INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND WOMEN'S LIVES:
A BIBLIOGRAPHY
February, 1996
Compiled by Linda Shult
for
Office of the Women's Studies Librarian
University of Wisconsin System
430 Memorial Library
728 State St.
Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
Email: the Women's Studies Librarian
CONTENTS
Introduction
General resources
Computerscience.html
Education
Employment
Manufacturing
Office work
Health issues
Online usage
Electronic resources
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND WOMEN'S LIVES:
AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
INTRODUCTION
The first bibliography our office compiled on "Women and Information
Technology" (1984) was a mere nine pages, even with somewhat lengthy
annotations. Getting a handle on current research and information on
the topic is another matter, and I have attempted to be fairly
comprehensive only on feminist perspectives on information technology.
More than 750 listings are divided into groupings that in some cases
overlap, but that help organize the material into larger concepts
related to the topic. Women's part in the manufacturing end of
information technology, for instance, I view as a crucial piece of the
whole picture. Women's labor has been exploited here as well as in the
"labor-saving" introduction of computer technology into the office. A
section titled "Online" includes resources about women's use of the
Internet andonline.html services, whereas I've separated actual items
available electronically into their own grouping, and in some cases
list various ways of accessing that material, including print versions.
The bibliography is necessarily selective. For the most part I have
not included articles of one or two pages, particularly in popular
magazines, as these seem seldom very substantive. Brief articles about
particular topics, however, such as health, are sometimes included
either because there is not that much available on the subject, or the
article offers a unique perspective. Many items with dates before 1983
are also excluded. The definition of information technology itself is
somewhat slippery, and I've generally limited items to technology
having to do with production of "word-type" information, but such
information-handling items as price scanners, manufacturing robots, and
the like have clearly also had an impact on women's work. Chapters in
important books are often cited as well as the books themselves. Many
works that offer broader perspectives on women's relationship to
science and technology are not generally included, largely because they
are available through other excellent bibliographies, such as our
office's HISTORY OF WOMEN AND SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND TECHNOLOGY by
Phyllis Holman Weisbard and Rima Apple (2nd ed. 1993) or WOMEN AND
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY by the WITS
(Women,
Information Technology, and Scholarship) Colloquium at the University
of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (see "Electronic Resources" section).
I viewed some items enough to supply a brief clarifying annotation;
others I was either unable to actually examine or lacked time to
retrieve and annotate. Most citations have been located or verified
using a number of indexing services, such as CARL UnCover, Wilson
indexes in education, generalscience.html, and the like, FEMINIST
PERIODICALS: A CURRENT LISTING OF CONTENTS, WOMEN STUDIES ABSTRACTS,
ERIC* resources, OCLC, and our campus and other availableonline.html
university catalogs. Dissertations appear occasionally in instances
where the authors have not yet published the material elsewhere.
Because this bibliography is availableonline.html (see the URL:
http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/WomensStudies/), we will
periodically update the computerized version. A revised edition of the
print version may appear at some point as well, but there are no dates
targeted for such a revision. Suggestions for additions to the
bibliography are always welcome.
Linda Shult
Office of the University of Wisconsin System Women's Studies Librarian
February 1996
* ERIC is a federally funded national information system on education.
ERIC documents are deposited on paper or microfiche in many university
libraries throughout the United States. They may also be purchased
from the ERIC Documentation and Reproduction Service (EDRS) at 800-443-
ERIC. (For further information about ERIC or to search the ERIC
database and other components, open the URL:
http://ericsyr.sunsite.edu).
GENERAL RESOURCES
Titles appear in this section either because they cross the
territories covered by other parts of the bibliography, don't fit into
one of the larger categories, or are, in fact, more general
explorations of women's use of information technology.
Adam, Alison E. "Gendered Knowledge: Epistemology and Artificial
Intelligence." AI & SOCIETY v.7 (1993): 311-322.
Adam, Alison. "Embodying Knowledge: A Feminist Critique of Artificial
Intelligence." EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF WOMEN'S STUDIES v.2, no.3 (August
1995): 355-377.
Alloo, Fatma. "Using Information Technology As a Mobilizing Force: The
Case of the Tanzania Media Women's Association (TAMWA)." WOMEN
ENCOUNTER TECHNOLOGY: CHANGING PATTERNS OF EMPLOYMENT IN THE
THIRD
WORLD, ed. Swasti Mitter and Sheila Rowbotham, pp.303-313. New York:
Routledge in association with United Nations University Press, 1995.
Badagliacco, Joanne M. "Gender and Race Differences in Computing
Attitudes and Experience." SOCIAL SCIENCE COMPUTER REVIEW v.8, no.1
(1990): 42-63.
