WOMEN SPEAK

This book seeks to provide a better understanding of the relationship between women and technology through an inquiry into the significance of mobile phones in the lives of Portuguese women. Recent theoretical developments suggest too little emphasis has been placed on differences between women themselves. The initial impetus for carrying out this research stemmed from contributing towards meeting this gap by investigating the scope of mobile phones as the basis for the increased technological intimacy of women whilst without reinstating the old binary oppositions between men and women. The study focuses on the mobile phone as a site where the nuances of women’s experiences with technology become visible and on adult women as a meaningful yet underrepresented group. In choosing to conduct a case study of Portugal, I wished to contribute to the development of future cross-cultural analysis on the gendering of the mobile phone. Foreword Abstract Introduction 1. Motivation and Contribution 2. Research Problem 2.1. The Mobile Phone as a new media 2.2. Portugal as a case study 3. Theoretical Grounding 4. Research Design 5. Structure Part I – Framing Female Mobility 1. Feminism and Technology 1.1. Early Feminist Theories on Technology 1.2. Feminist Media Studies 1.3. Postmodern Feminist Approaches 2. On the Gendered Use of the Mobile Phone 2.1. Lessons from the Telephone 2.2. Men and women on the phone 2.3. Accounting for complexity in mobile gender practices Part II – Mapping the Portuguese Mobile Society 1. Gender Practices in Portugal 1.1. Family 1.2. Work and Employment 1.3. Education 1.4. Leisure and the use of Information and Communication Technologies 2. The Portuguese Mobile Society 2.2. Women’s voices Part III – Constructing and Deconstructing Gender in Mobile Communication 1. The Performativity of Mobile Phones 1.1. Color: Much More than Pink 1.2. Mobile Soundscapes 1.3. Image: Pictures of Home 2. Gender, Space, Place and Control 2.1. Women on the Move – Gendering Mobile Space 3. Gendered Time 3.1. Time Bind 3.2. Multitasking 3.4. Moving Time 3.5. Balancing the triple challenge of time: work, family, and personal time 4. Engendering Techno-Fragility 4.1. Stereotypes old and new 4.2. Mobile Fragilities Conclusion – Mobilities and Immobilities in the Gendering of the Mobile Phone Bibliography Index of Tables Table 1. Computer usage by gender 2002 to 2008, (%) Individuals between the ages of 16 and 74 Table 2. Internet Users by Gender 2002 to 2008, (%) Individuals between the ages of 16 and 74 Index of Figures Figure 1. Theoretical grounding Figure 2. Motorola© Press Advertisement Figure 3. Playstation© Portable Pink Edition Press Ad Figure 4. Kodak© Ad, 1910 Figure 5. Kodak© Ad, 1924 Figure 6. Example of Kodak©’s1940’s-50’s Magazine Ads Figure 7. Example of Kodak©’s 1960’s Magazine Ads Figure 8. Sony Ericsson© mobile camera phone advertisement Figure 9. Cartoon showing a woman using a mobile phone in a restaurant