sexism in technology culture

Zuska — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 11:33:56 -0500

If you want to read about sexism in technology culture, then my blog is for you! Thus Spake Zuska http://radio.weblogs.com/0147021 (moving soon to Scienceblogs.com) I don't talk about technology users. I write about women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in academia and the workforce. And the morons they have to deal with. You won't find stories like these in the news because we are invisible to the mainstream press. They'd rather talk about our innate inability to do math and whether or not Lawrence Summers was treated unfairly. Gah.

Blatant Gadget Marketing to Women Comes Under Fire

Jan Kabili — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 18:55:04 -0500

Companies with gadgets to sell are taking notice of--and some would say taking advantage of--the women's market. A long article on CNET this week explores corporate America's interest in selling techie gadgets to women.

Not everyone thinks blatant gadget marketing to women, nor articles promoting the practice are good things. A number of comments on the CNET story brand it as a useless fluff piece. One CNET reader comments: "We live in a new era, where women are doing great things in technology, so, I am perplexed as to why several years later, why all the hoopla over women who purchase technology. Instead of listing how many tech gadgets women own and use and promoting other females who have tech or gadget sites, how about talking about how 'every day' women are using technology in their lives. And while you're at it, try running a few meaningful stories about the women who invent technology."

I was pointed to the CNET article and its comments by Tiara.org, written by a thoughtful NYU PhD student. Tiara comes down hard on the CNET article and on technology companies who market to women as if they were a monolithic group. Rather than "tired" marketing pieces like the CNET article, she wants to read more "on women technologists in general, about sexism in technology culture, and also on use of technology by actual people, rather than these 'consultants' who are totally talking out of their ass making major generalizations about how 'women' use technology." I've got to agree, and I'll be looking for stories like those to feature here.

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sexism in technology culture

Blatant Gadget Marketing to Women Comes Under Fire