...June Deery examines the role technology plays on female citizens in Huxley’s novel in “Technology and Gender in Aldous Huxley’s Alternative Worlds”. As a byproduct of the implemented technology, Deery discovers the blatantly visible gender bias. Despite this detail, the critic states how technology may be beneficial to women in certain instances. For example, “there [would be] no housework, no wifely subjugation, no need to balance children and a career” (Deery 1). However, the author believes the inconspicuous suggestions of women inferiority should not go unnoticed. For instance, she notes how at first, the gender of the narrator is undefined, but when a woman is first recognized, it is through the point of view of a male. This reinforces the dependency women should have on men. Furthermore, Deery claims that Huxley associates technology with masculinity....
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...possible without the pioneers of the Women’s Rights Movement; however there are still challenges women face, such as gender discrimination. Gender discrimination is treating individuals differently in their employment specifically because the individual is a woman or a man. Currently the federal law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, protects individuals from discrimination based upon sex or gender. This law makes it illegal for an employer to discriminate against individuals because of their gender in the following actions: hiring, firing, and other terms and conditions of employments, such as promotions, raises, and other job opportunities. Title VII covers all private employers, state and local government, and educational institutions that employ more than 15 individuals. Even though gender discrimination is illegal for companies to discriminate against, it seems to still be an issue in the 21st century. The focus of this research paper is on gender discrimination in the technology industry in Silicon Valley as recent news scandals by companies such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter have made mainstream media, the reasons why women are behind in the technology industry and how companies manage or should manage their operations in order to prevent gender discrimination. It is an unfortunate fact of life that much of Silicon Valley and the technology industry is...
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...Patrick D. Hopkins’ “Introduction: The Intersection of Culture, Gender, and Technology,” in Sex/Machine: Readings in Culture, Gender, and Technology examines the way in which virtually all forms of technology are gendered. The overall claim Hopkins makes in this section is that, although technology is constantly advancing, it still entails the old stereotypes and polarizing dichotomies that are currently implemented in this patriarchal society in which we live in. Commencing his work, he explains that “[m]uch of the debate over technology in general, and technology’s effects on gender roles and identity in particular, is generated by the fear that new technologies are moving too fast, or too far, or in the wrong direction from traditional...
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...proposed here asserts that equality of opportunity of women and men is more likely to be achieved if both genders embrace the changes now occurring in communication and information use with similar vigour. This term paper seeks to highlight on the concept of gender discrimination, even as sundry instances of the persistent issue is well sustained. The argument proposed here provides an anecdotal rather than theoretical overview of the way in which the use of information technology has come to dominate modern decision making in a variety of contexts. The dimension of women disparity and the need to correct such inequality is elaborated. Finally, the areas of applications of information technology in curbing gender differences and the probable outcome of such applications is well addressed. INTRODUCTION Women are key to the development challenge. Throughout the developing world, women are at a disadvantage at the household, community, and societal levels. Within the household, women have less access to and control over resources and limited influence over household decisions. Beyond the household, women have limited access to communal resources, are under-represented in public decision-making bodies; have limited bargaining power in markets (such as the labour market), and often lack opportunities to improve their socioeconomic position. Therefore, efforts to reduce gender inequality are required on multiple fronts. However, the feminization of poverty is not so much about more...
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...Human Gender Selecting Jessica McIntosh Medical Office Management Dr. Bridget Kelly Bryant & Stratton ABSTRACT This paper aims to provide a concise review of the ethical issues that are commonly raised in the debate between non-medical sex selection and natural selection. Background information on sex selection technologies is provided, as is a description of the process regarding the medical procedure. Arguments for and against gender selection will be explained and compared and conclusions will be drawn. Included will be the pros and cons of gender selection. Finally, the views of people I know as well as my own. Aside from cases in which it is used to prevent an inherited disease more likely to strike one gender than the other, should parents be permitted to use technology that selects the gender of their children? One of the first pieces of information that parents receive about a newborn baby is its gender. The widespread use of ultrasound technology during pregnancy even allows many parents to find out whether their baby is male or female before it is born. In recent years, technology has enabled parents to go one step further. They can now, with a good chance of success, take steps to select the gender of their children. While gender selection is legal in the U.S., it has generated some controversy among the medical advisory groups that tackle questions of bioethics. For instance, although the sperm-separation method is widely endorsed for families...
