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Gender Issues in Computer Networking
Leslie Regan Shade
McGill University
Graduate Program in Communications
shade@ice.cc.mcgill.ca
shade@well.sf.ca.us
ac900@freenet.carleton.ca
Talk given at: Community Networking: the International
Free-Net Conference
Carleton University, Ottawa, CANADA,
August 17-19, 1993
Copyright 1993 by Leslie Regan Shade. The paper is publically licensed
so that it may be copied for further distribution, provided that it is
copied and distributed in its entirety, including this title page.
It seems that the topic of gender and computer networking is
the flavour of the month. When I proposed this talk to
Dave Sutherland in June, I was already working on a
collaborative paper with Gladys We, a master's student in
Communications at Simon Fraser University and the
Publications Coordinator of the Vancouver Free-Net, on
gender issues in networking, for the _Internet Business
Journal_. Gladys had already co-written a similar article
for _Kinesis_, a Canadian feminist paper. Later, I discovered
that Stephanie Brail, a free-lance journalist, was writing an
article on women and networking for _On The Issues_, a
U.S.-based women's magazine. Very soon thereafter,
e-mail to Anita Borg, "keeper" of the Systers mailing list,
and also a Consultant Engineer at Digital Equipment
Corporation's (DEC) Network Systems Laboratory in
Palo Alto revealed that she was preparing a talk on gender
issues for Interval Research in the Bay Area.
Six months ago, at the Computers, Freedom and Privacy_
conference held in the Bay Area, a panel was devoted to
gender issues in computing and telecommunications. It was
organized by BAWIT--Bay Area Women in Telecommunications,
a working group sponsored by the Berkeley, California
chapter of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility.
As a member of BAWIT--although never IRL (in real life)
I commented on their paper and shared some bibliographic
sources.
And, in the past year, many academic articles
on various facets of gender and networking have been published,
as well as a book edited by Cheris Kramarae and Jeanie Taylor
of the University of Illinois at Champagne-Urbana, entitled
Women, Information Technology, and Scholarship.
Other happenings related to gender and computer networking
included an electronic conference, "The Electronic Salon",
devoted to gender issues in "technoculture", sponsored by
Lewis & Clark College in April of 1992. [Electronic Salon]
As well, many lists (including Computers & Academic Freedom,
Gender, Communet, and various UseNet groups) have had on-going
discussions about various aspects of gender issues--related to
interpersonal communication in computer-mediated-
communication (CMC), sexual harassment, access and
representation. Also, many conferences and lists related to
women's issues have been started or are in the formative stages.
Popular culture has also been reflecting women networking.
In last years film, "Single White Female", the character played
by Bridget Fonda is tied up by her lunatic roommate, and she
makes a desperate call for help by logging on to Compuserve.
Sci-fi books with technologically savvy women are more
common. In Pad Cadigan's _Synners_, Gina and Sam are the
two main hacker characters in the Post-millennium L.A.
holocaust landscape, where, by the end of the novel, they
both find themselves literally jacked into the network. [Cadigan]
Bruce Sterling's _Islands in the Net_ featured the post-
millennium super-mom-heroine, Laura Webster, fighting
data pirates, high-tech voodoo, and new-age mercenaries.
[Sterling] And, Neal Stephenson's _Snow Crash_ features
Juanita Marquez, the "face department" for Black Sun System's
avatars. [Stephenson]
This summer the popular media has run stories on two incidents
related to computer networking and gender. Both _Time_
magazine and _The Washington Post_ covered "The Case of the
Cybercad", or the "on-line Lothario" on the WELL
(a private conferencing system running out of the Bay
Area). This case involved a WELLbeing--dubbed Mr. X--
who was romancing several different WELLbeing women at
the same time; the women involved found out; and through
the WELL's private women-only conference space, WOW
(Women on the WELL), decided to "out" the man in a more
public conference area on the WELL (although not revealing
his name). Unfortunately, the _Time_ article erroneously
dismissed the WELL as a sort of "single's bar scene"; the
more perceptive _Washington Post_ article by John Schwartz
analyzed the incident as a test case for the new online terrain
of social interactions: "Anthropologists and sociologists too,
still are wondering what the lowly modem has wrought. The
ability to use our computers to reach out around the world
hasn't just revolutionized computing--it's creating new forms
of social interaction that appear and evolve before the
academics can get their pipes lit". [Schwartz]
Earlier this month U.S.A. Today featured a story on:
"High-Tech Harassment... sexual harassment is making inroads
in cyberspace as female users increasingly report instances of
lewd messages, suggestive graphics or even electronic stalking
over computer networks. Most reported incidents have been at
universities..." (U.S. A. Today)
Today, I will discuss some of the key issues and
controversies that have arisen regarding gender and computer
networking, including participation of women in computer
science, participation of women in networking, issues of
access to networking, social interactions, pornography, and
the use of networking by women. I will summarize by
suggesting possible strategies and policies that
community networks can adopt in order to ensure that women
will be equitably represented.
