Gender and Technology

According to social construction theory, which emerged in opposition to technological determinism, technology is a social and cultural artefact (McLuhan 1962). This perspective was strengthened by the contributions of feminist theorists (Rakow 1992; Van Zoonen 1992; Wajcman 1991) who examined the interrelationships between gender and technology, arguing that technology is socially constructed and influenced by society’s existing gender norms. Thus, they highlight the importance of conducting research to analyse existing gender inequalities and power relations replicated in technologies, including new media, from their design to actual use (Tacchi 2015; Wajcman 1991).

Feminist theorists argue that men have used technology to continue their domination over subordinated groups- particularly women. ‘The taken-for-granted association of men and machines is the result of historical and cultural construction of gender’ (Wajcman, Bittman & Brown 2009, p. 144) where women were seen as inherently incapable with technology. Technology is perceived as a cultural ideal of masculinity, resulting from ‘different childhood exposure to technology, the prevalence of different role models, different forms of schooling and the extreme sex segregation of the job market’ (Wajcman 1991, p. 51) and not due to biological differences between men and women (Cockburn 1983, 1985; Gurumurthy 2004; Wajcman 1991, 2004). For example, girls are not encouraged to choose scientific and

technical subjects due to social beliefs that ‘sciences are easier for boys’ (Bourdieu 2001, p. 62). This sexually-ordered social order, makes girls think it is natural for them to not pursue scientific and technical subjects. Through such practices, women are prevented from having contact with all aspects of the real world that ‘they are not made for’ (2001, p. 62).

Technology has brought ‘power’ as well as ‘pleasures’ (Wajcman, Bittman & Brown 2009, p. 145) for men while women have been ignored in technological design, despite widespread acknowledgement of technology as gender-neutral (Gurumurthy 2004, p. 3). The relationship between gender and technology is ‘masked’ or ‘ignored’ in the ‘design, purpose, use, and outcome of communication technologies’ (Rakow & Navarro 1993, p. 144). Further, the position of women in society and their hopes and values determine their interactions with technology (Wajcman, Bittman & Brown 2009, pp. 145-6).

Both traditional and modern meanings of technology are masculine and reinforce women’s exclusion (Wajcman 1991; Wajcman, Bittman & Brown 2009). Traditionally, only industrial machinery and military weapons were considered as technology, while women’s technologies, including those that aid cooking, childcare, and horticulture, were not highly regarded. Meanwhile, modern technology, particularly those associated with developments in mechanical and civil engineering during the late nineteenth century, is perceived as white, male and middle-class.

Feminist perspectives on gender and technology have been diverse and transformed over the years. They can be categorised as the views of liberal, socialist and postmodern feminism even though they had not developed independently from each other in chronological order (Wajcman, Bittman & Brown 2009, p. 143).

2.4.1 Liberal feminism and technology

Liberal first-wave feminists of the 1970s and 1980s focused on women’s unequal opportunity and access to technology. They argued that if girls were given the right opportunities and encouragement, they could easily become scientists and engineers (Cockburn 1983; Grint & Gill 1995; Wajcman 1991, 2004). This approach, however, is considered ‘reductionist’ (Royal 2008 cited in Pujol & Montenegro 2015, p. 178) as it regards technology as neutral and objective, positioning women as

responsible for their own situation rather than analysing the reasons why they have fewer opportunities for education and employment (Henwood 2000; Pujol & Montenegro 2015; Wajcman 1991)

2.4.2 Radical feminism and technology

Radical and socialist feminists turned their attention to gender power relations embedded in technological artefacts. They were especially critical of Western technology, including medicine and militarism, characterised as technological artefacts purposely designed for patriarchal exploitation of women’s bodies and fertility. However, this approach again reinforces the presentation of women as naturally peace-loving and nurturing victims of patriarchal technology ignoring the roles of culture and history in shaping women’s needs and priorities in different contexts. Nonetheless, radical feminism posed a challenge to technological determinism- a popular approach to technology in the 1970s (Wajcman 1991, 2004).

2.4.3 Socialist feminism and technology

Socialist feminists investigated the influence of social factors, particularly gender disparities, in shaping technologies. For instance, research found that with the Industrial Revolution, a strictly gendered division of labour was created in Western society, giving more opportunities for men to work in factories gaining technical skills with newly introduced machines designed by men. Women became unskilled, low paid industrial labourers, prevented from gaining the necessary skills and knowledge of technology by their engagement at home with family chores (Cockburn 1983). The influence of this historical gender division of labour in the adoption of technology contributed to the current relationships between gender and technology (Cockburn 1983; Wajcman 1991).