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...and economical inequalities. One institutionally predominant type of feminism focuses on limiting or eradicating gender inequality to promote women's rights, interests, and issues in society. Another opposing type of modern feminism, with deep historical roots, focuses on earning, and establishing equity by and for women, vis-a-vis men, to promote those same rights, interests, and issues, regardless of gender considerations. Thus, as with any ideology, political movement or philosophy, there is no single, universal form of feminism that represents all feminists. The most well-known types of feminism are: liberal feminism, social feminism, radical feminism, and post-modern feminism. Liberal feminism seeks no special privileges for women and simply demand that everyone receive equal consideration without discrimination on the basis of sex. Liberal feminists would seek to remove barriers that prevent equal access for women to information technology jobs not only to provide economic equality but to provide access to higher-paying jobs for women. In contrast to liberal feminism, socialist feminism rejects individualism and positivism. Social feminism believes that technology and the social shaping of technology have often been conceptualized in terms of men, excluding women at all levels. Socialist feminist reform suggests that the allocation of resources for technology development should be determined by greatest benefit for the common good. A growing use of cyber protests to disrupt...
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...It’s clear that the world is divided into two genders, and these two sexes have been a subject of definition by every known society. The culture is seen as a huge determinant to the roles that each gender will play. Therefore, sexism will be defined as a social construct that promotes the discrimination of individuals based on an individual’s gender. Sexism arises from stereotypes that define the roles of both sexes, therefore having issues when the gender roles are performed by the opposite sex. This social construct mainly affects the minority group identified as women and girls. Sexism is recognized in all aspect of life, and it’s not strange to identify it in the technology industry. The male figure has always identified its gender role as the provider. This social construct originated from the nature of man been the hunter who provided his family with their daily meal. Therefore relegating the women to the role of caretaker and this aspect has kept its hold over the society. In the 21st century, sexism has been a covert and subtle process that tries to establish an environment that is less friendly and less accessible to women. It’s clear that sexism is evident in the Silicon Valley and beyond. We also identify that the technology aspect has always been associated with male perspective. Therefore, it has become common to hear a conversation about women who have suffered sexism and sexual harassment in their digital related jobs. Women have also been identified to facilitate...
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...BEHAVIORAL INFLUENCE OF MODERNIZATION ON THE CULTURE OF AUSTRALIA Over the years, technology in many ways has crept into the society having a huge moral hold on decision-making and our culture. The purpose of the study is to stimulate a reflection on the relationship between modernization and culture. My case study will examine the general behavior over time of Australians, through the regular monitoring of their Sources of information and technological advancement throughout this time, asking the question, how is modernization affecting behavioral and cultural change? A recent study by Professor Andrew Urevbu (1997) focused on the relationship between media, age, sex, religiosity and its influences on the culture of people. The study examined the given variables in an external or international context with the aim of Australia holding the same results (Merchant, 2007, 432). In recent years, technology has been internalized in almost every sector including the information sector and industrial sector. This has led to modernization of the world. Through the study of sociocultural influences, a look at the incorporating technological diversity into culture and its effects over time (Eshun and Gurung, 2009, 176-236). In every society, attitude, vices, values and behavioral patterns define the way of life. Across Europe and the USA, the media have influenced many of these behaviors. There has been a long list of finds particularly on media showing that viewing of violent media...