Participation of Women in Computer Science
The statistics for women in the computer science field are
dismal,revealing that only a small percentage of computer
scientists and computer professionals are female. In the most
recent years for which statistics are available, women received
a third of the bachelor's degrees in computer science, 27% of
master's degrees, and 13% of PhDs. Women comprise a mere
7.8% of computer science and computer engineering faculties,
and only 2.7% of these are tenured. (Frenkel 1990, 38).
Put another way, "92% of CS and engineering faculty --
and 97% of the tenured faculty--are male. And about one-third
of the computer science departments polled employ no women
faculty at all" [Cottrell, 1992].
These figures aren't surprising given the early stereotyping of
toys for boys and girls: Transformers for boys and Math-Phobia
Barbie for girls.Videogames and educational software are replete
with aggressive metaphors:guns, missiles, spaceships, and
blasting asteroids, which typically don't appeal to girls. Witness the
very recent controversy over Sega's new game,entitled "Night
Trap," in which "nameless attackers dressed in black stalk
scantily clad teen-age girls through a large house. The girls
are portrayed as powerless to defend themselves and, unless
rescued by the player, are murdered" [Langberg, 1993].
As well, the young girl who is an avid computerist might later
encounter in her professional career a masculine "locker-room
environment" in workplaces, technical conferences, and
computer trade shows which can be professionally demeaning.
Ellen Spertus [1991] described the biases that women face in
pursuing careers in computer science and how they deal with
them. She solicited remarks on the net from female (and male)
students, faculty, and professionals involved in computer
science and engineering, and compiled these frank anecdotes
about job discrimination and sexist attitudes in the classroom
into a well-organized and thoughtful overview of
recommendations and policies that can be implemented to make
the world of computer science more hospitable towards women.
These include: not tolerating sexual harassment; providing
mentoring opportunities for women students; and making the
workplace, both corporate and academic, accommodate the
needs of career and children.
Janet Cottrell [1992] provides some useful suggestions to
make the university computing environment more hospitable
towards women, such as: making sure the computing facilities
are physically safe; ensuring that women are well-represented
in computing staff; making sure that pornographic images are
not allowed as background screens in labs and offices; making
sure that public labs are accessible for the non-aggressive
student;and providing individualized learning resources, such
as self-paced online or video training tools for students who
may feel uncomfortable in large classes.
Participation of women in networking
As we all know, the Internet is expanding at an explosive rate.
1992 statistics put the Internet as extending to over 50 countries
on all seven continents, with approximately 5-10 million people
using it, and with as many as 15 million people communicating
between the Internet and other interconnecting networks.
[Hart, et. al] These figures seem conservative now. Many
private conferencing systems, such as the WELL, and ECHO
(New York City's "East Coast Hang-Out") now have Internet
access. Commercial IP network connectivity providers are
mushrooming, provided by companies such as Advanced
Network and Services (ANS), CO+RE (Commercial plus
Research and Education), and the CIX (Commercial Internet
Exchange) members--AlterNet, PSINet, CERFnet, and Sprintnet.
And, Free-Nets in various cities internationally have started up
or are in their formative stages--there are approximately 45
free-net organizing committees around the world. There are at
least 11 free-nets in the U.S., with maybe more in the
formative stages; 2 in Canada, with 8 others in the formative
stages; and 1 in New Zealand.
But does this rapidly expanding user base include an equal
proportion of men and women? Probably not. The breakdown of
gender usage on various networks is difficult to gauge, but it is
safe to say that women are not very well represented on most
networks. This low visibility is not surprising, given that women
are still under-represented in almost every aspect of computer
culture, from programming, to product design, to everyday use.
Access to computer networking for women involves access to
both the hardware and the software to support communications.
Professional women who are in the academic or corporate
mainstream where Internet costs are basically "invisible" for
them can take advantage of the Internet. Financially-advantaged
women can partake of the many private online services, such as
Prodigy, Delphi, American Online, Compuserve, ECHO, and the
WELL. On-line costs average 10-20$ month, plus hourly connect
fees of 2-$5/hour. However, for those women (and other people)
that can't afford networking costs--or who don't own a computer
and modem- the introduction of free-nets is fortuitous.
The placement of computers in public spaces, such as libraries and
various community centres, would allow those that don't own
personal computers to access community networks and partake of
local resources, and from there, telnet out into the broader Internet
world. The penetration of personal computers into the average
household, though, isn't as high as telecom visionaries thought it
would be. Free-net sponsored workshops on purchasing used or
new computers, or perhaps the donation of used or outmoded
equipment from computer manufacturers, might be a good strategy
for increasing domestic placement of pc's.
As well, women must have access to the training that will support
such communication, and access to significant and relevant
resources that can support their research or personal needs.
Hands-on, face-2-face training is an option, as well as online
"navigating the net" workshops. Novice network users--both
men and women--often find that they are overwhelmed by the
mountains of text available on the Internet. And, since
bibliographic control of the Internet is still in the
developmental stages, it is frequently quite difficult to become
familiar with the tools.