Socialist feminists argue that male power dominates technology because masculinity is embedded in machinery through a combination of highly influenced technical, social, economic and political factors. Technological design and selection are outcomes of particular decisions taken by ‘particular groups of people in particular places at particular times for their own purposes’ (Wajcman 1991, p. 22). Thus, technological inventions are influenced by ‘people and the social context in which they developed’, making technology a ‘socio-technical’ product (Cockburn 1985;

Wajcman 1991, p. 22). In other words, there is a mutual relationship between technology and society, and gender and technology.

Several examples cited by feminists demonstrate male domination and continued female exclusion from the design of technology, its content and use. For example, the microwave oven was initially designed for food preparation in US Navy submarines and later introduced to the consumer market as a brown good – a technology for men- especially single men- to reheat their food. Yet gradually, women appropriated it in their cooking, converting it to a white good or domestic appliance (Cockburn & Ormrod 1993; Wajcman 2004). The telephone, introduced as a communication technology to facilitate men’s businesses, was soon appropriated by women to maintain their family and social relationships, thus becoming a technology of which the use and social meaning were completely changed by women into a domestic appliance for women at home (Martin 1991; Marvin 1988; Rakow & Navarro 1993; Wajcman 2004). Hence, the telephone is perceived as having been converted from a ‘rational business medium’ into an ‘instrument to maintain friendship and kinship’ (Van Zoonen 1992, p. 24).

However, while the socialist approach reveals the historical construction of technology as a male domain, it is unable to suggest how the existing relationship between gender inequalities and technologies can be changed, For example, with the redesign of technologies. These debates on the relationship between technology and women are both optimistically and pessimistically analysed by feminists. On the one hand, technology is seen as liberating women from unwanted pregnancies, housework and routine paid work, while on the other hand, it is argued that most new technologies oppress and destroy women (Wajcman, Bittman & Brown 2009, p. 147).

2.4.4 Post-feminism and technology

During the late 1980s, white Western women dominating second wave feminist ideologies were challenged by different theories such as black feminism, post- colonial theory, queer theory and post-modernism. Consequently, post-feminism, or third-wave feminism emerged, accommodating different gender power relations taking place in various societies encompassing race, colonialism, sexuality, disability and class in addition to the inequalities between men and women. This opened feminist conversations about the different ways in which women live and experience

technoscience based on their location (Wajcman 2004, p. 127; Wajcman, Bittman & Brown 2009).

2.4.4.1 Digital technologies and feminism

Along with changes to the concept of feminism, technology too significantly transformed with digital technologies- especially Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Unlike in the past, feminists were optimistic and enthusiastic about the digital revolution because it opened more opportunities for women, particularly to those living in industrialised societies and whose lives had become more independent in economic and cultural aspects with broader discourses on gender equality and its supporting legislation. Further, new technologies such as mobile phones, the Internet and cybercafés, enabled women’s empowerment and transformations of gender inequalities. New media allowed women to participate in global networks and campaigns designed to improve their conditions and strengthening their political participation while creating new feminist communities (Wajcman 2004, pp. 2, 120). Women in developing countries were also believed to benefit from digital technologies such as mobile phones due to their flexible payment methods (Wajcman 2004, pp. 119-20). Cyberspace allows women to change their identities, while social networking discourages hierarchical orders in society. New technologies do not require physical strength as they did for industrial technology. According to feminists, these new technologies once implemented can liberate women and hence are considered feminine media (Millar 1998; Plant 1998 cited in Wajcman, Bittman & Brown 2009, p. 147).

However, some feminists (Hafkin 2002; Spence 2010; Van Zoonen 1992; Wajcman 2004) point out the necessity for radical rethinking due to the introduction of digital technologies. This is to analyse the process of technological innovation and their impact on culture and practices of everyday life, because new technologies also reveal the continuity of power relations and exclusions in new forms such as in Second Life, which proved unfavourable to women (Wajcman 2004, p. 53; Wajcman, Bittman & Brown 2009, p. 148). Further, the mass production of communication technologies such as mobile phones, exploit the cheap labour of women in developing countries, a fact their users in developed countries may not be aware of (Wajcman 2004, p. 122). Therefore, due to its potential to break down as well as maintain existing gender inequalities, Wajcman (2004, p. 122) calls the mobile phone a ‘very different artefact’.

Tenhunen (2013) claims that gender is not adequately discussed under M4D (Mobile for Development). Hence, feminists emphasise the need to conduct systematic analysis of the relationships between gender and technology, to identify whether new media maintain or challenge existing gender power relations (Sassen 2002; Wajcman 2004).

Theoretical perspectives of gender and technology are relevant to the present study as it explores the empowerment potential, repercussions and constraints faced by a culturally diverse group of women, living without an adult male in their home, with regards to their mobile phone use. This study’s participants differed from each other in terms of marital status, class, age, profession and education. Furthermore, they belonged to different ethnic groups (Sinhalese, Muslim and Tamil) and religions (Buddhist, Hindu, Christian or Islam). These factors shaped their individual identities and determined their interactions with mobile phones due to the existing gender power relations within their respective cultures and communities.