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...Analysis of Ethical Dilemma Deanna Romain Grand Canyon University Ethical Decision Making in Health Care NRS 437V Jennifer Wood August 28, 2011 Analysis of Ethical Dilemma Is gender selection of a fetus ethical? With new advances in reproductive technology, parents can not only find out if their embryo has genetic abnormalities, they can also find out the gender of their embryo. The ethical dilemma is whether or not one should be able to choose their child’s gender before implantation. Some compare this method of gender selection to human cloning. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) is the testing of the chromosomes of the embryo to determine genetic abnormalities and gender prior to in-vitro fertilization (IVF). In the United States, gender selection by PGD is considered a violation of ethical practices for non-medical purposes (Akchurin, n.d.) CNN.com reported recently that a new blood test has been discovered which can determine the sex of a fetus as early as seven weeks gestation. This achievement was reported in the Journal of American Medical Association in August. This technology is already starting ethical debates fearing parents will use this technology for sex determination and abort healthy fetuses (Ravitsky, 2011). This new technology could also be beneficial in determining gender if their child is at risk for a sex-linked disease such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy or hemophilia. In China and India, there is a cultural preference for males, and for years...
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...Grint, K and Nixon, D., The Sociology of Work 4th Edition, Cambridge: Polity. Walby, S. (2011) “Is the Knowledge Society Gendered?”, Gender, Work and Organization, 18(1), 1 – 29. In this short treatise this author will initially discuss the research of Grint and Nixon (2015) followed by Walby (2011). This author will conclude the treatise with a brief evaluation of the theories presented. Grint and Nixon’s (2015) reading investigates the concept of the Post Industrial Society as espoused by Bell (1973) and explores its evolution through the end of the 20th Century and through the first decade of the 21st Century. In doing so it also highlights the decline in the active male workforce and the rise in the active female workforce. Bell’s argument that a post-industrial work environment would be characterised by knowledge-intensive work (the Knowledge Society) is counteracted by Braverman’s (1974) argument that a form of post-industrial Taylorism would serve to de-skill society rather than enhance knowledge. Braverman’s arguments are supported by Kumar (2005) who argues that information technology is more likely to proletarianize than professionalize, reducing knowledge and the level of control workers have over their work. Kumar (2005) cites Carlo de Benedetti, then the MD of Olivetti, who said “information technology is basically a technology of coordination and control of the labour force, the white collar workers” (Grint, p 275). The authors cite Castells (2000) and others...
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...Making sense of Gender and ICTs in Education: Exploring theoretical explanations for complex findings. Cheryl Brown and Laura Czerniewicz University of Cape Town Abstract This paper examines findings from two surveys of 10110 university students conducted in South Africa in 2004 and 2007. We report on the differences between male and females students access to and use of ICTs for learning. In particular we note that whilst equal opportunities do largely exist for both genders, there are subtle differences in terms of female students practical access and sense of personal agency. Findings about use are complicated with male students using ICTs more frequently particularly in the sciences disciplines and for activities such as information seeking and communication (in contrast to research elsewhere). In order to try and better understand our findings we explore four different theoretical perspectives namely; Bourdieu’s notion of habitus; Feminist Standpoint Theory; Critical Information Systems Theory; and Expectations States Theory. We then suggest using Bourdieu’s notion of habitus as we believe it offers us the most flexibility whilst enabling a gender focus to be maintained,. Introduction Research findings about gender differences and ICT access and use are complex and contradictory. While only a decade ago researchers were united about gender difference with regards to ICT access and use, recent discussions about gender divides are less emphatic, but more varied...