Fortunately, however, several tools have been developed and
are being improved, which can aid in accessing the Internet
bounty. These include Archie, a system for locating files
(software programs, data, or text files) that are publically
available via anonymous FTP; and menu-based tools such as
Gopher, WAIS, Veronica, and the World-Wide Web (WWW).
As was mentioned before, the breakdown of gender usage on
networks is difficult to gauge, and depends on the network.
However, at the low end, women are assumed to hover around
10-15% of the audience. For instance, the contribution of
women to UseNet newsgroups is typically not very high, but
the actual numbers are subject to debate. In the unmoderated
feminist newsgroups (alt.feminism and soc.women),
approximately 80% of the messages are posted by men. In
the moderated feminist group (soc. feminism), there is usually
about a 50/50 balance between women and men.
But, a recent post to soc.women on women's participation
cited two differing figures: one reader said that after wading
through 130 articles and deleting all those from men, she was
left with only 12 posts from women. Another reader countered
by saying that she (he?) counted more posts by women than men:
after eliminating a ll the cross-posts out of a total of 568 articles
available on her node, 62 were left; and of that number, 44 were
from women and 18 from men (Article 58511, soc.women, Aug.
10, 1993).
SeniorNet, a consumer-oriented online service available on
American OnLine, that caters to the "mature market",
reports that their audience mix is 51% female, 49% male.
Contrast this gender-balance to other services such as CompuServe,
GEnie. and Prodigy, where between 60-90% of the customers
are male [Arlen, 6] How is SeniorNet attracting so many women?
Obviously, different networks will attract different audiences.
The WELL, from my experience there, seems to have a fairly
high ratio of female WELLbeings. ECHO, (the East Coast Hang
Out) was started by a woman, Stacey Horn. There females
comprise 57% of the audience, and half of the conference hosts
are women. Horn actively recruits and encourages women to get
on ECHO. She offered the first year of ECHO free to women,
with the second year at reduced rates. She's started ECHO
School, which helps women out technically; and a Mentoring
Program for women, which consists of a group of women who
have volunteered to help new women "get acclimated to
cyberspace" (personal correspondence, August 1, 1993).
And, when women participate in networks, are there gender
differences between the way men and women talk and participate?
Susan Herring at the University of Texas at Arlington analyzed
male and female participation in two academic electronic lists,
Linguist (devoted to the discussion of linguistics-related issues) and
Megabyte University (MBU) (devoted to the discussion of
computers and writing). She concluded that "male and female
academic professionals do not participate equally in academic
CMC. Rather, a small male minority dominates the discourse both
in terms of amount of talk, and rhetorically, through self-
promotional and adversarial strategies. Moreover, when women
do attempt to participate on a more equal basis, they risk being
actively censored by the reactions of men who either ignore
them or attempt to delegitimize their contributions. Because of
social conditioning that makes women uncomfortable with
direct conflict, women tend to be more intimidated by these
practices and to avoid participating as a result....rather than being
democratic, academic CMC is power-based and hierarchical. This
state of affairs cannot however be attributed to the influence of
computer communication technology; rather, it continues pre-
existing patterns of hierarchy and male dominance in academia
more generally, and in society as a whole" [Herring]
Kathleen Michel of Miami University investigated gender
differences in KIDCAFE, a networking project that links children
around the world. Michel was interested in finding out if boys
and girls talked to each other more often using CMC, and, if
the medium let them understand each other better. In
particular, she sought to apply linguist Deborah Tannen's
theories of the gender differences in conversational styles--
the "rapport" (cooperative, intimate style) versus "report"
(information giving) styles of talk. (Generally speaking,
more women engage in the "rapport" style; more men the
"report" style). She concluded that, although boys and girls
have different conversational patterns, the styles are not as
discrepant as Tannen would indicate. CMC can have very
positive effects for school children, she observed: "By
linking students to other peers around the world through a
computer network, schools can positively effect the ways
in which male and females converse, and can open up more
opportunities for cross-gender communication...on-line ,
social status and gender become less obvious differences
and extend the boundaries of the student's community.
A student doesn't have to break into a clique or take
social risks in order to hold a conversation with someone
she or he normally would not talk to". [Michel]
Social Interactions
Some of you might have seen a recent Peter Steiner cartoon in
The New Yorker magazine (July 5, 1993, p. 61). In it, a dog
is sitting at a computer saying to his dog-friend, "On the Internet,
nobody knows you're a dog".
Unfortunately, as many women have found out, cyberspace is
not a gender-free space. One of the characteristics of computer-
mediated-communication (CMC) is its lack of easy social
contextualization. Kiesler at. al. have noted that CMC neutralizes
such social status clues as appearance, voice, organizational
hierarchy, and often gender--this of course depends on the
handle used, mailing address, etc. Despite the relative
anonymity of CMC, though, some women report that they are
often harassed and intimidated from posting and participating on
conferences or via e-mail. They often choose gender-neutral
handles, and prefer to post in women-only conferences or
mailing lists.
