Current Shareware 1994 January/SHAR194.ISO/networks/lr_shade.zip/GENDER.TXT

Text File | 1993-08-27 | 46KB | 893 lines

Gender Issues in Computer Networking

Leslie Regan Shade
McGill University
Graduate Program in Communications
shade#ice.cc.mcgill.ca
shade#well.sf.ca.us
[e-mail]

Talk given at: Community Networking: the International Free-Net
Conference Carleton University, Ottawa, CANADA, August 17-19, 1993

It seems that the topic of gender and computer networking is the
flavour of the month.  When I proposed this talk to Dave Sutherland
in June, I was already working on a collaborative paper with Gladys
We, a master's student in Communications at  Simon Fraser
University and the Publications Coordinator of the Vancouver
Free-Net, on gender issues in networking, for the _Internet
Business Journal_.Gladys had already co-written a similar article
for _Kinesis_, a Canadian feminist paper.  Later, I discovered that
Stephanie Brail, a free-lance journalist, was writing an article on
women and networking for _On The Issues_, a U.S.-based women's
magazine.  Very soon thereafter, e-mail to Anita Borg, "keeper" of
the Systers mailing list, and also a Consultant Engineer at Digital
Equipment Corporation's (DEC) Network Systems Laboratory in Palo
Alto revealed that she was preparing a talk on gender issues for
Interval Research in the Bay Area.

Six months ago, at the Computers, Freedom and Privacy_ conference
held in the Bay Area, a panel was devoted to gender issues in
computing and telecommunications.  It was organized by BAWIT--Bay
Area Women in Telecommunications, a working group sponsored by the
Berkeley, California chapter of Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility. As a member of BAWIT--although never IRL (in real
life) I commented on their paper and shared some bibliographic
sources.

And, in the past year, many academic articles on various facets of
gender and networking have been published, as well as a book edited
by Cheris Kramarae and Jeanie Taylor of the University of Illinois
at Champagne-Urbana, entitled Women, Information Technology, and
Scholarship. Other happenings  related to gender and computer
networking included an electronic conference, "The Electronic
Salon", devoted to gender issues in "technoculture", sponsored by
Lewis & Clark College in April of 1992. [Electronic Salon]  As
well, many lists (including Computers &  Academic Freedom, Gender,
Communet, and various UseNet groups)  have had on-going discussions
about various aspects  of gender issues--related to interpersonal
communication in computer-mediated- communication (CMC), sexual
harassment, access and representation.  Also, many conferences and
lists related to women's issues have been started or are in the
formative stages.

Popular culture has also been reflecting women networking. In last
years film, "Single White Female", the character played by Bridget
Fonda is tied up by her lunatic roommate, and she makes a desperate
call for help by logging on to Compuserve.  Sci-fi books with
technologically savvy women are more common.  In Pad Cadigan's
_Synners_, Gina and Sam are the two main hacker characters in the
Post-millennium L.A. holocaust landscape, where, by the end of the
novel, they both find themselves literally jacked into the network.
[Cadigan] Bruce Sterling's _Islands in the Net_ featured the
post-millennium super-mom-heroine, Laura Webster, fighting data
pirates, high-tech voodoo, and new-age mercenaries. [Sterling] And,
Neal Stephenson's _Snow Crash_ features Juanita Marquez, the "face
department" for Black Sun System's avatars. [Stephenson]

This summer the popular media has run stories on two incidents
related to computer networking and gender.  Both _Time_ magazine
and _The Washington Post_ covered "The Case of the Cybercad", or
the "on-line Lothario" on the WELL (a private conferencing system
running out of the Bay Area).  This case involved a
WELLbeing--dubbed Mr. X--who was romancing several different
WELLbeing women at the same time; the women involved found out; and
through  the WELL's private women-only conference space, WOW (Women
on the WELL), decided to "out" the man in a more public conference
area on the WELL (although not revealing his name).  Unfortunately,
the _Time_ article erroneously dismissed the WELL as a sort  of
"single's bar scene"; the more perceptive _Washington Post_ article
by John Schwartz analyzed the incident as a test case for the new
online terrain of social interactions: "Anthropologists and
sociologists too, still are wondering what the lowly modem has
wrought. The ability to use our computers to reach out around the
world hasn't just revolutionized computing--it's creating new forms
of social  interaction that appear and evolve before the academics
can get their pipes lit". [Schwartz]

Earlier this month U.S.A. Today featured a story on:  "High-Tech
Harassment... sexual harassment is making inroads in cyberspace as
female users increasingly report instances of lewd messages,
suggestive graphics or even electronic stalking over computer
networks. Most reported incidents have been at universities..."
(U.S. A. Today)

Today, I will discuss some of the key issues and controversies that
have arisen regarding gender and computer networking, including
participation of women in computer science,  participation of women
in networking, issues of access to networking, social interactions,
pornography, and the use of networking by women.  I will summarize
by suggesting possible strategies and policies that community
networks can adopt in order to ensure that women will be equitably
represented.

