in accordance with which persons normally
act" (Karp et al., 1989). The e-mail bomb recipient was punished for not
following the rules on-line. We can only hope that she did not have to pay
for every single threatening e-mail message she received and that the
senders will not harass her any further.

Howard Rheingold, author of "The Virtual Community", believes the problem
will diminish with time. "It will be regarded as uncool. There are people
who do uncool things, (but) that’s not the medium, that’s a larger social
issue" (Peterson, 1995). This argument is common within the Internet world
and in many ways is used to avoid the issues at hand. At some point, we
must recognize that the medium is a tool and can be used as a powerful
means of solving problems or as a way of perpetuating and even amplifying
them. By not addressing some of the issues that surface with the induction
of a new form of communication into society, we are at risk of perpetuating
and amplifying social ills. For women, this is threatening. Ignoring issues
never made them go away in the past, and it is highly unlikely that it will
make them go away in the future.

There are many other issues that arise for women (and men) on-line,
including how to handle pornography, children accessing certain types of
information, the lack of resources available to females and so forth. What
we need to focus on are healthy ways to debate these issues on-line and off
rather than carrying on as though they do not exist.

Solutions

The number one way in which anyone can increase women’s Internet
participation is to talk to us and find out what we need and want from
on-line services. From there, people can begin to move forward to create a
gender-friendly cyberspace. Interactive Publishing Alert recently polled a
number of women on a variety of on-line issues and came up with the
following recommendations. I have elaborated on these ideas as well as
provided concrete examples of how we can all begin to put them into
practice.

Create a (safe) sense of community: Creating a safe sense of community for
women is vital to our on-line survival. This comes as no surprise, as it is
something women and men work hard to do in the physical world. There are
two steps that the Internet community can take in order to ensure safety.
The first, is to create secure sites and services for women. This may be
done by continuing to work on software packages such as Net nanny, that
prevent children from accessing certain types of information or by creating
private, member only sites and services for women. The second, is to help
bridge the gap between the physical and the electronic worlds. Working with
computers it is often difficult to imagine how a computer could be the
pulse of a community. Women need evidence that computers are tools for
bring people together not pushing them apart. When we talk about the
Internet, let’s not speak of it as though it has a life of its own and is
driving us forward. Instead, speak of people driving communities forward
and the Internet as a vehicle for doing so.

Don’t assume that women are interested only in "women’s issues": In the
same instance, don’t assume that men are not interested in "women’s issues"
on-line. Approximately 80% of the users of the alt.feminism news groups are
men (We, 1993). Both women and men are interested in a number of services,
again, the key is to ask.

Provide a service that saves women time: One of the major barriers for
women getting on-line is time. This includes not only the time to learn how
to use the technology, but also the time to find information. If we are
going to encourage more women to use the Internet, then
saving-time-once-on-line is key. Once we have demonstrated to women that
using the Internet will save them time, they will take the initiative to
learn the technology. An example of a time-saving service, presented to me
by a colleague, is the on-line grocery flyer. Almost every day, when I
check my mail box, I find it stuffed with flyers from neighborhood grocery
stores listing all the latest sale items. It takes quite some time for me
to go through each and every flyer to figure out where I will purchase each
of the items I need. Why not put the flyers on-line, organized by item,
with a reference to where the item is on sale. It would then be much
quicker for me to figure out where I am going to buy each item. From this
Internet service, I am saving not only time, but possibly even money.

Make on-line services and publications easy to navigate: Moving from the
physical to the electronic can be a difficult transition. Don’t assume that
users can maneuver through sites without instruction. When creating a web
site, make it possible for the viewer to move through the site a number of
different ways. Users will want to follow the path that makes the most
sense to them. To be sure you are reaching all of your audiences needs,
test your web site out on women and men.

Advertise! Women need to know what’s out there: Knowing what is out there
is key. Often when you speak to someone who is new to the Internet scene,
the most challenging questions you are presented with is "What do I use it
for?" The Internet community can answer this question by naming specific
services that are available. For example, rather than say, "you can use it
to find information," try "you can find a certified and registered
baby-sitter for your kids by dialing into the local Kid-Care Center." Make
the example as concrete as possible.

