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).

Webliographies

Hi all,
Just wanted to clarify the requirements for your first assignment, the webliography.
Because this is a webliography, all components of the bibliography must be available online. This means that they should have a url that you can directly link to when you put your webliography on this weblog. This means that conventional academic journal articles that you access through JSTOR or Supersearch can generally NOT be used, because the user has to go through a process of authentification through the library. Don’t dismay, however, as there are many online academic journals, and e-books as well. The Faculty of Arts even has 2! Limina, and Outskirts (in which Tama published his paper on the Borg in Star Trek).
The point is for you to be research savvy online, and also to make that research accessible to everyone else reading the blog.
So, think about the forum in which you’re writing (a publicly available blog, and as an item for assessment), as well as the unit outcomes being assessed, namely:

• Develop and expand critical research skills through a deepened understanding and familiarity with both online sources and conventional print sources

• Express research findings and ideas logically, coherently and convincingly in both oral and written forms, the latter in both print and digital formats

• Develop a critical, annotated Webliography.

And don’t forget that you get to comment on 2 people’s Webliogs, and yours may well be commented on too – so make it engaging!
All the best!
Alison

Wired Self III Lecture Links

Hello Self.Netizens. As I promised, I've put up a blog post with all the links I mentioned in today's lecture here: The Wired Self III: The Wired Everyday - Weblogs. There may be other posts of use/interest (or perhaps procrastination value) in my blog as well, so feel free to explore.

Happy blogging!

FOR THE HORDE

Sup everyone. I'm Jen, and I talk a lot in the tute. I have a funny display name because I already had an account on Blogger. I shifted across to Livejournal back in 2004 so my old blog is non-functional (well, not being updated anymore, anyway).

<-- This is me and my boyfriend in the University Computer Club (UCC for short). Like you might expect of a computer club most of the members are males but there are two girls (one of whom is me) on the committee of the club.

The first thing I do when I wake up is turn on my computer and check my email and my World of Warcraft Guild's forums, so I guess you could say that I'm kind of tech-savvy. I tend to use internet slang a lot in my normal speech and I get twitchy when I'm away from the computer for too long (although that's measured in terms of days rather than minutes or hours okay).

Links wise, this is a really funny (and safe for work) video that everyone should watch. I also think that mordots.com is hilarious and I almost cried the first time I heard it, but unless you play World of Warcraft or know a little bit about WoW then you probably won't really get it.

Uh... yeah, that's about it. <3

welcome

This is the weblog for the Thursday tutorial at 11am for the UWA 2006 unit Self.net: identity in the digital age.
If you're not doing the weblog workshop in the Mac Studio ensure you pick up a copy of the Blogging Guide anyway as it has listed all the required posts you need to make during this semester. It's available on WebCT or in the English corridor of the Arts building.
happy posting,
Alison