Participation of Women in Computer Science

The statistics for women in the computer science field are
dismal,revealing that only a small percentage of computer
scientists and computer professionals are female. In the most
recent years for which statistics are available, women received a
third of the bachelor's degrees in computer science, 27% of
master's degrees, and 13% of PhDs. Women comprise a mere 7.8% of
computer science and computer engineering faculties, and only 2.7%
of these are tenured. (Frenkel 1990, 38). Put another way, "92% of
CS and engineering faculty -- and 97% of the tenured faculty--are
male. And about one-third of the computer science departments
polled employ no women faculty at all" [Cottrell, 1992].

These figures aren't surprising given the early stereotyping  of
toys for boys and girls: Transformers for boys and Math-Phobia
Barbie for girls. Videogames and educational software are replete
with aggressive metaphors:guns, missiles, spaceships, and  blasting
asteroids, which typically don't appeal to girls. Witness the very
recent controversy over Sega's new game,entitled "Night Trap," in
which "nameless attackers dressed in black stalk scantily clad
teen-age girls through a large house.  The girls are portrayed as
powerless to defend themselves and, unless rescued by the player,
are murdered" [Langberg, 1993].

As well, the young girl who is an avid computerist might later
encounter in her professional career a masculine "locker-room
environment" in workplaces, technical conferences, and computer
trade shows which can be professionally demeaning. Ellen Spertus
[1991] described the biases that women face in pursuing careers in
computer science and how they deal with them. She solicited remarks
on the net from female (and male) students, faculty, and
professionals involved in computer science and engineering, and
compiled these frank anecdotes about job discrimination and sexist
attitudes in the classroom into a well-organized and thoughtful
overview of recommendations and policies that can be implemented to
make the world of computer science more hospitable towards women.
These include: not tolerating sexual harassment; providing
mentoring opportunities for women students; and making the
workplace, both corporate and academic, accommodate the needs of
career and children.

Janet Cottrell [1992] provides some useful suggestions to make the
university computing environment more hospitable towards women,
such as: making sure the computing facilities are physically safe;
ensuring that women are well-represented in computing staff; making
sure that pornographic images are not allowed as background screens
in labs and offices; making sure that public labs are accessible
for the non-aggressive student;and providing individualized
learning resources, such as self-paced online or video training
tools for students who may feel uncomfortable in large classes.

Participation of women in networking

As we all know, the Internet is expanding at an explosive rate.
1992 statistics put the Internet as extending to over 50 countries
on all seven continents, with approximately 5-10 million people
using it, and with as many as 15 million people communicating
between the Internet and other interconnecting networks. [Hart, et.
al] These figures seem conservative now.  Many private
conferencing systems, such as the WELL, and ECHO (New York City's
"East Coast Hang-Out") now have  Internet access.   Commercial IP
network connectivity  providers are mushrooming, provided by
companies such as Advanced Network and Services (ANS), CO+RE
(Commercial plus Research and Education), and the CIX (Commercial
Internet Exchange) members--AlterNet, PSINet, CERFnet, and
Sprintnet. And, Free-Nets in various cities internationally  have
started up or are in their formative stages--there are
approximately 45 free-net organizing committees around the world.
There are at least 11 free-nets in the U.S., with maybe more in the
formative stages; 2 in Canada, with 8 others in the formative
stages; and 1 in New Zealand.

But does this rapidly expanding user base include an equal
proportion of men and women? Probably not.  The breakdown of gender
usage on various networks is difficult to gauge, but it is safe to
say that women are not very well represented on most networks.
This low visibility is not surprising, given that women are still
under-represented in almost every aspect of computer culture,  from
programming,  to product design, to everyday use.

Access to computer networking for women involves access to both the
hardware and the software to support communications. Professional
women who are in the academic or corporate mainstream where
Internet costs are basically "invisible" for them can take
advantage of the Internet.  Financially-advantaged women can
partake of the many private online services, such as Prodigy,
Delphi, American Online, Compuserve,  ECHO, and the WELL. On-line
costs average 10-20$ month, plus hourly connect fees of 2-$5/hour.
However, for those women (and other people) that can't afford
networking costs--or who don't own a computer and modem- the
introduction of free-nets is fortuitous.

The placement of computers in public spaces, such as libraries and
various community centres, would allow those that don't own
personal computers to access community networks and partake of
local resources, and from there, telnet out into the broader
Internet world. The  penetration of personal computers into the
average household, though, isn't as high as telecom visionaries
thought it would be. Free-net sponsored workshops on purchasing
used or new computers, or perhaps the donation of used or outmoded
equipment from computer manufacturers, might be a good strategy for
increasing domestic placement of pc's.