Balsamo, Anne. "Feminism for the Incurably Informed." FLAME WARS: THE
DISCOURSE OF CYBERCULTURE, ed. Mark Dery, pp.125-156. Durham, NC: Duke
University Press, 1994.
Balsamo, Anne. TECHNOLOGIES OF THE GENDERED BODY: READING CYBORG
WOMEN. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1996. 219p. bibl. index.
Benavides, Marta. "Excerpt from `Reflections, Perspectives and
Challenges for the South on Computer Technology and Human Services in
the 1990's: A Feminist Position.'" COMPUTERS IN HUMAN SERVICES v.9,
nos.1-2 (1993): 9-15.
Benston, Margaret Lowe and Elaine Bernard. "Feminist Perspectives on
the Design of Computer Communications Networks: An Alternative Design
Strategy." INFORMATION SYSTEM, WORK AND ORGANIZATION DESIGN, ed.
Clement van den Besselaar and Jarvinen van den Besselaar, pp.283-294.
Amsterdam: North Holland, 1991.
Benston, Margaret Lowe. "The Myth of Computer Literacy." CANADIAN
WOMAN STUDIES v.5, no.4 (Summer 1984): 20-22.
Discusses issues of control in relation to computer technology.
Brecher, Deborah L. THE WOMEN'S COMPUTER LITERACY HANDBOOK. New York:
New American Library/Plume, 1985. 254p.
One of the first de-mystifying books on computers, geared
specifically to women.
Bruce, Margaret and Gill Kirkup. "An Analysis of Women's Roles Under
the Impact of New Technology in the Home and Office." COMPUTERS AND
DEMOCRACY: A SCANDINAVIAN CHALLENGE, ed. Gro Bjerkness et al.,
pp.343-362. Brookfield, VT: Gower Publishing, 1987.
The authors argue that "the applications of new technology to the
domestic and office environment will not significantly change the
sexual division of labour (p.345)," as the direction of technological
change is based on social ideology, expressed as masculine control.
Butterworth, Dianne. "Wanking in Cyberspace." TROUBLE & STRIFE no.27
[1993]: 33-37.
Butterworth suggests that the current readily availableonline.html
pornography (via computer bulletin boards and major publishers such as
PENTHOUSE) will likely evolve into further exploitation of women
through virtual reality-type interactions and similar technological
advances.
Caputi, Jane. "Seeing Elephants: The Myths of Phallotechnology."
FEMINIST STUDIES v.14, no.3 (Fall 1988): 487-524.
Caputi's analysis of male-oriented high technology and its promotion
of the conquering of women and Earth looks at the appropriation of
life-centered symbols such as elephants, stars, apples, and the Earth
itself for advertising,science.html fiction, and business.
Clark, B., et al. "Gender Gap in the Use of Library Technologies:
Evidence, Implications and Intervention." BUILDING ON THE FIRST
CENTURY: PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIFTH NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE
ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES, ed. Janice Fennell,
pp.116-118. Cincinnati, OH: 1989.
Cockburn, Cynthia and Susan Ormrod. GENDER AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE
MAKING. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1993. 185p. bibl. index.
Though it centers on microwave ovens, this work is "centrally about
the `technology/gender relation.'" Moving through the design,
manufacturing, retail, and domestic use stages, the authors examine the
role of gender in shaping technological outcomes as well as
technology's impact on gender relations. The "new technology" of
computers could easily be the topic of study.
Damarin, Suzanne K. "Technologies of the Individual: Women and
Subjectivity in the Age of Information." TECHNOLOGY AND FEMINISM, ed.
Joan Rothschild and Frederick Ferre, pp.183-198. Greenwich, CT: Jai
Press, 1993. (Research in philosophy & technology, v.13)
Damarin examines computers and artificial intelligence as
technological developments with specific effects on women's place
within a patriarchal society and on women's subjectivity.
Damarin, Suzanne K. "Where Is Women's Knowledge in the Age of
Information?" THE KNOWLEDGE EXPLOSION: GENERATIONS OF FEMINIST
SCHOLARSHIP, ed. Cheris Kramarae and Dale Spender, pp.362-370. New
York: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1993.
Davidson, Marilyn and Cary L. Cooper. "Women and Information
Technology: An Overview." WOMEN AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, ed.
Marilyn J. Davidson and Cary L. Cooper, pp.1-9. New York: John Wiley
& Sons, 1987.
Davidson, Marilyn and Cary L. Cooper. WOMEN AND INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1987. 283p. bibl. index.
