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Marty I think had it been a situation of boy and girl it would truly had
been accepted/expected to have those differences however social
expectations
places certain demands on us as individuals, other wise my bestfriend would
have never demanded to have me play with her had I been a boy. She would
never had expected that of me. Over the years their have been many demands
in various circumstances (men & women) of what I am expected to do or not
to
do based on my gender and not on my interests.
So in response to Eric's question about what offended me about the Barbie
computer is that: 1) I was never interested in Barbie and it would have
upset me had my mother bought it for me to play with, based on my past
experiences 2) the majority of the programs were of make up and hair
designs
which I was not and still not interested in 3)There were no programs that
challenged me to be analytical, to figure things out or as Donna stated
ways
to enhance my natural tinkering abilities. 4) and the focus on social
rather
than educational skills development.
I truly believe that the barbie computer is a start and does speak to the
feminine perspectives but I also agree with Marty about supporting the
diverse interests in us all and not just from social expectations.
Technology
has been deemed a masculine perspective (in some cases), when girls begin
to
get involved where boys are they are immediately shunned until they can
prove themselves "worthy". A young girl that identifies the technology as
masculine and identifies herself feminine will not try to prove herself
"worthy" to be considered masculine. In the video women in computing, one
young woman who chose to go into computer science stated that she had to
make the conscious decision not to be feminine. No one should have to make
such a choice.
Shireen Mitchell
Director - Digital Sisters, Inc.
director@digital-sistas.org
www.digital-sistas.org
"Technology with Women in Mind"
From: "Eric Karnowski" <erickarnowski@earthlink.net> wrote:
I'm curious:> > It doesn't surprise me at all that you were offended -- I
was rather repulsed by the thought, myself. But at the same time, at least
Mattel was trying to recognize (albeit in their own corporate interests)
that some girls need a
different motivation to get interested in technology.What I'm curious about
is, what EXACTLY was it that offended you?
From: "Marty Henry " <mhenry@mcrel.org> wrote:
As I read Shireen's story, I thought back to similar experiences in my
life.
However, I also reflected on how this might read if one of the characters
was male and one female. Would we have accepted the difference in interests
without question? How do two people, male or female, overcome differences
in
interest and make connections or support the other's interests? Shouldn't
we
look at our own attitudes toward other women who are different from us in
interests and in other ways, and find ways to support and value those
differences as we try to do across genders?
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