As well, women must have access to the training that will support
such communication, and access to significant and relevant
resources that can support their research or personal needs.
Hands-on,  face-2-face training is an option, as well as online
"navigating the net" workshops.   Novice network users--both men
and women--often find that they are overwhelmed by the mountains of
text available on the Internet. And, since bibliographic control of
the Internet is still in the developmental stages, it is frequently
quite difficult to become familiar with the tools.

Fortunately, however, several tools have been developed and are
being improved, which can aid in accessing the Internet bounty.
These include Archie, a system for locating files (software
programs, data, or text files) that are publically available via
anonymous FTP; and menu-based tools such as Gopher, WAIS, Veronica,
and the World-Wide Web (WWW).

As was mentioned before, the breakdown of gender usage on networks
is difficult to gauge, and depends on the network. However, at the
low end, women are  assumed to hover around 10-15% of the audience.
For instance,  the contribution of women to UseNet newsgroups is
typically not very high, but the actual numbers are subject  to
debate. In the unmoderated feminist newsgroups (alt.feminism and
soc.women), approximately 80% of the messages are posted by men.
In the moderated feminist group (soc. feminism), there is usually
about a 50/50 balance between women and men.

But, a  recent post to soc.women on women's participation cited two
differing figures: one reader said that after wading through 130
articles and deleting all those from men, she was left with only 12
posts from women.  Another reader countered by saying that she
(he?) counted more posts by women than men: after eliminating a ll
the  cross-posts out of a total of  568 articles available on her
node, 62 were left;  and of that number, 44 were from women and 18
from men (Article 58511, soc.women, Aug. 10, 1993).

SeniorNet, a consumer-oriented online service available on American
OnLine, that caters to the "mature market",  reports that their
audience mix is 51% female, 49% male. Contrast this gender-balance
to other services such as CompuServe, GEnie. and Prodigy, where
between 60-90% of the customers are male [Arlen, 6]   How is
SeniorNet attracting so many women?

Obviously, different networks will attract different audiences. The
WELL, from my experience there, seems to have a fairly high ratio
of female WELLbeings. ECHO, (the East Coast Hang Out) was started
by a woman, Stacey Horn.  There  females comprise 57% of the
audience, and half of the conference hosts are women.  Horn
actively recruits and encourages women to get on ECHO.  She offered
the first year of ECHO free to women, with the second year at
reduced rates.  She's started  ECHO School, which helps women out
technically; and a Mentoring Program for women, which consists of
a group of women who have volunteered to help new women "get
acclimated to cyberspace" (personal correspondence, August 1,
1993).

And, when women participate in networks, are there gender
differences between  the way men and women talk and participate?
Susan Herring at the University of Texas at Arlington analyzed male
and female participation in two academic electronic lists, Linguist
(devoted to the discussion of linguistics-related issues) and
Megabyte University (MBU) (devoted to the discussion of computers
and writing).  She concluded that "male and female academic
professionals do not participate equally in academic CMC.  Rather,
a small male minority dominates the discourse both in terms  of
amount of talk, and rhetorically, through self-promotional and
adversarial strategies.  Moreover, when women do attempt to
participate on a more equal basis, they risk being actively
censored by the reactions of men who either ignore them or attempt
to delegitimize their contributions.  Because of social
conditioning that makes women uncomfortable with direct conflict,
women tend to be more intimidated by these practices and to avoid
participating as a result....rather than being democratic, academic
CMC is power-based and hierarchical.  This state of affairs cannot
however be attributed to the influence of omputer communication
technology; rather, it continues pre-existing patterns of hierarchy
and male dominance in academia more generally, and in society as a
whole" [Herring]

Kathleen Michel of Miami University investigated gender differences
in KIDCAFE, a networking project that links children around the
world.  Michel was interested in finding out if boys and girls
talked to each other more often using CMC, and, if the medium let
them understand each other better. In particular, she sought to
apply linguist  Deborah Tannen's theories of the gender differences
in conversational styles-- the "rapport" (cooperative, intimate
style) versus "report" (information giving)  styles of talk.
(Generally speaking, more women engage in the "rapport" style; more
men the "report" style).  She concluded that, although boys and
girls have different conversational patterns, the styles are not as
discrepant as Tannen would indicate. CMC can have very positive
effects for school children, she observed: "By linking students to
other peers around the world through a computer network, schools
can positively effect the ways in which male and females converse,
and can open up more opportunities for cross-gender
communication...on-line , social status and gender become less
obvious differences and extend the boundaries of the student's
community. A student doesn't have to break into a clique or take
social risks in order to hold a conversation with someone she or he
normally would not talk to". [Michel]

Social Interactions

Some of you might have seen a recent Peter Steiner cartoon in The
New Yorker magazine (July 5, 1993, p. 61).  In it, a dog is sitting
at a computer saying to his dog-friend, "On the Internet, nobody
knows you're a dog".