Contents: "Information Technology -- Girls and Education: A Cross-
Cultural Review (Geoff Chivers); "Women and Information Technology: A
European Overview" (RoseMarie Greve); "Information Technology and
Working Women in the USA" (Barbara Gutek and Laurie Larwood);
"Microelectronics and Women's Employment" (Felicity Henwood); "The
Influence of Information Technology on Women in Service Industries: A
European Perspective" (Colin G. Armistead); "Women's Work in Insurance
-- Information Technology and the Reproduction of Gendered Segregation"
(David Knights and Andrew Sturdy); "New Office Technology and the
Changing Role of Secretaries" (Stephen M. Bevan); "Visual Display Units
-- Psychosocial Factors in Health" (Raija Kalimo and Anneli Leppanen);
"Women Homeworkers and Information Technology -- The F International
Experience" (Pam Evans); "Women, Office Technology and Equal
Opportunities -- The Role of Trade Unions" (Fiona Wilson); and
"Information Technology and New Training Initiatives for Women" (Ailsa
Swarbrick).
Deakin, Rose. WOMEN AND COMPUTING: THE GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY. New York:
St. Martin's/Papermac, 1987?
Dement, Linda. "Screen Bodies." WOMEN'S ART MAGAZINE no.63
(March/April 1995): 9-11.
"Linda Dement talks about the body and computer technology in
contemporary Australian art" (from subtitle). On a subsequent page are
responses to a "straw poll" of art-related women on "How do you think
that new technology will push forward the boundaries in the visual arts
in the next few years?"
Dholakia, Ruby Roy, et al. "Putting a Byte in the Gender Gap: Men Use
Home Computers More Than Women Do, But Women May Have Greater
Potential." AMERICAN DEMOGRAPHICS v.16, no.12 (December 1994): 20+.
Duclayan, Gina. "Game Girls." SEVENTEEN v.54 (January 1995): 38-39.
On video games and young women.
Eastman, Beva. "Women, Computers, and Social Change." COMPUTERS IN
HUMAN SERVICES 8, no.1 (1991): 41-53.
Ebben, Maureen and Cheris Kramarae. "Women and Information
Technologies: Creating a Cyberspace of Our Own." WOMEN, INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY, AND SCHOLARSHIP, ed. H. Jeanie Taylor et al., pp.15-27
Urbana, IL: Women, Information Technology, and Scholarship Colloquium,
Center for Advanced Study, 1993.
The authors summarize four problematic areas regarding women and new
information technologies: access, training, educational use, and
publishing, then suggest actions (and constant vigilance) to mitigate
the inequities.
Edwards, Paul N. "The Army and the Microworld: Computers and the
Politics of Gender Identity." SIGNS v.16, no.1 (Autumn 1990): 102-127.
Works with Turkle's concepts of "hard" and "soft" mastery in looking
at the military connection with/use of high technology, noting that the
speed, automation, and gamelike structure of modern warfare erases
somewhat the historical military division between the genders.
Farrell, Sylvia S. and John E. LeCapitaine. "Computer Assisted and
Non-Computer Assisted Career/Life Planning Workshops for Low Income
Women." EDUCATION v.112, no.2 (Winter 1991): 312-320.
Flynn, Bernadette. "Woman/Machine Relationships: Investigating the
Body Within Cyber Culture." MEDIA INFORMATION AUSTRALIA, no.72 (May
1994): 11-19.
Frissen, Valerie. "Trapped in Electronic Cages? Gender and New
Information Technologies in the Public and Private Domain: An Overview
of Research." MEDIA, CULTURE AND SOCIETY v.14, no.1 (January 1992):
31-49.
Frissen's overview finds that most research has centered on
information technologies and women in the public domain, with little
work on interactions with women in the domestic sphere. Much research
concludes that women remain largely excluded from the power that
derives from the design/production of new information and communication
technologies (NICTs) and find limited use for new technologies as
consumers as well.
Fryer, Bronwyn. "Sex & the Super-highway." WORKING WOMAN v.19 (April
1994): 51-54, 58-60.
Part of a special section which also includes: "Feminizing Virtual
Reality: Brenda Laurel (a profile by Francine Hermelin); "Hard-driving
Engineer: Celeste Baranski" (profile by Paulina Borsook); "A Day Behind
the Wheel: A Glimpse of Your Workday, Circa 2004" (Francine Hermelin),
and "Getting Girls On-Line" (Katie Hafner).
Fulton, Margaret A. "A Research Model for Studying the Gender/Power
Aspects of Human-Computer Communication." INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF
MAN-MACHINE STUDIES v.23, no.4 (October 1985): 369-382.
