Women'space: Spring 98 Vol. 3, #3 Part 1

Women'space:
Spring 98 Vol. 3, #3

Around the table: :Illustration by Juliet Breese

Women Don’t Belong Online…?

byDenise Østed

T his is what we are told, and what we tell each other: “Cars are a guy thing. Computers are a guy thing. The Internet is male-dominated and its climate is inherently hostile to women.” Then we go on to formulate strategies for overcoming the particular disadvantages women have when faced with all these boys toys and all this technology.

Now I don’t want to imply—ever—that these strategies are not helpful or necessary. But I’ll let you in on a little secret: cars, computers, and the Internet are no more “male” than cooking and laundry are “female.” Yes, men generally know more about cars and computers, and women generally know more about cooking and laundry, but who among us would argue that laundry is something men can’t easily learn? Who among us would argue that men just shouldn’t cook, and that women just shouldn’t use computers or drive cars?

W e always hear that computer and Internet culture is male and that women’s participation is low, but that seems to me to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Women can learn to use computers as easily as men can learn the intricacies of sorting laundry or cooking balanced meals. And sure, there are men online who make it their personal mission to keep women offline, or make our stay in cyberspace as rough as possible, but how is that any different from your average lounge or corporation? If we keep repeating that computers and the Internet are “guy things,” we come to believe that, and thus put ourselves at a psychological disadvantage before we even approach a keyboard for the first time. The Internet is about as “male” as the telephone. Both are tools for communication and networking. Both can be used as easily by women as by men.

The Internet is, on the other hand, far more complicated than a car. But to fall back on that old, old argument: you don’t have to know how a car works to be able to use it. But you do have to believe you can learn how to drive.

I’m not suggesting that there are no battles left to fight in the effort to get women online. What I want to tell you is that it’s already being fought. You don’t have to start something brand new and scary. There are millions of women online already, and a huge number of explicitly feminist projects in cyberspace. Women are out there in full force, trying to get funding for poor women to get online; working on demystifying the Internet for each other; holding conferences and workshops to share knowledge and skills; networking with activists all over the globe.

T he battle for women’s equality in cyberspace is far from over. And the need to address problems of online access for women still looms. But here’s the thing: we’re not any further behind in cyberspace than we are in everyday life. And in fact, we may be even further ahead, because the Internet allows us to communicate with each other globally, instantly, cheaply, and without media or government intervention. Our online networks are strong, and strengthening hourly.

So don’t let anybody tell you that the Net is a guy thing. Women are online, highly active, and visible. And don’t perpetuate the myth that the Internet is a guy thing. Nothing blocks the ability to learn, or squelches honest enthusiasm and anticipation, more effectively than a firm belief and a dreadful insecurity that we don’t belong there in the first place. Not only do we belong, we know we belong. And we’re most definitely there.

fullmoon@euronet.nl

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