Does the relative anonymity of the electronic medium encourage
emotive behavior--flaming--and sometimes abusive language?
What constitutes harassment, or sexual harassment, on the net?
Is it possible to generalize about behavior on the net, or do we
need to consider the networking context--i.e, UseNet (its anarchy
seems to encourage a fair amount of crankiness and flame-fests,
which can contribute to both its charm and irritability), versus
community-based free-nets, or private commercial networks?
Gladys We of Simon Fraser University conducted a research
project into how men and women felt about communicating
online, versus face-2-face. She sent a questionnaire to various
UseNet newsgroups and an eclectic range of mailing lists.
She concluded that: "On the surface, it would seem that most
people feel that cyberspace tends to be friendly to women. It
allows women to adopt more active personas, and to speak
on a 'level-playing field' reduced of gender cues. " Several
respondents to Gladys' survey sent her anecdotes about meeting
and falling in love online. But, she also heard from others who
were harassed online: "...as one man said, 'try using a woman's
handle online someday and see how many 'hello's' you get as
compared to your regular handle (if you're a male, of course!)...
one woman reported, 'in response to my postings he sent e-mail
calling me 'hairly legged feminazi'...and did lots of innuendos
about the probable deficits in my personal life". (We)
The issue of sexual harassment on the net is controversial.
Many women complain that various newsgroups and networking environments
are hostile towards women. Net.sleazing and
"trolling for babes" do exist on some networks. Harassment can
take many forms, and it has occurred in both public forums and
in private e-mail. It can be subtle, such as personal questions
directed to a woman; or blatant, such as women receiving sexual
propositions via e-mail.
The legal status of online harassment is murky, as case law
has not been established for many situations. For instance, can
the typical UseNet commentary be classified as harassment?
Sexual harassment guidelines could be incorporated into general
University computing policies, and, as Kramarae and Taylor
suggest, could include clarification of what constitutes offensive
messages and provide a grievance procedure for complaints of
sexual harassment. [Kramarae, Taylor] An article in _Macweek_,
a computer industry publication, suggested that company managers
should incorporate online harassment into anti-harassment policies.
[Erlich]
Education and recognition of the issues surrounding online
harassment is a preventative measure we can take now. Cyberion
City at MIT is a MUSE-role-playing game which educates its users
by telling them: "...unwanted advances of hostile or forward nature
are unacceptable...if you think someone might be interested in
developing a closer personal relationship, it is your responsibility
to make absolutely sure of this before saying or doing anything that
would be considered inappropriate in real life...such inappropriate
behavior includes, but is not limited to, suggestive remarks; violation
of the other person's space; forward, intimate or suggestive conduct".
[as quoted in Truong]
The idea of women-only lists and conferences has been suggested
as a way to counteract harassment and monopolization of postings
by men. Of course, given the relative insecurity of electronic
identity, and the fact that electronic personas can be easily spoofed,
such segregation is difficult to control. Several women-only
conferences exist, such as WOW--Women on the Well--(there is
also MOW--Men on the WELL); and Systers, a private,
unmoderated, mailing list for female computer professionals
in the commercial, academic, and government world, as well
as female graduate and undergraduate computer science and
computer engineering students. Anita Borg, the founder and
moderator of Systers, has often been asked to justify the
exclusion of men from her list, particularly given that the
list is not limited solely to discussions of women's issues, but
deals in professional and technical concerns. She stated the
following points in her position paper for the "Gender Issues in
Computers and Telecommunications" panel at the _Computers,
Freedom, and Privacy_ conference: Since women in computer
sciences are geographically dispersed and a "frequently
individually isolated minority", they rarely have the chance to
interact professionally with each other. The different
conversational styles of men and women prohibits an egalitarian
nature. An all-female forum allows for mentoring for CS women.
And, "the likelihood that an underpowered minority is keeping
otherwise inaccessible information from the large empowered
majority...seems small indeed". [Borg]
Gender-swapping is a popular pastime on some network
interactions. Amy Bruckman at MIT has been conducting
research on social interactions in text-based virtual reality
environments on the Internet called MUDS (multi-user
domains). Female MUDders (of which there are many)
report that they are often "besieged with attention",
including unwanted sexual advances. As Bruckman writes,
"many people, both male and female, enjoy the attention
paid to female characters. Male players will often log on as
female characters and behave suggestively, further encouraging
sexual advances. Pavel Curtis has noted that the most
promiscuous and sexually aggressive women are usually
played by men. If you meet a character named Fabulous
HotBabe, she is almost certainly a he in real life".
[Bruckman, Curtis]
In 1985 Lindsy Van Gelder published her almost "classic"
tale in _Ms._ magazine about the case of "Joan". Joan" was
a disabled single older woman who appeared on
Compuserve's "Between the Sexes" conference. She
developed intimate relationships with other women, although
never face-2-face. After several years, "Joan" was discovered to
be a middle-aged male psychiatrist, "Alex". Such online
"cross-dressing" shook up the many women and men who
had "encountered" Joan throughout the years, and led many
to be more suspicious and wary of computerized interactions..