Keep billing simple: What we mean by this is don’t charge us by the minute
or by the publication. Charge us a flat fee. If we are distracted by having
to calculate how much each and every minute of time costs while we are
on-line, we will not be able to enjoy our on-line experience.

Connect new users with on-line mentors: Having someone you can turn to with
questions is a fundamental part of building an on-line community. It is
precisely this exchange between people that is at the heart of all
community.

In addition to these recommendations there are a number of other ways in
which we can maximize Internet use by women and men and in effect, the
Internet’s potential. As you use the Internet, in whatever personal or
professional sphere, make sure that you use it equitably. Only in so doing
will you use it effectively.

1995 APASE, all rights reserved APASE executive director and publisher
Catherine Warren, cwarren@pinc.com Permission to reproduce excerpts must be
obtained from APASE The Association for the Promotion and Advancement of
Science Education Suite 200 - 1111 Homer Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 2Y1

Bibliography

(please note: all documents listed below were found on the Internet)

Truong, Hoai-An. Gender Issues in Online Communications, with additional
writing and editing by Gail Williams, Judi Clark and Anna Couey in
conjunction with Members of BAWiT -- Bay Area Women in Telecommunications
Version no. 4.3 Copyright 1993

Cottrell, Janet. I’m A Stranger Here Myself: A Consideration of Women in
Computing. Computing and Information Technology, 238 Waterman Building, The
University of Vermont. Burlington, VT 05405-0160. jrc@uvmvm.uvm.edu

Frenkel, Karen A. Women and computing. (includes related article on a study
of gender-related studies of computing) (Cover Story)Computer Select, April
1991 : Doc #23738 Journal: Communications of the ACM Nov 1990 v33 n11
p34(13) Full Text COPYRIGHT Association for Computing Machinery 1990.

Steen, Douglas (Dug); Wilson, Deborah; Andonian, Mari. Educators’ Use of
the Internet: A Survey - If you have any questions, please contact Dug
Steen at this address: dug@seattleu.edu

Regan Shade, Leslie. Gender Issues in Computer Networking, McGill
University, Graduate Program in Communications, Talk given at: Community
Networking: the International, Free-Net Conference, Carleton University,
Ottawa,, August 17-19, 1993: Copyright 1993 by Leslie Regan Shade.

Mulvaney, Becky . Copyright 1994 . "Gender Differences in Communication: An
Intercultural Experience". Department of Communication, Florida Atlantic
University

We, Gladys. Cross-Gender Communication in Cyberspace , A graduate research
paper done in the, Department of Communication, Simon Fraser University,
(Internet: we@sfu.ca), April 3, 1993

Koch, Melissa. No Girls Allowed, Portions Copywrite, 1995, O’Reilly and
Associates, Portions Copyright 1995, Houghton Mifflin Company

Peterson, Julie. Sex and the Cybergirl: When Mother Jones stepped out onto
the electronic superhighway, so did a few cyber pigs.

Resnick, Rosalind. What do Women Really Want (On-Line, That Is)?
Interactive publishing Alert. Executive Summary. Interactive Publishing
Alert’s 1995 Survey of Women Online.

Kaplan, Nancy and Farrell, Eva. Weavers of Webs: A Portrait of Young Women
on the Net. The Arachnet Electronic Journal on Virtual Culture

Cunningham, Sally Jo. Guidelines for an introduction to networking: a
review of the literature. The Arachnet Electronic Journal on Virtual
Culture. July 26, 1994 Volume 2 Issue 3. Dept. of Computer Science.
University of Waikato .Hamilton, New Zealand sallyjo@waikato.ac.nz

Balka, Ellen & Doucette, Laurel. THE ACCESSIBILITY OF COMPUTERS TO
ORGANIZATIONS SERVING WOMEN IN THE PROVINCE OF NEWFOUNDLAND: PRELIMINARY
STUDY RESULTS. The Arachnet Electronic Journal on Virtual Culture. July 26,
1994 Volume 2 Issue 3. Women’s Studies Programme,. Memorial University of
Newfoundland .ebalka@kean.ucs.mun.ca

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Susan Simmons at ssimmons@direct.ca
Essay Copyright Susan Simmons - 1996

For more essays
For more information - 24 Hours of Democracy

[Previous]
[Previous]
[Image] E-mail: Thea Partridge
        Copyright C.T.Partridge - 1996