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...Magazines Catharina Landström This paper analyses cultural signification in the co-production of gender and technology. Focusing on the popular genre of motoring magazines, it discerns a pattern organising men and women in opposite relations to cars. Men’s relationships with cars are premised on passion and pleasure while women are figured as rational and unable to attach emotionally to cars. This “gendered economy of pleasure” is traced in a close reading of motoring magazine representations of cars and humans. Further, a DVD representation of the Volvo YCC, a concept car developed by women for an imagined female user, is discussed in relation to this semiotic pattern. The paper is conceptual, texts are interpreted in order to bring forward aspects of meaning-making that are not immediately obvious. The objective is to critically illuminate one aspect of the cultural production of the car as a masculine technology. Keywords: cars, gender, pleasure This paper suggests a way in which to think about the cultural construction of the car as a masculine technology. Interpreting representations in motoring magazines, it traces a “gendered economy of pleasure” that organises the symbolical meanings of relationships between humans and cars. The objective is to contribute a critical perspective on cultural meaning-making to the feminist interrogation of the co-production of gender and technology. The symbolical association of cars Science Studies, Vol. 19(2006) No.2, 31–53 with men and...
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...Sociological reasons for differences in gender choice There are a number of reasons for the difference in subject choices, for example stereotyping, labelling, peer pressure, gender domain, etc. Firstly a reason for early socialisation is gender difference in subject choices, this is because early socialisation shapes children's gender identity. Patricia Murphy and Jannette Elwood (1998) show how these lead to different subject choices. Boys read hobby books and information texts, while girls are more likely to read stories about people. This helps to explain why boys prefer science subjects and why girls prefer subjects such as English. Furthermore gender domain shapes the child as a young as due to there experience like Naima Browne and Carol Ross (1991) argues those children's beliefs about 'gender domains' shaped by their early experiences and the expectations of adults. By gender domains, they mean the tasks and activities that boys and girls see as male or female 'territory' and therefore as relevant to themselves as relevant to themselves. Children are more confident when engaging in tasks that they see as part of their own gender domain. Secondly the gendered subject images gear the different in subject choices this is as some subjects are seen as boys' or girls' subjects. For example Anne Colley (1998) notes that computer studies are seen as a masculine subject for two reasons: it involves working with machines - part of the male gender domain and the way it is taught is...
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...Considering the Complexity of Gender, Literacy, and Technology." Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 50.4 (2006): 300-307. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 Oct. 2015. Williams starts with a relative advocate but mention a wife in the kitchen and a husband on an out dated computer at the kitchen table. The wife is admiring her loving husband. While the husband is staring intently at the computer. William states that computers are more often than not portrayed in the media as a “guy thing”. But he says women are certainly portrayed as users of technology in the larger culture. What I get from this William is trying to portray that men are being stereotyped as computer geeks when in this society women are the voices for technology. “What changes are needed in the computer culture to improve its image, repair its deficits, and make it more appealing to girls and women?” (iv). "Gender Studies." Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology. Ed. Bryan S. Turner. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Credo Reference. Web. 26 Oct 2015. Turner starts with informing the readers that this topic has many subtopic to go with it which means more information on it. Turner then goes on by telling the readers other subtopic that can go with such as gender in feminism, women’s studies and many more. Turner moves on in to a sociology stand point and defines social constructionism. Turner says “Sociologists are concerned with understanding how people do, rather than have, gender . . .” Turner also mentions...
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...on the basis of sex. Liberal feminists would seek to remove barriers that prevent equal access for women to information technology jobs not only to provide economic equality but to provide access to higher-paying jobs for women. Radical feminism maintains that women’s oppression is the first, most widespread, and deepest oppression. Radical feminism rejects most scientific theories, data, and experiment not only because they exclude women but also because they are not women-centered. Radical feminism suggests that because men, masculinity, and patriarchy have become completely intertwined with technology and computer systems in our society, no truly feminist alternative to technology exists. Postmodern feminist theories imply that no universal research agenda or application of technologies will be appropriate and that various women will have different reactions to technologies depending upon their own class, race, sexuality, country, and other factors. This definition of postmodern feminism parallels the description of the complex and diverse co-evolution of women and computing. In contrast to liberal feminism, postmodernism dissolves the universal subject and the possibility that women speak in a unified voice or that they can be universally addressed. Wajcman's (1991) thoughtful analysis of the social constructivist perspective on gender and technology reveals some of the issues embedded in its assumptions. She points out that there is no behavior or meaning which is universally...
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