Unfortunately, as many women have found  out, cyberspace is not a
gender-free space.  One of the characteristics of
computer-mediated-communication (CMC) is its lack of easy social
contextualization.  Kiesler at. al. have noted that CMC neutralizes
such social status clues as appearance, voice, organizational
hierarchy, and often gender--this of course depends on the handle
used, mailing address, etc. Despite the relative anonymity of CMC,
though, some women report that they are often harassed and
intimidated from posting and participating on conferences or via
e-mail. They often choose gender-neutral handles, and prefer to
post in women-only conferences or mailing lists.

Does the relative anonymity of the electronic medium encourage
emotive behavior--flaming--and sometimes abusive language? What
constitutes harassment, or sexual harassment, on the net? Is it
possible to generalize about behavior on the net, or do we need to
consider the networking context--i.e, UseNet (its anarchy seems to
encourage a fair amount of crankiness and  flame-fests, which can
contribute to both its charm and irritability), versus
community-based free-nets, or  private commercial networks?

Gladys We of Simon Fraser University conducted a research project
into how men and women felt about communicating online, versus
face-2-face. She sent a questionnaire to various UseNet newsgroups
and an eclectic range of mailing lists. She concluded that: "On the
surface, it would seem that most people feel that cyberspace tends
to be friendly to women.  It allows women to adopt more active
personas, and to speak on a 'level-playing field' reduced of gender
cues. "  Several respondents to Gladys' survey sent her anecdotes
about meeting and falling in love online.  But, she also heard from
others who were harassed online: "...as one man said, 'try using a
woman's handle online someday and see how many 'hello's' you get as
compared to your regular handle (if you're a male, of
course!)...one woman reported, 'in response  to my postings he sent
e-mail calling me 'hairly legged feminazi'...and did lots of
innuendos about the probable deficits in my personal life". (We)

The  issue of sexual harassment on the net is controversial. Many
women complain that various newsgroups and networking environments
are hostile towards women.  Net.sleazing and "trolling for babes"
do exist on some networks. Harassment can take many forms, and it
has occurred in both public forums and in private e-mail.  It can
be subtle, such as personal questions directed to a woman; or
blatant, such as women receiving sexual propositions via e-mail.

The legal status of online harassment is murky, as case law has not
been established for many situations.  For instance, can the
typical UseNet commentary be classified as harassment? Sexual
harassment guidelines could be incorporated into general University
computing policies,  and, as Kramarae and Taylor suggest, could
include clarification of what constitutes offensive messages and
provide a grievance procedure for complaints of sexual harassment.
[Kramarae, Taylor]  An article in _Macweek_, a computer industry
publication, suggested that company managers should incorporate
online harassment into anti-harassment policies. [Erlich]

Education and recognition of the issues surrounding online
harassment is a  preventative measure we can take now. Cyberion
City at MIT is a MUSE-role- playing game which educates its users
by telling them: "...unwanted advances of hostile or forward nature
are unacceptable...if you think someone might be interested in
developing a closer personal relationship, it is your
responsibility to make absolutely sure of this before saying or
doing anything that would be considered inappropriate in real
life...such inappropriate behavior includes, but is not limited to,
suggestive remarks; violation of the other person's space; forward,
intimate or suggestive conduct". [as quoted in Truong]

The idea of women-only lists and conferences has been suggested as
a way to counteract harassment and monopolization of postings by
men.  Of course, given the relative insecurity of electronic
identity, and the fact that electronic personas can be easily
spoofed, such segregation is difficult to control. Several
women-only conferences exist, such as WOW--Women on the
Well--(there is also MOW--Men on the WELL); and  Systers, a
private, unmoderated, mailing list for female computer
professionals in the commercial, academic, and government world,
as well as female graduate and undergraduate computer science and
computer engineering students. Anita Borg, the founder and
moderator of Systers, has often been asked to justify the exclusion
of men from her list, particularly given that the list is not
limited solely to discussions of women's issues, but deals in
professional and technical concerns.   She stated the following
points in her position paper for the "Gender Issues in Computers
and Telecommunications" panel at the _Computers, Freedom, and
Privacy_ conference: Since women in computer sciences are
geographically dispersed and a "frequently individually isolated
minority", they rarely have the chance to interact professionally
with each other.  The different conversational styles of men and
women prohibits an egalitarian nature. An all-female forum allows
for mentoring for CS women. And, "the likelihood that an
underpowered minority is keeping otherwise inaccessible information
from the large empowered majority...seems small indeed". [Borg]

Gender-swapping is a popular pastime on some network interactions.
Amy  Bruckman at MIT has been conducting research on social
interactions in text-based virtual reality environments on the
Internet called MUDS (multi-user  domains).  Female MUDders (of
which there are many) report that they are often "besieged with
attention", including unwanted sexual advances. As Bruckman writes,
"many people, both male and female, enjoy the attention paid to
female characters.  Male players will often log on as female
characters and behave suggestively, further encouraging sexual
advances.  Pavel Curtis has noted that the most promiscuous and
sexually aggressive women are usually played by men.  If you meet
a character named Fabulous HotBabe, she is almost certainly a he in
real life". [Bruckman, Curtis]

In 1985 Lindsy Van Gelder published her almost "classic" tale  in
_Ms._ magazine about the case of "Joan".  Joan" was a disabled
single older woman who appeared on Compuserve's "Between the Sexes"
conference.  She developed intimate relationships with other women,
although never face-2-face. After several years, "Joan" was
discovered to be a middle-aged male psychiatrist, "Alex". Such
online "cross-dressing" shook up the many women and men who had
"encountered" Joan throughout the years, and led many to be more
suspicious and wary of computerized interactions..

