Current Media Trends Relating to Women in Computing

The most blatant way in which people receive societal messages is through the media. Televisions, radio commercials, and newspapers all tell us how we should act, what we should accomplish, and what we should be wearing at the time. In this respect, the media can be an important part of what shapes society's views towards women and computing.

In 1995, Paulina Borsook wrote an essay entitled "The Memoirs of a Token: An Aging Berkeley Feminist Examines Wired." In this essay, she discusses her frustration with the technology-oriented magazine, and how she feels that its content and its editorial staff are degrading to women. She refers to the magazine as "the wishbook of material desire for young men," (26) and questions whether such publications, which "exude the smell of new machines" might send "subtle gendered cues that say 'Boys club! Fun for us! None of that cuddly touchy-feely serious crap that reminds us of moms/girlfriends/schoolmarms!' "(26-7). She noticed that in 1995, only 15% of Wired's authors were women, and that historically, men held all the editorial positions of the magazine

In 1999, the statistics from Wired have improved: in their April 1999 issue, approximately 30% of the authors are women, and females now hold 11 of the top 28 masthead positions, including that of editor-in-chief. While this might at first seem a drastic improvement for a magazine whose readership is upwards of 25% female, once past the table of contents pages, the feel of the magazine shifts drastically. Throughout the 204-page issue, there are only five photographs featuring one sole woman; three of these pictures are advertisements, and two are included in a short article about "People" (70). One of the aforementioned advertisements, found on page 69 of the issue, features a casually dressed, confident-looking woman; unfortunately, this is the exception, not the rule. The first advertisement, on page 42, features a trendily-dressed young woman at a telephone booth. A poster on the side of the booth reads, "Sending E-Mail to Internet boyfriend titled 'No Cybersex, Headache.'" This message is directly equating the young woman in the advertisement with sex, regardless of whether she is supposedly rejecting her boyfriend's advances. Even more blatant is the now-controversial Palm Pilot ad, found on page 51-2 of the magazine. In this advertisement, a naked woman is sitting with her face buried against her knees, which are pulled up to her chin. She is holding a Palm Pilot in front of her. On the next page, the reader sees the woman from the back, still nude, holding the Palm Pilot behind her. While the ad has definite aesthetic value from an artistic standpoint, many women see it as insulting and objectifying. That this is the dominant female image found in Wired's April 1999 issue provokes a somewhat contradictory reaction to that of the statistical improvement of women's involvement in the magazine throughout the past three years. One must wonder what the underlying message is from Wired to women, and how long the magazine will continue to alienate a relatively large percentage of its readers to appease its advertisers.

From a more mainstream perspective, the March 1999 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine also offers some interesting advice to women in computing. Included in this issue is an article entitled "30 Skills Every Cosmo Girl Must Master." Skill #20 is "Surfing the Net," which states:

You are frantically hunting for the official Brad Pitt Fan Club Home Page -- but all you find are Welcome to Pittsburgh sites? Here's a techie tip: When searching for something that has more than one word -- like Brad Pitt -- put the whole name in quotation marks. (260)

By equating web research with a teen-idol-like movie actor, Cosmopolitan sends a definite message to women regarding the ways in which they should be using their computers. It would not have been unreasonable for the magazine to have used "searching for colleges" or "researching a better job online" as an example for web research rather than a male sex symbol; by choosing the latter, Cosmopolitan displays a stereotypical viewpoint that women use the Internet solely for gossip and frivolous activities.

Along with the aforementioned article, Cosmopolitan includes a short sidebar entitled "Stupid Steps SOS!" with the explanation that "Even a superwoman like yourself should never attempt these five most-likely-to-backfire moves" (261). The first four "Stupid Steps" include putting on eyeliner in a moving vehicle, making unreasonable demands from a boss, making a fancy dinner without testing the recipes first, and double-process coloring one's hair -- all of which play on gender stereotypes, but are relatively benign. It is good advice not to attempt to put on eyeliner in a moving vehicle, especially, as Cosmopolitan helpfully points out, if you are the driver. There is no way to learn to do this; no amount of research or practice can help. However, Cosmopolitan's fifth "Stupid Step" reads, "Attempting to install more memory on your computer yourself." This sends a very obvious and unfortunate message to women regarding their roles in the care of their computers: take it to the man at the service counter to fix. Learning to install memory on modern computers is not difficult; it involves a willingness to pay attention to details (such as the type of memory one's computer needs) and an attempt to read the computer's manual. Most modern computer manufacturers assume that owners will want to do this themselves, and have assembled the innards of their computers accordingly, with convenient ways to open the casing and access the memory chips. For Cosmopolitan to assume that this is above and beyond a woman's intellect or capacity is insulting. With messages like this from mainstream magazines, it is little wonder that young women are reticent to enter the technology field, and feel largely inadequate while dealing with computers.

In conclusion, it is evident that women in computing are not always portrayed in a favorable light by today's media. Whether it be by Wired's use of naked women to sell products or the insinuation in Cosmopolitan that women do not use their computers for serious activity, the message is very clear that women in computing still have a ways to go to convince the media that they are the intellectual equals of the men in their field. Unfortunately, it seems as though today's media still regards computers and technological equipment as "boy toys," and therefore has little trouble with using objectifying or insulting images and stereotypes of women in their advertisements and productions.

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