Gailey, Christine Ward. "Mediated Messages: Gender, Class, and Cosmos
in Home Video Games." JOURNAL OF POPULAR CULTURE v.27 (Summer 1993):
81-97.
Gattiker, Urs E. "Acquiring Computer Literacy: Are Women More
Efficient Than Men?" STUDIES IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND HUMAN
RESOURCES, VOL.2: END-USER TRAINING, ed. Urs E. Gattiker, pp.141-179.
New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1990.
Gerver, Ed. "Computers and Gender." COMPUTERS IN THE HUMAN CONTEXT,
ed. Tom Forester, pp.481-501. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1989.
Greenbaum, Joan. "The Head and the Heart: Using Gender Analysis to
Study the Social Construction of Computer Systems." COMPUTERS &
SOCIETY v.20, no.2 (June 1990): 9-17.
Greve, RoseMarie. "Women and Information Technology: A European
Overview." WOMEN AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, ed. Marilyn J. Davidson
and Cary L. Cooper, pp.33-69. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1987.
Griffiths, Morwena. "Strong Feelings About Computers." WOMEN'S
STUDIES INTERNATIONAL FORUM v.11, no.2 (1988): 145-154.
"Computers have been appropriated by men" (p.145), states Griffiths,
noting that feminists need to monitor this "gender inflection of
computer technology "(p.152), and not only subvert the phenomenon, but
work toward an alternative vision.
Gunter, Karen. "Women and the Information Revolution: Washed Ashore by
the Third Wave." WOMEN, WORK, AND COMPUTERIZATION: BREAKING OLD
BOUNDARIES, BUILDING NEW FORMS, ed. Alison Adam et al., pp.439-452.
Amsterdam; New York: Elsevier, 1994.
Comparing the effects of the Industrial Revolution and the
Information Revolution on the lives of women, concludes that "social
and political action is the only way to ensure that women have equality
of opportunity" in the Information Society (abstract, p.439).
Halberstam, Judith. "Automating Gender: Postmodern Feminism in the Age
of the Intelligent Machine." FEMINIST STUDIES v.17, no.3 (Fall 1991):
439-459.
Halberstam examines the symbols of Apple computer's logo and Donna
Haraway's cyborg in arguing that feminists and other cultural critics
must take into account a "plurality of technologies," seeing gender as
an "automated construct" (p.457) or "an electronic text that shifts and
changes in dialogue with users and programs" (p.458).
Hapnes, Tove and Knut H. Sorensen. "Competition and Collaboration in
Male Shaping of Computing: A Study of a Norwegian Hacker Culture." THE
GENDER-TECHNOLOGY RELATION: CONTEMPORARY THEORY AND RESEARCH,
ed. Keith Grint and Rosalind Gill, pp.174-191. Briston, PA: Taylor & Francis,
1995.
Haraway, Donna. "A Manifesto for Cyborgs." FEMINISM/POSTMODERNISM,
ed. Linda Nicholson, pp.190-233. New York: Routledge, 1990.
Haraway sums up her classic essay by noting that the imagery of the
cyborg -- "hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality
as well as a creature of fiction" (p.191) -- helps relate the argument
that "totalizing theory" no longer works and that we must also refuse
"an antiscience.html metaphysics" that demonizes technology. (See also "A
Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the
Late Twentieth Century" in Haraway's book SIMIANS, CYBORGS, AND WOMEN:
THE REINVENTION OF NATURE [Routledge, 1991].)
Hastings, Maryam. "Women, Computers and Mathematics: A Case of
Inequality." WOMEN'S VOICES, ed. Lorna Duphiney Edmundson et al.,
pp.62-66. Littleton, MA: Copley Publishing, 1987.
Hay, Alexandrea. "Do Computers Separate Men from Women? Thoughts
Provoked by Turkle and Papert." THE JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL BEHAVIOR
v.12, no.2 (June 1993): 205-207.
See "Epistemological Pluralism: Styles and Voices Within the Computer
Culture" by Sherry Turkle and Seymour Papert in separate entry.
Hayes, R. Dennis. "Digital Palsy: RSI and Restructuring Capital."
RESISTING THE VIRTUAL LIFE: THE CULTURE AND POLITICS OF INFORMATION,
ed. James Brook and Iain A. Boal, pp.173-180. San Francisco: City
Lights, 1995.
A scathing look at the dramatic increase in both computer use and
repetitive stress injury (RSI) contrasted with the slight decrease in
white (and pink?)-collar productivity over the same period.