Pornography

The  ethical uses of computers and computer networks is a
contentious and unresolved area, both legally and socially. There
are no universal standards of governance, and it seems unlikely and
quite preposterous that such a consensus could ever be  reached,
given both the evolving technological infrastructure, types of
various information carriers and providers, and variety of
nationalistic notions of legal jurisprudence.

Sexual imagery and pornographic content on the nets is one of these
debatable arenas.  How, exactly, does one define computer
pornography and "offensive" material on networks?  In this last
year alone many debates have surfaced within various universities
in North America and internationally as to whether or not it is
appropriate to censor the alt.sex hierarchy within UseNet.  Where
can one draw the line between freedom of speech and mere
censorship?  Are there any links between computer pornography,
sexual harassment, and sexual violence? Are such "questionable"
UseNet newsgroups a "proper" use of University computing
facilities? Should community networks provide an "on-ramp" to these
newsgroups? Should minors be allowed access to these newsgroups;
or, put another way, how can you *not* prevent minors from
accessing these newsgroups?   Should academic institutions, or
community networks "police" UseNet bulletin board postings and
newsgroups based on content, such as sexual explicitness (which
could be in perceived violation of the law) without consulting the
user community?  What kinds of mechanisms should be instituted, if
at all, to judge the acceptability of the contents of certain
newsgroups?  What legal rights regarding free speech and privacy
should network users be entitled to?

Use of Networks By Women

Despite some of the hazards and irritation that some women have
encountered online, access to networking has also encouraged a
wealth of surprising uses for women. I think it's important to
highlight some of the more positive benefits of computer networking
for women, because it seems that any media coverage of networking
tends to zoom in on the more salacious and sensationalistic
aspects.

Networking has been increasingly recognized by female scholars as
being a tool for feminist empowerment, and many women have taken to
the net to create, as  Ebben and Kramarae call it, "a cyberspace of
our own".  There are now many UseNet newsgroups and lists that
cater to the research needs of women scholars, from MEFEM, a list
for female medievalists; to WISENET, a list for women in science
and engineering; to the South Asian Women's List; to WMST-L, the
Women's Studies List. [see Appendix for list of resources]

Several grassroots networking projects have also benefited women.
Big Sky Telegraph, a computerized BBS system  in Montana, has been
used to  connect together the geographically dispersed directors of
the various Montana Women's Centers. BST has also been used to
provide computer training to homebound women.  [Odasz]

Mexican women's groups--through the Institute for Global
Communications (IGC) networks--have found that networking has
facilitated their work in fighting NAFTA. For instance, Mujer a
Mujer/Woman to Woman, based in Mexico City, has found networking to
be indispensable in coordinating the Tri-National Working Women's
Conference on NAFTA, the reports of which were posted online for
the entire community to read. [Frederick]

One of the biggest challenges is widening access to the net for
women that aren't institutionally affiliated, whether in industry
or academia,  where they purportedly have "ready" access to both
the hardware and software, and technical expertise, to successfully
learn how to navigate the net.

Ellen Balka of Memorial University at Newfoundland has written that
"perhaps the greatest issue faced by the women's movement with
respect to the adoption of computer networking technology is
access...access to communication constraints imposed by the
infrastructure of data lines and value-added carriers...access to
the location of networks and terminals: whether they are located in
a public  place and available for use free of charge as Community
Memory terminals were, or whether they are located in a private
home or office...and access to the knowledge and related support
mechanisms that will allow a novice user to successfully contact a
computer network". [Balka]

As well, it is important  to develop resources and tools that
address the needs of various women.   WON--the Women's Online
Network that is an off-shoot of ECHO, is an online advocacy and
action  group for women.  It is currently being revamped, and will
be sponsored by a variety of U.S. women's groups, including Ms. ,
WAC, WHAM!,  and WAA.   It is certainly not inconceivable that the
same sort of collaboration could be fostered across Canada amongst
various women's groups using community networks as the anchor.

Community networks are well situated to increase the participation
and use of networks by women.  It is difficult to speak in
generalities about how to do this, since such recruitment tends to
be  community-specific.  Vancouver's Free-Net, for instance, has
established a "Task Force for Equal Access",  whose role will be to
approach community organizations that don't have ready access to
computers and help them get the computers and training to get
online. As well, the committee will try to get donations of
computers for placement in various community centres, such as
senior citizens centres, women's centres, etc.

