Unspoken Control and Gender Expectations

Dr. Sherry Turkle's book Life On the Screen illuminates the relationship that our society has developed with computers. Her observations about the influence of gender roles on computer culture show that control is not always explicit. Sometimes simple cultural expectations exercise control over technology, creating situations where people tend to stay within boundaries even though there is no official rule.

Dr. Turkle asserts that computer programming has a history of being dominated by principles associated with masculinity: totally planned coding, imposing the will of the programmer on the computer, terms like "abort" and "killing" programs. The alternative programming style: tinkering and rearranging lines of code without a strict plan, cultivating an intimate relationship with the computer, cooperating with it in a creative process are associated with femininity in our culture. The masculine programming style was the canonical process for the first decades of digital computing.



People who programmed in the "feminine" style, whether male or female, were looked down on by the programming establishment and if a student wanted to retain their style as they took computing classes they had to be prepared for a battle.

Thus there was an unspoken, social control over the development of the personal computer. But technology has developed so much that using a computer in an artistic way seems more reasonable (think of the Adobe creative suite). Now it's acceptable to have a much more intimate working relationship with your computer. Programmers are even encouraged to think outside the box and embrace their creativity in many companies.

Touchscreens are the most recent development that is assisting the movement towards an intimate relationship with computers. We interact now instead of demanding with a pointer.

Here are my thoughts:

So if that unspoken method of control is moot, are there any that are still in place? What can I not see because I'm too close to the situation?