Are We Excluding People?
Image by Guillermo Esteves via Flickr
This is just a thought at the moment, but aren’t we, as feminist bloggers, excluding not only those who don’t speak English, but those who can’t access technology?
An interesting conversation took place a while back in a grad class, and I didn’t blog about it then because, frankly, this blog wasn’t started yet, so it’s been rumbling around in my mind ever since. It went something like this:
Lady: Well, the great thing now is that the information gap is closing!
Me: How so?
Lady: Because everything is online! You can just type something in and it shows up and there you have it. Literally anyone can access it!
Me: Not everyone. You have to have access to a computer. Not to mention the internet.
Lady: Everybody has access to the internet! I mean, you can take your laptop anywhere and get free wi-fi.
Me: Sure. But you have to have a laptop. I paid $1400 for mine. I can imagine that might be an issue for some people.
Lady: Oh. Yea.
OK, so what can we do about reaching those who don’t have access to technology? Or what is being done? (What are you doing? I’d love to hear!) I have to admit, I’m not too well-versed with “real-world” feminism, and by that I mean what is going on outside the blogosphere. My activism has been totally online, mostly because I’m not sure what else can be done in my area, and I’m not sure how to find out. Leave some comments!
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I think you have wandered into a conversation about the digital divide. It’s a huge issue, and there is plenty of scholarship on the topic. I remember taking a wonderful class about cyberfeminsm in law school and discussing this topic in almost every class. Try this for a start of more articles, if anyone is interested: http://scholar.google.ca/scholar?q=gender+digital+divide+technology&hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&oi=scholart
I thought about this all day. Here’s what I’ve come up with. Start by figuring out which populations are being excluded. Who are they, where do they live, what are their needs? Most importantly, how do they communicate?
Did you have specific populations in mind? Are you thinking domestically or internationally?
Great thoughts. I wrote a post about this recently — The internet is no meritocracy. And I didn’t even realise that English has a monopoly on the internet.
I’m thinking of preparing workshops for high school kids. In disadvantaged communities, especially. I’m just worried over whether I’ll get buy-in from the schools.