Feminism Confronts Technology

Author: Judy Wajcman
ISBN: 9780271008028

In the first major study of its kind, Judy Wajcman challenges the common assumption that technology is gender neutral and analyzes its influence on the lives of women. Does technology liberate women and encourage equality, or are the new technologies reinforcing sexual divisions in society? Does the problem lie in men's monopoly of technology, or is technology itself in some sense inherently patriarchal? To answer these questions, Judy Wajcman explores what the impact of technology is on the lives of women today. Popular stereotypes depict women as technologically incompetent or invisible in technical spheres. Wajcman argues that the identification between men and machines is not immutable but is the result of ideological and cultural processes. She surveys sociological and feminist literature on technology, highlighting the male bias in the way technology is defined as well as developed. Over the last two decades feminists have identified men's monopoly on technology as an important s

Publisher: Penn State Press
Publish Date: 1991

Subjects: Social Science / Discrimination & Race Relations

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Women's Center (Location: STEM)