Hi everyone,
A good friend of mine turned me on to an academic paper from 1995.
This paper was key to her understanding of how diversity plays into
technology communities.
The title is: "Of spanners and cyborgs: de-homogenizing feminist
thinking on technology". Full citation is at the bottom of this
email[1]. I'm trying to get a copy I can share with the list, or for the
wiki.
In short, the paper argues that you can't just "give a girl a spanner"
(wrench, for you Americans) and expect them to succeed in being a
competent technologist. This point naturally extends beyond just women
to other marginalized groups who have an interest in technology.
Quoting my friend (not the paper):
"We should not expect that women/marginalized groups to just join
dominant space, especially when those spaces actively discriminate or
uphold discriminatory standards. We must always consider the context
from which we ask [people] to engage with technology. And often it is
our contexts which need to change in order to truly benefit from the
experiences of women/marginalized people.
"Bluntly: if we want more women/marginalized people [here], the way we
construct and implement those experiences need to change.
Women/marginalized people are not add-ons. We can't just add them to our
[communities] and expect them to stay.
"This change can only occur through listening to women/marginalized
people and seeing how technology is best used by these people. We need
to take a very critical look at who is making decisions about diversity,
and how those decisions are made.
"I love technology. I love computer science.... But I'm feeling burnt
out at ignoring something I have always known: *the [women]/marginalized
people might want different experiences.... [T]here is nothing wrong
with [women]/marginalized people not wanting to participate."
I think this diatribe touches on two things that have been raised on
this list:
1. Some projects and ASF participants don't want to change. That's fine.
But like the old adage about the Internet routing around censorship,
women and marginalized people may simply route around those projects
and do their own thing. The ASF will be poorer without those
participants and their energy, even if it might have taken projects in
new and unexpected directions.
2. Some projects and ASF participants *do* want to change. They should be
listening to the experiences of those women and marginalized people who
choose to participate, and understand why or why not they continue to
do so. I'd encourage any of us (I am female, and in a number of
marginalized groups) to explain why and how, if we feel safe doing so.
If not on this list, then hopefully the survey-to-come will provide an
anonymous way those experiences can be shared.
-Joan "food for thought" Touzet
[1]: Sofoulis, Z 1995, 'Of spanners and cyborgs: de-homogenising
feminist thinking on technology', in B Caine & R Pringle (eds),
Transitions: new Australian feminisms, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, pp. 147-63.
