Re: Technology & Gendered Language
John Meyer (john_meyer@geocities.com)
Mon, 18 May 1998 10:34:19 -0600
At 12:12 PM 5/17/98 -0700, you wrote:
>This certainly seems to indicate a lack of role models. But several
>sources also suggest that the language of technolgy may subtly discourage
>girls from participating in computer use beginning very early. The
>language of computers computer operating systems are based upon the rules
>of the "command" and "control" --functions of military hierarchies -- a
>language of power which may tend to make computers seem "foreign" to girls
>who are socialized to follow directions -- to take orders, not give them.
>Computer games also tend to be based on "seek and destroy" themes which is
>not part of girls' socialization. It's similar to the criticism we've
>heard on math word problems that are set up around male experiences not
>female.
Okay then, do we have two math curriculums and two operating systems--one
male and one female? Or do we try for an "in-between", I'm not going to
offend anyone curriculum?
john_meyer@geocities.com