Heinamaa, Sara. "Woman's Place in Artificial Intelligence:
Observations on Metaphors of Thought and Knowledge." WOMEN, WORK AND
COMPUTERIZATION: UNDERSTANDING AND OVERCOMING BIAS IN WORK AND
EDUCATION, ed.Inger V. Eriksson et al., pp.41-52. New York: Elsevier,
1991.
Heller, Dorothy and June Bower. COMPUTER CONFIDENCE: A WOMAN'S GUIDE.
Washington, DC: Acropolis Books, 1983. 256p. bibl. index. ill.
Hildenbrand, Suzanne. "Women's Studies Online: Promoting Visibility."
RQ v.26, no.1 (Fall 1986): 63-74.
Discusses the possibilities and problems ofonline.html bibliographic
retrieval for women's studies researchers. Type of indexing, quality
of the databases used, and lack of coverage of women-related topics are
three key problems cited. Results of a user survey study indicate
significant end-user satisfaction with most searches in the study, and
guidelines are offered for more effective database searching.
Hoath, Maria A. PERSONAL COMPUTING FOR WOMEN: EVERYTHING YOU
ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT PERSONAL COMPUTERS BUT WERE AFRAID
TO ASK. Write Byte, 1995. 152p.
Jacobs, Karrie. "Robo Babes. (Why Girls Play Less Video Games Than
Boys)." I.D. v.41, no.3 (May/June 1994): 38+.
Jansen, Sue Curry. "Gender and the Information Society: A Socially
Structured Silence." JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION v.39, no.3 (Summer
1989): 196-215.
Jansen ponders the "absence of a critical consciousness about gender
in discussions of communications and technology" (p.196), sees old
patterns being replicated, and urges "articulation of new languages,
paradigms, and politics for creating and studying technologies"
(p.198).
Kantrowitz, Barbara. "Men, Women and Computers." NEWSWEEK v.123 (May
16, 1994): 48-52+.
Compiling figures on the number of computers in U.S. homes, and
noting a gender gap in the ways men and women use computers, this cover
story stirred up some criticism that brought about defense of the
article by one of its reporters. See also "Hackers 1, Media Elite 0"
by Jon Katz in NEW YORK v.27 (May 30, 1994), pp.16-17.
Kaplan, Sidney and Shirley Kaplan. "Video Games, Sex and Sex
Differences." JOURNAL OF POPULAR CULTURE, v.17 (Fall 1983): 61-66.
Keeton, Kathy. WOMAN OF TOMORROW. New York: St. Martin's, 1985.
313p.
On how new technologies affect women's lives.
Kirkup, Gill. "The Social Construction of Computers: Hammers or
Harpsichords?" INVENTING WOMEN: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND GENDER, ed.
Gill Kirkup and Laurie Smith Keller, pp.267-281. Cambridge, MA: Basil
Blackwell, 1992.
Traces women's involvement with computer technology and challenges
what the author sees as Turkle's optimistic view about the potential of
computers, noting that most of the world's women will interact with
computers only in the form of machines controlled by microprocessors or
in the manufacturing of component parts.
Kubey, Robert William and Reed Larson. "The Use and Experience of the
New Video Media Among Children and Young Adolescents." COMMUNICATION
RESEARCH v.17 (February 1990): 107-130.
Lehman, Sheila. "I Dreamed I Had a Computer Just Like the Kids: Access
to Computing for the Older Woman." WOMEN, WORK, AND COMPUTERIZATION:
BREAKING OLD BOUNDARIES, BUILDING NEW FORMS, ed. Alison Adam et al.,
pp.269-276. Amsterdam; New York: Elsevier, 1994.
Offers "preliminary results of an ongoing study of the experiences
of older women (60 and above) with computer learning and use"
(abstract, p.269).
Leone, Norma Leonardi. A MOTHER'S GUIDE TO COMPUTERS. Rochester, NY:
Lion Publishers, 1986. (P.O. Box 92541, Rochester, NY 14692;
716-385-1269) 102p.
A guide to encourage women unfamiliar with computing by suggesting
ways a computer can help manage information.
Lewyn, Mark. "PC Makers, Palms Sweating, Try Talking to Women."
BUSINESS WEEK no.3141 (January 15, 1990): 48.
An interesting though brief look at marketing of computer products
to women.
Lockheed, Marlaine E., ed. SEX ROLES v.13, nos.3/4 (August 1985);
special issue: "Women, Girls, and Computers."
Includes: "Women, Girls, and Computers: A First Look at the Evidence"
(Ma rlaine E. Lockheed); "Differential Experiences of Men and Women in
Computerized Offices" (Barbara A. Gutek and Tora K. Bikson); "Sex-Role
Messages vis-a-vis Mic rocomputer Use: A Look at the Pictures' (Mary
Catherine Ware and Mary Frances St uck). See "Education" section for
other sites from this special issue.