Pornography
The ethical uses of computers and computer networks is a
contentious and unresolved area, both legally and socially.
There are no universal standards of governance, and it seems
unlikely and quite preposterous that such a consensus could
ever be reached, given both the evolving technological
infrastructure, types of various information carriers and
providers, and variety of nationalistic notions of legal
jurisprudence.
Sexual imagery and pornographic content on the nets is one of
these debatable arenas. How, exactly, does one define computer
pornography and "offensive" material on networks? In this
last year alone many debates have surfaced within various
universities in North America and internationally as to whether
or not it is appropriate to censor the alt.sex hierarchy within
UseNet. Where can one draw the line between freedom of
speech and mere censorship? Are there any links between
computer pornography, sexual harassment, and sexual
violence? Are such "questionable" UseNet newsgroups a
"proper" use of University computing facilities? Should
community networks provide an "on-ramp" to these
newsgroups? Should minors be allowed access to these
newsgroups; or, put another way, how can you *not*
prevent minors from accessing these newsgroups? Should
academic institutions, or community networks "police"
UseNet bulletin board postings and newsgroups based on
content, such as sexual explicitness (which could be in
perceived violation of the law) without consulting the user
community? What kinds of mechanisms should be instituted,
if at all, to judge the acceptability of the contents of certain
newsgroups? What legal rights regarding free speech and
privacy should network users be entitled to?
Use of Networks By Women
Despite some of the hazards and irritation that some women
have encountered online, access to networking has also
encouraged a wealth of surprising uses for women.
I think it's important to highlight some of the more positive
benefits of computer networking for women, because it seems
that any media coverage of networking tends to zoom in on
the more salacious and sensationalistic aspects.
Networking has been increasingly recognized by female scholars
as being a tool for feminist empowerment, and many women
have taken to the net to create, as Ebben and Kramarae call it,
"a cyberspace of our own". There are now many UseNet
newsgroups and lists that cater to the research needs of women
scholars, from MEFEM, a list for female medievalists; to
WISENET, a list for women in science and engineering; to the
South Asian Women's List; to WMST-L, the Women's
Studies List. [see Appendix for list of resources]
Several grassroots networking projects have also benefited
women. Big Sky Telegraph, a computerized BBS system
in Montana, has been used to connect together the
geographically dispersed directors of the various Montana
Women's Centers. BST has also been used to provide
computer training to homebound women. [Odasz]
Mexican women's groups--through the Institute for Global
Communications (IGC) networks--have found that networking
has facilitated their work in fighting NAFTA. For instance,
Mujer a Mujer/Woman to Woman, based in Mexico City, has
found networking to be indispensable in coordinating the
Tri-National Working Women's Conference on NAFTA, the
reports of which were posted online for the entire community
to read. [Frederick]
One of the biggest challenges is widening access to the net for
women that aren't institutionally affiliated, whether in industry
or academia, where they purportedly have "ready" access to
both the hardware and software, and technical expertise, to
successfully learn how to navigate the net.
Ellen Balka of Memorial University at Newfoundland has
written that "perhaps the greatest issue faced by the women's
movement with respect to the adoption of computer networking
technology is access...access to communication constraints imposed
by the infrastructure of data lines and value-added
carriers...access to the location of networks and terminals:
whether they are located in a public place and available for
use free of charge as Community Memory terminals were, or
whether they are located in a private home or office...and
access to the knowledge and related support mechanisms
that will allow a novice user to successfully contact a
computer network". [Balka]
As well, it is important to develop resources and tools that
address the needs of various women. WON--the Women's
Online Network that is an off-shoot of ECHO, is an online
advocacy and action group for women. It is currently being
revamped, and will be sponsored by a variety of U.S. women's
groups, including Ms. , WAC, WHAM!, and WAA. It is
certainly not inconceivable that the same sort of collaboration
could be fostered across Canada amongst various women's
groups using community networks as the anchor.
Community networks are well situated to increase the
participation and use of networks by women. It is difficult
to speak in generalities about how to do this, since such
recruitment tends to be community-specific. Vancouver's
Free-Net, for instance, has established a "Task Force for
Equal Access", whose role will be to approach community
organizations that don't have ready access to computers and
help them get the computers and training to get online. As well,
the committee will try to get donations of computers for
placement in various community centres, such as senior citizens
centres, women's centres, etc.
A mentoring program, such as that set up by Stacey Horn of
ECHO, where volunteers help women get online is also a
good strategy. Perhaps "aggressiveness training" could become
one of the components here. Online navigating-the-net programs
can encourage people to explore the wider world of the Internet.