A mentoring program, such as that  set up by Stacey Horn of ECHO,
where volunteers help women get online is also a good strategy.
Perhaps "aggressiveness training" could become one of the
components here. Online navigating-the-net programs can encourage
people to explore the wider world of the Internet. Developing
programs and services for children is also necessary--and a mentor
program designed for young girls might, in particular,  encourage
more of them to enter the CS field.  It is not unimaginable, for
instance, to envision kids newsgroups, such as  kids.ninjas;
kids.dinosaurs, kids.yucky-parents, kids.knock-knock-jokes, and
kids.barbie.hollywood-hair.

This forthcoming November, CRIAW (the Canadian Research Institute
for the Advancement of Women) will publish a handbook written by
Ellen Balka on community networking for women.  Chapters will be
devoted to networking history, women's use of nets,  access issues,
design, and  organizational needs.

In a  recent article in _Technology Review_, Langdon Winner quotes
Richard Civille, director of the Washington office of the Center
for Civic Networking. Civille suggests "earmarking 1 percent of the
$350-million a year that President Clinton wants to spend on
'community development banks' for building civic networks.  The
Census Bureau could survey the nation's computer owners to see how
they use online services.  Some fraction of the federal budget for
an information infrastructure could go to study information
equity--just as the Human Genome Project sets aside 5% of its
appropriation to explore ethical issues". [Winner]

A similar strategy could apply to CANARIE, the Canadian Network for
the Advancement of Research, Industry, and Education, given the
government's recent commitment to invest $26-million for the first
phase of the project. With the increasingly  swift
commercialization of the Internet (a recent news blurb reported
that more than 54 Internet trademarks were pending at the U.S.
Patent & Trademark Office--see _The Internet Letter_)  it is vital
that information equity be a paramount policy consideration, and it
seems that community networks will be one of the venues for
fostering this.

Conclusion

As Gladys We and I wrote, "the new 'electronic frontier' is
unfortunately still a very masculine dominated space, one in which
many women may feel uncomfortable at the best of times. Ensuring
equitable gender access to the Internet should be a prerogative of
this information age.  This means that we must pay close attention
to the metaphors that people will use and see in this new world, so
that they won't exclude women, or include them in undesirable ways.
It means making the Internet easily accessible to all people;
making networking an attractive communications tool for women, by
creating tangible and viable information and resources; and by
encouraging young girls and women to become involved in the
development and deployment of the technology.  It also means
creating a friendly online environment, one that allows women to
speak their thoughts without having to hide their gender.  The
world of cyberspace is one which is being shaped daily by the
millions of interactions on it, and women can contribute much to
these exchanges." [Shade, We].


References

[Arlen]  Arlen, Gary (1991).  "SeniorNet Services: toward a new
electronic environment for seniors".  Report of a conference held
by The Aspen Institute's Communications and Society Program in
Queenstown. MD, April 8-10, 1991.

[Balka]  Balka, Ellen. (1993, February).  "Women's access to
on-line discussions about feminism".  _Electronic Journal of
Communications/La revue electronique de communication_ v.3, n.1.
{to retrieve file send command: send balka v3n193 to
[e-mail] (bitnet) or [e-mail]
(Internet)

[Borg]  Borg, Anita.  (1993).  "The rationale for a closed
electronic forum". Position paper for "Gender Issues in Computers
and Telecommunications" panel delivered to  _Third Conference on
Computers, Freedom, and Privacy_,  Burlingame, CA, March 1993.

[Bruckman]  Bruckman, Amy.  (1993).  "Gender swapping on the
Internet".  [available via anonymous FTP from media.mit.edu in
pub/MediaMOO/Papers:gender swapping.{ps,rtf,Bin}]

[Cadigan] Cadigan, Pat.  (1991). _Synners_ .  N.Y.: Bantam Books.

[Cottrell] Cottrell, Janet.( 1992). "I'm a Stranger here Myself: A
consideration of women in computing." In _Learning From the Past,
Stepping into the Future_, the Proceedings of the 1992 ACM SIGUCCS
User Services Conference, November 8-11,1992, Cleveland, OH. New
York: The Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 71-76.

[Curtis]  [Curtis, Pavel. (1992). "MUDding: social phenomena in
text-based virtual realities". Proceedings of DIAC 92. [Available
via anonymous FTP from parcftp.xerox.comj in pub/MOO/papers/DIAC92
{ps,txt}].

[Ebben, Kramarae] Ebben,  Maureen; Kramarae, Cheris.  (1993).
"Women and Information technologies: creating a cyberspace of our
own", pp.15-27 in  _Women, Information Technology, & Scholarship_,
ed. Taylor, Kramarae, Ebben. Urbana, Il: WITS Colloquium. Center
for Advanced Study.

[Electronic Salon] Electronic Salon papers are available via
anonymous FTP at lclark.edu in gender directory]

[Erlich]  Erlich, Reese, (1992, December 14) "Sexual harassment an
issue on the online frontier". _MacWeek_:20-21.