Markussen, Randi. "Constructing Easiness: Historical Perspectives on
Work, Computerization, and Women." THE CULTURES OF COMPUTING, ed.
Susan Leigh Star. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1995.
Marshall, Jon C. and Susan Bannon. "Race and Sex Equity in Computer
Advertising." JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON COMPUTING IN EDUCATION v.21, no.1
(Fall 1988): 15-27.
A survey of three computer magazines finds women and minorities
largely in stereotypical roles in advertising.
McClain, E. "Do Women Resist Computers?" POPULAR COMPUTING (January
1983): 66-78.
Metselaar, Carolien. "Gender Issues in the Design of Knowledge Based
Systems." WOMEN, WORK AND COMPUTERIZATION: UNDERSTANDING AND
OVERCOMING BIAS IN WORK AND EDUCATION, ed. Inger V. Eriksson et al.,
pp.233-246. New York: Elsevier, 1991.
Michaelson, Greg. "Women & Men in Computer Cartoons from PUNCH:
1946-1982." WOMEN, WORK, AND COMPUTERIZATION: BREAKING OLD
BOUNDARIES, BUILDING NEW FORMS, ed. Alison Adam et al., pp.171-184. Amsterdam;
New York: Elsevier, 1994.
Miles, Ian. HOME INFORMATICS: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND THE
TRANSFORMATION OF EVERYDAY LIFE. New York: Pinter, 1988. 151p. bibl.
index.
Although there's no specifically gender-related focus, the
discussions of the transformation of the home via information
technologies offers food for thought.
Milne, W., et al. "Computer Games: A Positive Introduction to IT or a
Terminal Turn-off?" WOMEN, WORK, AND COMPUTERIZATION: BREAKING OLD
BOUNDARIES, BUILDING NEW FORMS, ed. Alison Adam et al., pp.203-207.
Amsterdam; New York: Elsevier, 1994.
Report of a conference plenary on computer games.
Okerson, Ann L. "Networked Serials, Scholarly Publishing, and
Electronic Resource Sharing in Academic Libraries: A Dilemma of
Ownership." WOMEN, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, AND SCHOLARSHIP, ed. H.
Jeanie Taylor et al., pp.44-51. Urbana, IL: Women, Information
Technology, and Scholarship Colloquium, Center for Advanced Study,
1993.
Though not focused on feminist publishing, this discussion of the
pitfalls of electronic resources, including issues of copyright and
access, is clearly relevant to materials/information in women's
studies.
Ong, Aihwa. "Disassembling Gender in the Electronics Age." FEMINIST
STUDIES v.13 (Fall 1987): 609-626.
Perenson, Mellissa J., et al. "What Do Women Want?: Software for Women
and Girls." PC MAGAZINE v.13, no.19 (November 8, 1994): 437+.
Evaluation of four software programs for women and girls.
Perez-Vitoria, Silvia, ed. IMPACT OF COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES ON
WOMEN. Paris, France: Unesco, 1994. (Reports and papers on mass
communication, no.108) 48p. bibl.
Centers more on "older" technologies such as telephone, television,
but regional studies are of interest.
Potter, Rosanne G. "Empirical Literary Research on Women and Readers."
COMPUTERS AND THE HUMANITIES v.28, no.6 (1994/1995): 375-381.
Pritchard, Sarah M. "Women and Computers in Public Libraries." NWSA
PERSPECTIVES v.5, no.3 (Spring-Summer 1987): 32-34.
Pritchard briefly surveysonline.html catalogs, other databases, networks
and bulletin boards, software for borrowing, cable delivery of
information, and other ways women can use the computerized resources in
libraries.
Provenzo, Eugene F., Jr. "The Portrayal of Women." VIDEO KIDS: MAKING
SENSE OF NINTENDO, pp.99-117. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
1991.
Some sobering analysis of the gender content of video games. Other
chapters comment on gender differences in game playing, violence and
aggression in games, etc.
Pryor, Sally. "Thinking of Oneself as a Computer." LEONARDO v.24,
no.5 (1991): 585-590.
Pryor, a "computer artist/animator/programmer," explores her interest
in "the somewhat disembodied landscape surrounding the human and the
computer,..." an interest resulting from her experience with RPI
(repetitive stress injury).
Rogerat, Chantal. "The Case of Elletel." MEDIA, CULTURE AND SOCIETY
v.14, no.1 (January 1992): 73-88.
