Technology's Influence on Gender and Sexuality

Feminism

What is it? And what is its purpose?

A political movement concerned with women’s oppression and the means and ways to empower women

To eliminate a long established patriarchal society

Not all societies have a patriarchal view

History

1920—Women’s Suffrage

1968 Bra Burning—protesting Miss America pageant

1980s and ‘90s--Post-Feminism

Technology’s role?

Television and radio helped to spread the ideas of Feminism

Technology’s role now?

Blogs and Internet are the new medium for communication

Feministing

Feministe

Our Bodies Our Blog

Jezebel

Broadsheet

Male dominance in technological fields

20% CS majors

27% in CS jobs

down from 30% a decade ago

The growth of feminism has caused it to shift to post-feminism

Most people generally believe in the idea of women’s rights, but the ideals of feminism is now defined by each individual

 Zack in dress

Zack is late—comes in with dress on

Colette ask class to define Zack’s gender and sexuality from 3 different perspectives

1) First day of class

2) Right now

3) How he perceives it

Gender

Sex vs. Gender?

Is there really a difference?

Historically

gender was defined by cultural appearance

sex was defined by biological appearance

Now?

The line between gender and sex has been blurred due to technology (communication, medical)

Femininity and Masculinity

How do we define our technologies?

Google Glass

YouTube

Smart Board

Yoga Balls

Pebble Watch

GroupMe

Snapchat

Re-Walk

Arduino

Ancestry.com

Autismate

My Fitness Pal

Infrascanner

Wolfram Alpha

23 & me

Everyone’s were different

not everything can be strictly labeled as Male or Female

What is Masculinity and Femininity?

Socially and Self-defined

Reference technology picks.

Reference to Zack in dress

Reference to feminism

What’s blurring the line?

Medical

Sexual Reassignment Surgery

Transexuals increases by 14% each year and the average age is rising--LGBT Health Summit in Bristol UK

Communication

Online dating

The stigma associated with it has completely changed in the past 10 years

Similarly, Instagram and Pintrest

Have molded photography from a male dominated field to a female hobby

Facebook profiles (show a FB profile)

Defining our gender and sexuality

Only allows for Male and Female (no other option), but does allow different sexualities

Appeals to varying sexual orientations but not genders

Sexuality

Differences in sexuality are more culturally accepted than differences in gender

i.e. It’s more socially acceptable to be gay than to be transgender

This is why Facebook allows for a variety of sexual orientations, but not genders

What is sexuality?

Someone’s self defined expression of feelings of desire, attraction, and excitement towards others

When boiled down, it’s a desire for sexual experiences

Do sexuality and gender go hand in hand? –poll the class-

Sexuality is different from gender!

I could decide to only dress like this (im wearing a dress) every day from now on, but still date women (that’s my gender changing)

I could decide to only date boys tomorrow, but continue to want to be a man (that’s my sexuality)

Clearly these aren’t just a decision to be made, but these two instances are very real

Technology’s role?

Created a more post-feminist world

blur the line between sex and gender

defined the difference between gender and sexuality

Thank you for your time!

Postmodernism & the Digital Age

Postmodernism is

• A rejection of the ideals of modernism
• Canonized great literary works and fine art
• A rejection of the categories of  “high art” and “mass media”
• Andy Warhol & pop art
• Encouraged people to find art in everyday life
• Jean-François Lyotard The Post-Modern Condition (1979) which introduced postmodernism into academic study.
• A rejection of metanarratives, or anything that is considered universally true.
• Pluralism
• Value of objects not on their importance to individuals, but to the community as a whole.
• The distinction between popular culture (the culture of the masses) and high culture (the culture of the elite) is relatively lost—therefore we are less capable of distinguishing between “good” and “bad” culture.
• Globalization
• Misconception that globalization is congruent to Americanization, which is the phenomenon in which the attitudes and culture of America matriculates into other international cultures.
• The hybridity of cultures, not the dominance of the American culture over everything else
• The spread of technology is one of the main reasons globalization has been enabled. 