[Frederick] Frederick, Howard H. (1993, March). _North American NGO
Computer Networking on Trade and Immigration:  Computer
Communications in Cross-Border Coalition Building_.  DRU-234-FF
(draft), RAND, Santa Monica, California.

[Frenkel] Frenkel, Karen A. 1990. "Women & Computing".
Communications of the ACM _33(11): 34-46.

[Hart, et.al.]  Hart, Jeffrey A., Robert R. Reed, and Francois Bar.
(1992, November).  "The building of the Internet: implications for
the future of broadband networks". Telecommunications
Policy_:666-689.

[Herring]  Herring, Susan C. (1993).  "Gender and democracy in
computer-mediated communication".  _Electronic Journal of
Communication_, v.3, n.2.

[Internet Letter ]  "Companies rush to secure Internet trademarks".
(1993, October). _The Internet Letter_, v.1, n.1.  {A Net Week Inc.
publication}

[Kiesler, et.al.]  Kiesler, Sara; Siegel, J.; McGuire, T.W. (1984).
"Social psychological aspects of computer-mediated communication".
_American Psychologist_ v.39: 1123-1134; also in _Computerization
and Controversy: value conflicts and social choices_, ed. Charles
Dunlop and Rob Kling. Academic Press, 1991: 330-349.

[Kramarae, Taylor] Kramarae, Cheris; H. Jeanie Taylor. (1993).
"Women and men on electronic networks: a conversation or a
monologue?", p. 52-61 in _Women, Information Technology, &
Scholarship_. Urbana, Illinois: Center for Advanced Study, Univ. of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

[Langberg] Langberg, Mike. (1993, May 25). "Sega plans first
video-game rating system". _San Jose Mercury News_.

[Michel] Michel, Kathleen. (1992).  "Gender differences in
computer-mediated conversations".  [available via KIDLINK]

[Odasz]  Odasz, Frank. (1991, Summer).  "Big Sky Telegraph", _Whole
Earth Review_: 32-35.

[Spertus] Spertus, Ellen. "Why are There so Few Female Computer
Scientists?" Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT, 1991.
[available via anonymous FTP from ftp.ai.mit.edu in pub/ellens/mget
womcs*.ps]

[Shade, We]  Shade, Leslie Regan; Gladys We. (1993). "Gender issues
and networking" Forthcoming in _The Internet Business Journal_.

[Stephenson]  Stephenson, Neal. (1992).  _Snow Crash_.  N.Y.:
Bantam Books.

[Sterling] Sterling, Bruce.  (1988).  _Islands in the Net_. N.Y.:
Ace Books.

[Tannen]  Tannen, Deborah. (1990).  _You Just Don't Understand_.
N.Y.:Ballantine.

[Truong] Truong, Hoai-An.  (1993, March). "Gender Issues in Online
Communication".  Paper Presented at _Third  Conference on
Computers, Freedom, and Privacy_,  Burlingame, CA, March 1993.  [In
conjunction with BAWIT-Bay Area Women in Telecommunications]
[Available via ftp to ftp.cpsr.org: CD: Gender]

[U.S.A. Today]  _U.S.A. Today_ (1993, August 6). "High Tech
Harassment": B1.

[Van Gelder] Van Gelder, Lindsy. (1991).  "The strange case of the
electronic lover", in _Computerization and Controversy: value
conflicts and social choices_, ed. Charles Dunlop and Rob Kling.
Academic Press: 364-375.

[We]  We, Gladys.  (1993) "Cross-gender communication in
cyberspace". Unpublished ms., Simon Fraser University. [avail..
[e-mail]]

[Winner]  Winner, Langdon.  (1993, August/September). "Beyond
Inter-Passive Media".  _Technology Review_ : 69.

***************************************
APPENDIX: CONFERENCES AND LISTS

BIFEM-L: moderated list for women only.  Its purpose is to provide
a safe space primarily for bisexual women. Subscription requests:
LISTSERV#BROWNVM (Bitnet) or [e-mail] (Internet).

ECHO: East Coast Hang Out. Subscription requests: [e-mail]

EDUCOM-W: Moderated list for issues of technology and education
that are of interest to women. Subscription requests:
LISTSERV#BITNIC (Bitnet), or [e-mail] (Internet).

FEMAIL: For feminists around the world. Open to both men and women.
Subscription requests to:
[e-mail] (Internet).

FEMECON-L: List for feminist economists.
Subscription requests: [e-mail] (Internet).

FEMINISM-DIGEST:  Digest form of soc.feminism available via email.
Subscription requests: [e-mail] (Internet) or
FEMINISM-DIGEST%NCAR.UCAR.EDU@NCARIO (Bitnet).