Set up in 1984 as an information and communication service under the
Agence Femmes Information (a French news and information agency since
unfunded), Elletel at one point comprised thirteen bulletin boards on
such topics as health, leisure, legal issues, babysitting, current
events, computing, and "lonely hearts."
Rothschild, Joan. TEACHING TECHNOLOGY FROM A FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE: A
PRACTICAL GUIDE. New York: Pergamon Press, 1988.
Though not centered on information technology, Rothschild's book
covers a number of relevant issues. Note particularly Chapter 6,
"Passing the Litmus Test: What is a Feminist Resource on Technology?"
which focuses on the language differences in two computer-centered
books.
Rothschild, Joan. TURING'S MAN, TURING'S WOMAN, OR TURING'S PERSON?
GENDER, LANGUAGE, AND COMPUTERS. Wellesley, MA: Wellesley College
Center for Research on Women, 1986. (Working paper no.166)
Schwartz, John. "The Game Computers Play." NEWSWEEK v.108 (September
8, 1986): 42-43.
Notes software manufacturers' recognition of female buying power and
development of computer games to tap that market.
Schwartz, Vanessa R., comp. "Gender and Technology: Women,
International Development, and High-Technology Production: A Selected
and Annotated Bibliography of Recent Research, 1977-1985." Princeton,
NJ: Program in Women's Studies, Princeton University, 1985. (Women's
Studies, 218 Palmer Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544)
approx. 31p.
SIGNS v.16, no.1 (Autumn 1990); special section: "From Hard Drive to
Software: Gender, Computers, and Difference," guest ed. Ruth Perry.
Includes: "Women and Computers: An Introduction" (Ruth Perry and Lisa
Greber); "The Army and the Microworld: Computers and the Politics of
Gender Equity" (Paul N. Edwards); "Epistemological Pluralism: Styles
and Voices within the Computer Culture" (Sherry Turkle and Seymour
Papert); and "Mismeasuring Women: A Critique of Research on Computer
Ability and Avoidance" (Pamela E. Kramer and Sheila Lehman).
Smith, Caroline. "Chit-Chat in the New World." WOMEN'S ART MAGAZINE
no.63 (March/April 1995): 14-15.
"Caroline Smith interviews women at the forefront of art and
technology" (from subtitle). Women interviewed are Eva Pascoe, Nicky
West, and Muriel Magenta.
Spender, Dale. NATTERING ON THE NET: WOMEN, POWER AND MULTIMEDIA.
North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Spinifex, 1995.
Basing her argument on the view that in many ways "women were worse
off after the print revolution than before" (p.161), Spender goes on to
detail the history of women in print, concluding that unless women
become involved in creating the new culture of cyberspace, they stand
to lose not only much of their recent intellectual and educational
gains but also much of women's accumulated scholarly progress over the
past 400 years.
Springer, Claudia. "Sex, Memories, and Angry Women." THE SOUTH
ATLANTIC QUARTERLY v.92 (Fall 1993): 713-733.
Discussion of cyberculture and visions of sexuality in fictional
texts about computers. Also appears in FLAME WARS: THE DISCOURSE OF
CYBERCULTURE, ed. Mark Dery (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1994),
pp.157-177.
Star, Susan Leigh. "Invisible Work and Silenced Dialogues in Knowledge
Representation." WOMEN, WORK AND COMPUTERIZATION: UNDERSTANDING AND
OVERCOMING BIAS IN WORK AND EDUCATION, ed. Inger V. Eriksson et al.,
pp.81-92. New York: Elsevier, 1991.
Tarrant, Louise. "Women and Information Poverty." REFRACTORY GIRL
(October 1987): 41-42.
Looks at information technology in Australia.
Taylor, H. Jeanie, Cheris Kramarae, and Maureen Ebben. WOMEN,
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, AND SCHOLARSHIP. Urbana, IL: Women,
Information Technology, and Scholarship Colloquium, Center for Advanced
Study, 1993. (912 West Illinois St., Urbana, IL 61801) 128p. bibl.
Tackling such overarching topics as different learning and
communication styles in dealing with computers, changes being brought
about by electronic scholarship, concepts of privacy and ownership of
ideas, and community connections via computer to help overcome
gender/race/class hierarchies, the essays and discussion summaries from
an ongoing colloquium offer insight into "issues that we believe are
central to decision-making at all universities in the U.S." (p.3).
Contributors in addition to the editors include Dale Spender, Ann L.
Okerson, Phyllis Hall, Judy Smith, and others. An annotated
bibliography by Maureen Ebben and Maria Mastronardi occupies about a
third of the book.