We emphasized these points through three presentations:

The first was a demonstration of plurality and postmodern principles through an activity involving metanarratives formed through the composition of songs and images.


The second was a presentation of the history of postmodernism.

Postmodernism

The third was a presentation on pluralism and globalization.

Fundawear

"Touch me over the Internet!"

This is the kiss transmission device on steroids. Check it out:

http://ifunny.mobi/i/TKKYCMNy

What does this promote? Would you use it?

I see nothing negative it promotes. And yes, I would use it. I'm willing to admit it. I see it restoring a feeling of intimacy over a long distance much better than KTD. 

Thoughts?

Wolfram Alpha

Wolfram Alpha is an online answer engine.  Let it be noted that this differs from Google because Google is a search engine; where Google searches the web and provides links that may answer your search, Wolfram Alpha computes an answer itself.  That is, it provides specific answers to questions, as opposed to providing links to other websites for answers.

Y'all can read more specifics about Wolfram Alpha on the website:
About Section

I believe Rosen would support this technology, because he writes, in iDisorder, "Avoiding an iDisorder does not mean getting rid of your technology.  Most assuredly the solution is about balance and moderation." (15)  This follows what we said in class.  The majority seems to have concluded that it is important to learn mathematical computational skills, but once the computation is understood, the technology may be a beneficial time saver.

23andme

23andme.com is a wonderful resource that allows individuals to explore more than any family tree could tell them. Not only does it help build a family tree based on genetics, but it gives the user power over their own health. Since knowledge is power, it allows you to partake in preventative medicine. 

However, this service proves to have some flaws that could be potentially hurting their business. One main flaw is a lack of good customer support. Many customers complained on other websites such as Amazon, saying to "NEVER use this site" because of the lack of communication between the buyer and the seller. Also this website seems to have less genealogy information than another website like ancestry.com. Another huge flaw is that it has given customers inaccurate data about the readings of their DNA in several instances. This can be terrible for someone who believes their family heritage may be from a whole different continent than where he/she is really from. Many customers reviews spoke for themselves saying that this technology may not be worth it. 

Rosen would not like this technology because you are treating for a disease that you may never have, since 23andme only provides percentages.

Here DARPA goes again...

I just came across this article on Gizmag and I thought I would share it with y'all given the presentation Griffin and I gave on Argus-is earlier in the semester. As you can read in the article, DARPA is currently working on a navigation chip that defeats the limitations of a traditional GPS. We had an interesting debate about the pros and cons of Argus and I'm just curious to know your opinion on this technology. What are the implications? In my opinion, the article presents this chip in a positive light, but do you think it could be used negatively?

http://www.gizmag.com/darpa-timu-gps/27039/

Yoga Balls

So I investigated the Pros and Cons of using Yoga Balls in a classroom setting. From my perspective, the pros outweigh the cons. The use of yoga balls exercises the core muscles, which with repeated use can improve posture. With the core engaged, the body's blood flow increases and allows more oxygen to get to the brain, increasing alertness and concentration. Research also suggests that the younger generation work better when multitasking, so the yoga ball may help in this way as well. Another detail is the cost effectiveness of yoga balls. A yoga ball costs a quarter of what a typical school chair would. 

Some fear that introducing yoga balls will be a distraction to the students, because of mischievous children bouncy and rolling the balls while they should be learning. It has the possibility of a lot of sounds and distractions, as well as possible injuries that may be caused by misuse. Another problem that is encountered in schools is the wastefulness. Why should chairs be replaced by yoga balls if the chairs are still usable?

Rosen would encourage the use of yoga balls as a technology because it is a physical technology instead of a virtual technology like computers or the internet. Also since it is so simple but useful, it would lessen any technology anxiety or OCD someone might have. 

http://prezi.com/oaomcwwffplo/untitled-prezi/?kw=view-oaomcwwffplo&rc=ref-29436495