Developing programs and services for children is also necessary--
and a mentor program designed for young girls might, in
particular, encourage more of them to enter the CS field. It is
not unimaginable, for instance, to envision kids newsgroups,
such as kids.ninjas; kids.dinosaurs, kids.yucky-parents,
kids.knock-knock-jokes, and kids.barbie.hollywood-hair.
This forthcoming November, CRIAW (the Canadian Research
Institute for the Advancement of Women) will publish a
handbook written by Ellen Balka on community networking for
women. Chapters will be devoted to networking history, women's
use of nets, access issues, design, and organizational needs.
In a recent article in _Technology Review_, Langdon Winner
quotes Richard Civille, director of the Washington office of the
Center for Civic Networking. Civille suggests "earmarking 1
percent of the $350-million a year that President Clinton wants to
spend on 'community development banks' for building civic
networks. The Census Bureau could survey the nation's computer
owners to see how they use online services. Some fraction of the
federal budget for an information infrastructure could go to study
information equity--just as the Human Genome Project sets
aside 5% of its appropriation to explore ethical issues". [Winner]
A similar strategy could apply to CANARIE, the Canadian
Network for the Advancement of Research, Industry, and
Education, given the government's recent commitment to
invest $26-million for the first phase of the project. With the
increasingly swift commercialization of the Internet (a recent
news blurb reported that more than 54 Internet trademarks were
pending at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office--see _The
Internet Letter_) it is vital that information equity be a paramount
policy consideration, and it seems that community networks will be
one of the venues for fostering this.
Conclusion
As Gladys We and I wrote, "the new 'electronic frontier' is
unfortunately still a very masculine dominated space, one in
which many women may feel uncomfortable at the best of times.
Ensuring equitable gender access to the Internet should be a
prerogative of this information age. This means that we must
pay close attention to the metaphors that people will use and
see in this new world, so that they won't exclude women, or
include them in undesirable ways. It means making the Internet
easily accessible to all people; making networking an attractive
communications tool for women, by creating tangible and viable
information and resources; and by encouraging young girls and
women to become involved in the development and deployment
of the technology. It also means creating a friendly online
environment, one that allows women to speak their thoughts
without having to hide their gender. The world of cyberspace is
one which is being shaped daily by the millions of interactions on
it, and women can contribute much to these exchanges."
[Shade, We].
References
[Arlen] Arlen, Gary (1991). "SeniorNet Services: toward a new
electronic environment for seniors". Report of a conference held
by The Aspen Institute's Communications and Society Program in Queenstown.
MD, April 8-10, 1991.
[Balka] Balka, Ellen. (1993, February). "Women's access to
on-line discussions about feminism". _Electronic Journal of
Communications/La revue electronique de communication_ v.3,
n.1. {to retrieve file send command: send balka v3n193 to
comserve@rpitsvm.bitnet (bitnet) or comserve@vm.Its.Rpi.edu
(Internet)
[Borg] Borg, Anita. (1993). "The rationale for a closed electronic
forum". Position paper for "Gender Issues in Computers and
Telecommunications" panel delivered to _Third Conference on
Computers, Freedom, and Privacy_, Burlingame, CA, March 1993.
[Bruckman] Bruckman, Amy. (1993). "Gender swapping on the
Internet". [available via anonymous FTP from media.mit.edu in
pub/MediaMOO/Papers:gender swapping.{ps,rtf,Bin}]
[Cadigan] Cadigan, Pat. (1991). _Synners_ . N.Y.: Bantam Books.
[Cottrell] Cottrell, Janet.( 1992). "I'm a Stranger here Myself:
A consideration of women in computing." In _Learning From
the Past, Stepping into the Future_, the Proceedings of the 1992
ACM SIGUCCS User Services Conference, November 8-11,1992, Cleveland, OH.
New York: The Association for Computing
Machinery. pp. 71-76.
[Curtis] [Curtis, Pavel. (1992). "MUDding: social phenomena in
text-based virtual realities". Proceedings of DIAC 92. [Available
via anonymous FTP from parcftp.xerox.comj in
pub/MOO/papers/DIAC92 {ps,txt}].
[Ebben, Kramarae] Ebben, Maureen; Kramarae, Cheris. (1993).
"Women and Information technologies: creating a cyberspace of
our own", pp.15-27 in _Women, Information Technology, &
Scholarship_, ed. Taylor, Kramarae, Ebben. Urbana, Il: WITS
Colloquium. Center for Advanced Study.
[Electronic Salon] Electronic Salon papers are available via
anonymous FTP at lclark.edu in gender directory]
[Erlich] Erlich, Reese, (1992, December 14) "Sexual harassment
an issue on the online frontier". _MacWeek_:20-21.
[Frederick] Frederick, Howard H. (1993, March). _North American
NGO Computer Networking on Trade and Immigration: Computer Communications
in Cross-Border Coalition Building_.
DRU-234-FF (draft), RAND, Santa Monica, California.
[Frenkel] Frenkel, Karen A. 1990. "Women & Computing". Communications of
the ACM _33(11): 34-46.