FEMINIST( owned by the Feminist Task Force of the American Library
Association).   Issues including sexism in libraries and
librarianship; pornography and censorship in libraries, and racism
and  ethnic diversity in librarianship.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV#MITVMA (Bitnet) or
[e-mail] (Internet).

FEMISA: Discussion list re:  feminism, gender, women and
international relations.
Subscription requests: [e-mail] (Internet).

FEMREL-L : Women and religion and feminist theology.
Subscription requests:  LISTSERV@MIZZOU1 (Bitnet).

FIST (Feminism in/and Science and Technology): Unmoderated list for
discussion of feminism and science and technology.
Subscription requests: [e-mail] (Internet).

GAYNET:  list focusing on gay and lesbian concerns on college
campuses.
Subscription messages should be sent to
[e-mail] (Internet).

GENDER: Moderated list devoted to issues re: gender and
communication.
Subscription requests to:  COMSERVE#RPITSVM (Bitnet) or
[e-mail] (Internet).

GEGSTAFF: Discussion of sexuality and gender in geography,
Subscription requests: [e-mail] (Internet) or
LISTERV@UKCC.

GLB-NEWS: "read-only depository of information for gay, lesbian,
bisexual, transsexual, transgender, and sympathetic persons."
Subscription requests:  LISTSERV#BROWNVM (Bitnet) or
[e-mail] (Internet).

GEOGFEM: Gender issues in geography.
Subscription requests: [e-mail] (Internet) or
LISTSERV@UKCC.

HELWA-LL List for Malaysian women in the U.S. and Canada.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@PSUVM (Bitnet).

KOL-ISHA:  Moderated list for halachic questions and issues
concerning women's roles in Judaism.
Subscription requests: [e-mail] (Internet).

LIS:  Lesbians in Science and is a list for lesbians in industry,
universities, government labs, etc.
Subscription requests: [e-mail]; send postings to
[e-mail].

MAIL-MEN: forum for discussion of men's issues. Subscription
requests: [e-mail] (Internet).

MEDFEM-L:  List for feminist medievalists.
Subscription requests to:LISTSERV#INDYCMS (Bitnet) or
[e-mail] (Internet).

NOGLSTP: The National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists
and Technical Professionals.
Subscription requests to [e-mail].

PRO-FEMINIST MEN'S ISSUES MAILING LIST: for both men and women.
Subscription requests: [e-mail] (Internet).

SAPPHO:  forum and support group for gay and bisexual women.
Membership is open to all women and is limited to women.
Subscription requests: contact [e-mail]
(Internet).

SASH (Sociologists Against Sexual Harassment):  Moderated list
focusing on sexual harassment.
Subscription requests: Phoebe M. Stambaugh, AZPXS#ASUACAD (Bitnet)
or [e-mail](Internet).

SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN'S NET: Discussion group for women from the south
asian countries re concerns of south asian women.
Women only.
Subscription requests:  [e-mail] or to
[e-mail]

SSSSTALK: List for professional  researchers, clinicians,
educators, and students in the field of sexuality.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV#TAMVM1 (Bitnet) or
[e-mail] (Internet).

STOPRAPE: Sexual assault activist list.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV#BROWNVM (Bitnet) or
[e-mail] (Internet).

SWIP-L:  Society for Women in Philosophy.
Subscription requests:LISTSERV#CFRVM (Bitnet) or
[e-mail] (Internet).

SYSTERS:  For professional women only  in computer science.
Subscription requests: Anita Borg at [e-mail].
Please put "addsyster" in the subject field of the message.

WIML-L (Women's Issues in Music Librarianship).
Subscription requests:  Laura Gayle Green, LGREEN@IUBVM (Bitnet).

WIPHYS:  Moderated list for issues of concern to women in physics.

Subscription requests: [e-mail] (Internet).

WIRE: Women;s Information Retrieval and Exchange
Nancy Rhine ([e-mail])
Forthcoming: "a new online communication service offering
fast-breaking news stories and lively conversations on the issues
impacting women's lives today. Includes databases on topics such as
health information, referral services,women's colleges/studies,
financial tips. and professional and political women's
organizations."

WISENET:  List for women in science, mathematics,and engineering.

Subscription requests: LISTSERV#UICVM (Bitnet) or
[e-mail] (Internet).

WMN-HLTH:  Women's Health Electronic News Line,  started by the
Center for Women's Health Research.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV#UWAVM (Bitnet) or
[e-mail] (Internet).

WMST-L: Forum for women's studies academics.
Subscription requests:[e-mail] (Internet), or
LISTSERV@UMDD.

WOMEN: general purpose list for women and women's groups.
Subscription request: [e-mail] (Internet)

WON, the Women's Online Network:  Electronic political group for
women.whose aim is to distribute information and aid in political
action.
Subscription request and info: contact the co-founders at
CARMELA#ECHONYC.COM or [e-mail] (Internet);   phone: (212)
255-3839.

WOW, Women on the Well.  Women-only.
Subscription requests: well.sf.ca.us. vice: 415-332-4335