Jen's Webliography

3. Critically assess the ways in which gender identity is embedded (or not) in the cultural construction of information and communication technologies.

I started my research with major search engine Google using the keyword string 'gender identity technology'. The search string was broad enough to return a lot of results, while being specific enough that the links it returned were either articles of interest, or webpages that linked to articles of interest. Once I had a decent selection of articles, I assessed each article for validity, taking into account the general appearance and credibility of the sites as well as the references the articles cited.

The first, the best-known, and perhaps the ultimate in technological feminist theory, Donna Haraway's 'The Cyborg Manifesto' sparked huge debate when it was first published and virtually launched single-handedly the cyberfeminism movement as we know it today. Haraway, of course, argues that gender identity is embedded irrevocably within information technologies, and more interestingly, that culturally constructed technology is embedded within our gendered identities, both digitally and in the real world. She goes on to redefine our traditional notions of identity to include these points of view. I would use her article to answer the question inherent within the essay question itself, as her essay overwhelmingly confirms that gender identity is embedded in the cultural construction of technology.

Becky Michele Mulvaney in her article 'Gender Differences in Communication: An Intercultural Experience' argues that gender is inextricably tied up with communication, and that gender communication and cultural communication can in fact be viewed as the same thing. She observes that different genders observe and are taught different communication practices, and I would use this in my essay as an argument to confirm and tighten links between gender identity (because the way we speak is a central part of who we are) and the cultural construction of communication.

Following on from Mulvaney's paper regarding gender and communication in general, Hoai-An Truong's article 'Gender Issues in Online Communications' discusses the more technological issue of online communication. For many, the cultural construction of the users of technology is that they are male and fit a certain age category. The assumption that almost every digitised person you meet online is male is also widely shared. Truong's article brings to light some of the issues faced by women as they attempt to establish their digital identities, and how their femininity seems to 'follow' them online. As the article reinforces the central point of my theoretical essay, it would be very useful to use in illustrating said point.

The paper by Lisa Nakamura, 'After/Images of Identity: Gender, Technology, and Identity Politics' provides an interesting counterpoint. Despite making reference to Haraway's notion of a cyborg at one point, the article is actually arguing against what would be the central argument of my hypothetical essay. Nakamura argues that the act of creating a digital self frees the technological user from issues of self, including gender, and that such issues of identity are present only as 'after-images', hazy reflections that cannot really be grasped. I would use Nakamura's article to illustrate the opposing point of view to my central argument, that gender identity isn't embedded in the cultural construction of technologies, but ultimately disagree with its main theme. Nakamura argues that you can leave the self behind; I would argue that no matter how digitised we become, the core essentials of self remain.

As soon as I saw that Elizabeth Lane Lawley’s article ‘Computers and the Communication of Gender’ opened with a quote from Donna Haraway’s work, I knew it was going to relevant for my essay. In her paper, Lawley discusses the impact communication technologies have on gender categories, much like Haraway’s work, but focuses mainly on what she calls ‘computer-mediated communication’. This would include both email and posting on message boards as well as instant messaging and chatrooms – any form of communication mediated by a computer would be fair game. She also examines how shifting identities in the digital world (particularly the shifting of women’s’ identities), are causing people to take a second look at the cultural constructions of technology in society. Her article, then, would provide a slightly different take on the main point of my essay, while still supporting the thrust of my argument.

The last article I found was ‘Marketing masculinity: gender identity and popular magazines’ by Anthony J. Vigorito and Timothy J. Curry. The authors make an excellent point in their first paragraph in that there isn’t a lot of examination of masculine identity in media – there is a huge emphasis on femininity and the female self, but I had a lot of trouble locating gender studies that focused primarily on the male gender. Although the paper doesn’t deal specifically with what I would normally classify ‘technology’, confining itself mainly to popular magazines, I think that it would definitely be relevant to my hypothetical essay. I would spend a short time arguing that magazines did fall under the broad category of information and communication technologies, especially with the current trend into mirroring magazines and newspapers online, before moving on with the masculine perspective for my main argument.

I think gender identity is inextricably linked with a person’s digital self. In my hypothetical essay, I would argue that no matter how virtual someone becomes, the essence of who they are, which includes their gender, remains. In this manner, I would then argue that gender identity is definitely embedded in the cultural construction of information and communication technologies, using the articles I have selected to enforce this point with examples from both the feminist and masculine perspectives. I would conclude that even were we to completely transcend our physical form and become truly digitised, our gender identity, which is inseparably bound up in our sense of self, would remain.

Bibliography

Curry, Timothy J. and Vigorito, Anthony J., ‘Marketing masculinity: gender identity and popular magazines’, http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2294/is_n1-2_v39/ai_21136466, 1998, (accessed online 27 August 2006).

Donna Haraway, "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century," in Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature (New York; Routledge, 1991), pp.149-181 (available online http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/Haraway/CyborgManifesto.html, accessed 27 August 2006).

‘Google’ http://www.google.com, (accessed 27 August 2006).

Lawley, Elizabeth Lane, ‘Computers and the Communication of Gender’, http://www.itcs.com/elawley/gender.html, 1993, (accessed 27 August 2006).

Mulvaney, Becky Michele, ‘Gender Differences in Communication: An Intercultural Experience’, http://feminism.eserver.org/gender/cyberspace/gender-differences.txt, 1994, (accessed 27 August 2006).

Nakamura, Lisa, 'After/Images of Identity: Gender, Technology, and Identity Politics', http://www.educ.sfu.ca/gentech/Nakamura.html, 1998, (accessed 27 August 2006).

Truong, Hoai-An, ‘Gender Issues in Online Communication’, http://feminism.eserver.org/gender-issues-online.txt, 1993, (accessed 27 August 2006).