[Hart, et.al.] Hart, Jeffrey A., Robert R. Reed, and Francois
Bar. (1992, November). "The building of the Internet:
implications for the future of broadband networks".
Telecommunications Policy_:666-689.
[Herring] Herring, Susan C. (1993). "Gender and democracy
in computer-mediated communication". _Electronic Journal of
Communication_, v.3, n.2.
[Internet Letter ] "Companies rush to secure Internet trademarks".
(1993, October). _The Internet Letter_, v.1, n.1. {A Net Week
Inc. publication}
[Kiesler, et.al.] Kiesler, Sara; Siegel, J.; McGuire, T.W. (1984).
"Social psychological aspects of computer-mediated
communication". _American Psychologist_ v.39: 1123-1134;
also in _Computerization and Controversy: value conflicts and
social choices_, ed. Charles Dunlop and Rob Kling. Academic
Press, 1991: 330-349.
[Kramarae, Taylor] Kramarae, Cheris; H. Jeanie Taylor. (1993).
"Women and men on electronic networks: a conversation or a
monologue?", p. 52-61 in _Women, Information Technology,
& Scholarship_. Urbana, Illinois: Center for Advanced Study,
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
[Langberg] Langberg, Mike. (1993, May 25). "Sega plans first
video-game rating system". _San Jose Mercury News_.
[Michel] Michel, Kathleen. (1992). "Gender differences in
computer-mediated conversations". [available via KIDLINK]
[Odasz] Odasz, Frank. (1991, Summer). "Big Sky Telegraph",
_Whole Earth Review_: 32-35.
[Spertus] Spertus, Ellen. "Why are There so Few Female
Computer Scientists?" Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at
MIT, 1991. [available via anonymous FTP from ftp.ai.mit.edu
in pub/ellens/mget womcs*.ps]
[Shade, We] Shade, Leslie Regan; Gladys We. (1993). "Gender
issues and networking" Forthcoming in _The Internet Business
Journal_.
[Stephenson] Stephenson, Neal. (1992). _Snow Crash_. N.Y.:
Bantam Books.
[Sterling] Sterling, Bruce. (1988). _Islands in the Net_. N.Y.:
Ace Books.
[Tannen] Tannen, Deborah. (1990). _You Just Don't
Understand_. N.Y.:Ballantine.
[Truong] Truong, Hoai-An. (1993, March). "Gender Issues
in Online Communication". Paper Presented at _Third
Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy_, Burlingame,
CA, March 1993. [In conjunction with BAWIT-Bay Area
Women in Telecommunications] [Available via ftp to ftp.cpsr.org:
CD: Gender]
[U.S.A. Today] _U.S.A. Today_ (1993, August 6). "High
Tech Harassment": B1.
[Van Gelder] Van Gelder, Lindsy. (1991). "The strange case
of the electronic lover", in _Computerization and Controversy:
value conflicts and social choices_, ed. Charles Dunlop and
Rob Kling. Academic Press: 364-375.
[We] We, Gladys. (1993) "Cross-gender communication in
cyberspace". Unpublished ms., Simon Fraser University.
[avail.. we@sfu.ca]
[Winner] Winner, Langdon. (1993, August/September). "Beyond
Inter-Passive Media". _Technology Review_ : 69.
***************************************
APPENDIX: CONFERENCES AND LISTS
BIFEM-L: moderated list for women only. Its purpose is to
provide a safe space primarily for bisexual women.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@BROWNVM
(Bitnet) or LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU (Internet).
ECHO: East Coast Hang Out.
Subscription requests: HORN@ECHONYC.COM
EDUCOM-W: Moderated list for issues of technology and education that
are of interest to women.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@BITNIC (Bitnet), or
LISTSERV@BITNIC.EDUCOM.EDU (Internet).
FEMAIL: For feminists around the world. Open to both men and
women.
Subscription requests to:
FEMAILREQUEST@LUCERNE.ENG.SUN.COM (Internet).
FEMECON-L: List for feminist economists.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@BUCKNELL.EDU (Internet).
FEMINISM-DIGEST: Digest form of soc.feminism available via
email.
Subscription requests: FEMINISM-DIGEST@NCAR.UCAR.EDU (Internet) or
FEMINISM-DIGEST%NCAR.UCAR.EDU@NCARIO (Bitnet).
FEMINIST( owned by the Feminist Task Force of the American
Library Association). Issues including sexism in libraries and
librarianship; pornography and censorship in libraries, and racism
and ethnic diversity in librarianship.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@MITVMA (Bitnet) or LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
(Internet).
FEMISA: Discussion list re: feminism, gender, women and
international relations.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@CSF.COLORADO.EDU
(Internet).
FEMREL-L : Women and religion and feminist theology.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@MIZZOU1 (Bitnet).
FIST (Feminism in/and Science and Technology): Unmoderated
list for discussion of feminism and science and technology.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@DAWN.HAMPSHIRE.EDU
(Internet).
GAYNET: list focusing on gay and lesbian concerns on college
campuses.