Turkle, Sherry and Seymour Papert. "Epistemological Pluralism: Styles
and Voices Within the Computer Culture." SIGNS v.16, no.1 (Fall 1994):
128-157.
Acknowledging "the validity of multiple ways of knowing and thinking,
an epistemological pluralism" (p.129) in how people approach
programming and computer tasks, the authors suggest that feminist
scholarship can promote recognition of this diversity of styles as well
as "our profound human connection with our tools" (p.157). See also
Alexandrea Hay's reaction, "Do Computers Separate Men from Women?" in
separate entry.
Turkle, Sherry. "Child Programmers: The First Generation." THE
CULTURE OF SCIENCE: ESSAYS AND ISSUES FOR WRITERS, ed. John Hatton and
Paul B. Plouffe, pp.584-599. New York: Macmillan, 1993.
From Turkle's 1984 book THE SECOND SELF: COMPUTERS AND THE HUMAN
SPIRIT, (Simon and Schuster) this essay explores her understandings of
"hard" and "soft" mastery of the computer, as related primarily to
gender.
Turkle, Sherry. "Computational Reticence: Why Women Fear the Intimate
Machine." TECHNOLOGY AND WOMEN'S VOICES: KEEPING IN TOUCH, ed. Cheris
Kramarae, pp.41-61. New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1988.
Turkle discusses young women's reticence about computers (too
regimented, too removed from relationships), examines "the social
construction of the computer as a male domain" and suggests it can be
viewed instead as an expressive medium.
Turkle, Sherry. THE SECOND SELF: COMPUTERS AND THE HUMAN SPIRIT. New
York: Simon & Schuster, 1984. 362p. bibl. index.
A classic that questions the impact of the computer on contemporary
culture.
van der Ploeg, Irma and Ineke van Wingerden. "Celebrating the Cyborg?
On the Fate of a Beautiful Metaphor in Later Users' Hands." EUROPEAN
JOURNAL OF WOMEN'S STUDIES v.2, no.3 (August 1995): 397-400.
Van Gelder, Lindsy. "Help for Technophobes." MS. v.13 (January 1985):
89-91.
van Zoonen, Liesbet. "Feminist Theory and Information Technology."
MEDIA, CULTURE & SOCIETY v.14, no.1 (January 1992): 9-29.
Explores several theoretical perspectives in relation to technology,
including ecofeminism, finding "universalist and essentialist notions
of gender" (p.19) to be problematic. Urges more specificity regarding
thinking on information technology and gender.
Ware, Mary Catherine and Mary Frances Stuck. "Sex-Role Messages vis-a-
vis Microcomputer Use: A Look at the Pictures." SEX ROLES v.13, no.1
(1985): 205-214.
Examines the representation of both genders, of different ages, in
three mass-market computer magazines over a period of three months.
Workshop: Women and Information Technology (1991: University of
Warwick). WORKSHOP: WOMEN AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: UNIVERSITY
OF WARWICK, COVENT RY, UNITED KINGDOM, JULY 17-20, 1991. [Zoetermeer,
Netherlands?]: European Network for Women's Studies, 1991. 11p.
Zimmerman, Jan, ed. THE TECHNOLOGICAL WOMAN: INTERFACING WITH
TOMORROW. New York: Praeger, 1983.
A number of chapters center on women and information technology. See
separate listings for: "Gender and Industry on Mexico's New Frontier"
(Maria Patricia Fernandez Kelly); "For Women, The Chips are Down"
(Margaret Lowe Benston); "Word Processing: `This Is Not a Final Draft'"
(Sally Otos and Ellen Levy); "Women's Work in the Office of the Future"
(Barbara A. Gutek); "Cold Solder On a Hot Stove" (Rebecca Morales);
"EQUALS in Computer Technology" (Nancy Kreinberg and Elizabeth K.
Stage); and "The Next Move: Organizing Women in the Office" (Judith
Gregory).
Zimmerman, Jan. ONCE UPON THE FUTURE: A WOMAN'S GUIDE TO TOMORROW'S
TECHNOLOGY. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul/Pandora, 1986. 230p.
bibl. index.
Not restricted to information technology, this probing work
nonetheless questions basic assumptions about new technologies that
"encode old values of inferiority and subordination."
Return to Top
Return to Wisconsin Bibliographies in Women's Studies
Return to Wisconsin Women's Studies Librarian's Homepage
This page is maintained by the
University of Wisconsin System Women's Studies Librarian
430 Memorial Library, 728 State Street, Madison, WI 53706
(608) 263-5754
Email wiswsl at (replace with "@") library.wisc.edu
Last updated: June 8, 1999