Reading Response #5

It seems evident and clear technology has its set backs but has also shown to be powerful computing source that many people around the world use on a daily bases. In almost every work and home setting, there are people of both male and female using computers in various settings. As Cynthia Selfe talks about in her book “Lest we Think The Revolution is a Revolution” in which there are two narratives that we as Americans describe technology; One narrative, being the idealistic view of how we want to see computers “create new kinds of educational and economic opportunities for students – regardless of gender”, but Selfe argues that we usually rewrite this first narrative to “fit more snugly within the historically determined contexts that are familiar and comfortable to us”. Selfe is implying that we use traditional ideas of woman in a work and home setting and merge them to our newer ideas of technologic development; “Men use technology to accomplish things; women benefit from technology to enhance the ease of their lives or to benefit their families.” This second narrative suggests that women are mostly limited to certain roles within our current society.
I agree with the Cynthia Selfe on the premise that we aim at what we purpose is an ideal view of how Americans see computer usage and the gender roles towards that use them, and then we alter this ideal view to “fit more snugly” with within the historically determined contexts that are familiar and comfortable to us; but I disagree that women generally use computers in one way, and men in another way because of gender roles. I really like the concept that Cynthia implies with the title of her book “Lest we Think The Revolution is a Revolution”, meaning is there really a battle? Because people return to a more traditional, familiar and comfortable behavior because we are each biologically wired to have preferences and cognitive syntax’s that determine because I feel that this concept more explains the reason as to why Americans allow their ideal view of computer usage and gender roles to be over ruled by the “supposedly” force of traditional gender roles.
Though social and gender stigmas are heavily used as aid of commercials and advertisement as Selfe suggest, I disagree that it hinders the use of technology towards females. Technology and computers in no way have a “genderized” way of operation or use. Any person may use a computer to the same extent, without any prejudice of gender. Though commercials may be more geared towards selling games and computers at males, these are minuet tools of advertising and they might reinforce Americas “status quo” but only because people allow it to default back to a comfortable to status quo. Cynthia Selfe argues how we “support the status quo when technology threatens to disrupt the world in an meaningful way?’, but what exactly is disputing the world in a meaningful way?


CP