Subscription messages should be sent to
GAYNET-REQUEST@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Internet).
GENDER: Moderated list devoted to issues re: gender and
communication.
Subscription requests to: COMSERVE@RPITSVM (Bitnet) or
COMSERVE@VM.ITS.RPI.EDU (Internet).
GEGSTAFF: Discussion of sexuality and gender in geography,
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@UKCC.UKY.EDU (Internet)
or LISTERV@UKCC.
GLB-NEWS: "read-only depository of information for gay,
lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, and sympathetic
persons."
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@BROWNVM (Bitnet) or
LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU (Internet).
GEOGFEM: Gender issues in geography.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@UKCC.UKY.EDU (Internet) or LISTSERV@UKCC.
HELWA-LL List for Malaysian women in the U.S. and Canada.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@PSUVM (Bitnet).
KOL-ISHA: Moderated list for halachic questions and issues
concerning women's roles in Judaism.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@ISRAEL.NYSERNET.ORG
(Internet).
LIS: Lesbians in Science and is a list for lesbians in industry,
universities, government labs, etc.
Subscription requests: ZITA@JUNO.PHYSICS.WISC.EDU; send postings to
LIS@JUNO.PHYSICS.WISC.EDU.
MAIL-MEN: forum for discussion of men's issues.
Subscription requests: MAIL-MEN-REQUEST@USL.COM
(Internet).
MEDFEM-L: List for feminist medievalists.
Subscription requests to:LISTSERV@INDYCMS (Bitnet) or
LISTSERV@INDYCMS.IUPUI.EDU (Internet).
NOGLSTP: The National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists
and Technical Professionals.
Subscription requests to
NOGLSTP-REQUEST@ELROY.JPL.NASA.GOV.
PRO-FEMINIST MEN'S ISSUES MAILING LIST: for both men
and women.
Subscription requests: JYANOWITZ@HAMP.HAMPSHIRE.EDU (Internet).
SAPPHO: forum and support group for gay and bisexual women.
Membership is open to all women and is limited to women.
Subscription requests: contact SAPPHO-REQUEST@MC.LCS.MIT.EDU (Internet).
SASH (Sociologists Against Sexual Harassment): Moderated list
focusing on sexual harassment.
Subscription requests: Phoebe M. Stambaugh, AZPXS@ASUACAD (Bitnet) or
AZPXS@ASUVM.INRE.ASU.EDU(Internet).
SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN'S NET: Discussion group for women
from the south asian countries re concerns of south asian women.
Women only.
Subscription requests: USUBRAMA@MAGNUS.ACS.OHIO-STATE.EDU or to
SUSANC@HELIX.NIH.GOV
SSSSTALK: List for professional researchers, clinicians, educators,
and students in the field of sexuality.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@TAMVM1 (Bitnet) or
LISTSERV@TAMVM1.TAMU.EDU (Internet).
STOPRAPE: Sexual assault activist list.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@BROWNVM (Bitnet) or
LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU (Internet).
SWIP-L: Society for Women in Philosophy.
Subscription requests:LISTSERV@CFRVM (Bitnet) or
LISTSERV@CFRVM.CFR.USF.EDU (Internet).
SYSTERS: For professional women only in computer science.
Subscription requests: Anita Borg at systers-request@pa.dec.com.
Please put "addsyster" in the subject field of the message.
WIML-L (Women's Issues in Music Librarianship).
Subscription requests: Laura Gayle Green, LGREEN@IUBVM (Bitnet).
WIPHYS: Moderated list for issues of concern to women in
physics.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@NYSERNET.ORG (Internet).
WIRE: Women;s Information Retrieval and Exchange
Nancy Rhine (nancy@well.sf.ca.us)
Forthcoming: "a new online communication service offering fast-
breaking news stories and lively conversations on the issues
impacting women's lives today. Includes databases on topics such
as health information, referral services,women's colleges/studies,
financial tips. and professional and political women's organizations."
WISENET: List for women in science, mathematics,and engineering.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@UICVM (Bitnet) or
LISTSERV@UICVM.UIC.EDU (Internet).
WMN-HLTH: Women's Health Electronic News Line, started by the
Center for Women's Health Research.
Subscription requests: LISTSERV@UWAVM (Bitnet) or
LISTSERV@UWAVM.U.WASHINGTON.EDU (Internet).
WMST-L: Forum for women's studies academics.
Subscription requests:WMST-L@UMDD.UMD.EDU (Internet), or LISTSERV@UMDD.
WOMEN: general purpose list for women and women's groups.
Subscription request: WOMEN-REQUEST@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
(Internet)
WON, the Women's Online Network: Electronic political group for
women.whose aim is to distribute information and aid in political
action.
Subscription request and info: contact the co-founders at
CARMELA@ECHONYC.COM or HORN@ECHONYC.COM
(Internet); phone: (212) 255-3839.
WOW, Women on the Well. Women-only.
Subscription requests: well.sf.ca.us. vice: 415-332-4335
.
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