Professor Janet Abbate
ja134@umail.umd.edu
Office hours: Tuesday 1-3, 2101H Francis Scott Key Hall
Technology has a central place in human history. It has been used to define historical eras from the iron age to the information age; it shapes our lives and our relation to the natural environment and to other people. But until recently, half of the human population--women--have been conspicuous by their absence in the history of technology in America. The aim of this course is to explore how technology has been shaped by notions of gender (both masculine and feminine) and to uncover some of the many ways in which technology has affected women's lives.
We will explore a variety of topics and historical approaches to the study of women and technology, addressing such questions as: How do technologies become gendered? Who controls technologies that primarily affect women? How do new technologies alter the nature of the work women do? Are women's and men's inventions and skills equally valued and recognized? How does technology affect women's perceptions of themselves and their bodies? Readings will introduce current scholarship in areas ranging from the automobile to household appliances to cosmetic surgery.
Course requirements
You are expected to come to class having the assigned readings and prepared to contribute your own ideas, questions, and critiques to class discussion. The main writing requirement is a 15-20 page research paper that applies the questions, theories, and methods learned in class to a historical topic of your choice. There will also be some short (1 page or less) written responses to the readings, to be done either in class or in preparation for discussion. In order to spread the workload out over the term, I have scheduled three short quizzes rather than a huge final exam. (Note, however, that the third quiz will be held during finals week.)
Grade breakdown:
Discussion (includes written responses to readings): 25%
Research paper: 30%
Exams: 45% (3 quizzes worth 15% each)
Required readings (available at University Book Center and Maryland Book Exchange):
Cowan, Ruth Schwartz. 1983. More Work for Mother. Basic Books.
Haiken, Elizabeth. 1997. Venus Envy: A History of Cosmetic Surgery.Johns Hopkins Press.
Roger Horowitz and Arwen Mohun, eds. 1998. His and Hers: Gender,Consumption, and Technology. University Press of Virginia.
Scharff, Virginia. 1992. Taking the Wheel: Women and the Coming of the MotorAge. University of New Mexico Press.
Webster, Juliet. 1996. Shaping women's work: Gender, employment, and information technology. New York: Longman.
Thereare also 2 required articles on reserve at McKeldin Library:
Otos, Sally and Ellen Levy. 1983. "Word Processing: `This is Not a Final Draft'." In The Technological Woman, ed. Jan Zimmerman. New York:Praeger. 149-158.
GABe, Francis. 1983. "The GABe Self-Cleaning House." The Technological Woman, 75-82.
Schedule
September 1 Introduction
Technology,freedom, and power: Women and the automobile
Our first unit examines a technology with complex and shifting genderassociations: the automobile. We will ask, how have women's and men's experiences of this machine differed? How were female drivers able tolegitimate their use and control of these machines, and what obstacles did theyface? To what extent have women been able to share in the freedom andempowerment that the automobile symbolizes in American culture?
Summary of themes for this unit
September 8 Scharff chapters 1-5
September 13 Scharff chapters 6-7
September 15 Scharff 8-9
In-class writing exercise
Technology in "women's sphere": Household appliances
The home has traditionally been defined as "women's sphere," and continues tobe a site of female labor even when women work outside the home. This unit asks how technology has altered the nature of housework, how housekeeping tools havebeen shaped by assumptions about gender roles in the home, and what are thesymbolic meanings of household appliances.
Summary of themes for this unit
September 20 Cowan chapters 1 & 2
September 22 Cowan chapters 3 & 4
September 27 Library orientation: Class will meet at McKeldin Library room4135 for instruction with librarian Eric Lindquist.
September 29 Cowan chapters 6 & 7 [note: we are doing chapter 5 nextweek]
October 4 Cowan chapter 5 and GABe article
October 6 Quiz #1
Technology and the female body: Shaping identity
In this unit, we will use cosmetic surgery to examine how the relationship between technology and the female body. How has the medical profession used technology to make individual female bodies conform to social norms? In whatways has technology allowed women to control their appearance, and is this oppressive or empowering? How do cultures determine the boundary between the"natural" and the "artificial"?
Summary of themes for this unit
October 11 Haiken Introduction and chapter 1
October 13 Haiken chapter 2
October 18 Haiken chapter 3
October 20 Haiken chapter 4 (optional: chapter 5)
October 25 Haiken chapter 6 & Epilogue
October 27 Quiz #2
"Pink-collar" technologies: Women in the paid workplace
This unit uses information technology as a case study to examine how notions of gender--including assumptions about strength, technical skill, temperament, andfamily obligations--have shaped the mechanization of the workplace. We will ask why certain workplace machines, such as the word processor, become associatedwith female workers, and what the consequences of this are for women's employment opportunities.
Summary of themes for this unit
November 1 Webster chapters 1 & 2
November 3 Webster chapters 3 & 4
November 8 Webster chapter 5 & Otos and Levy article
November 10 Webster chapter 6 & Web sites (these will be linked to theon-line syllabus)
In-class writing exercise
Gender and the consumption of technology
The final unit looks at how the consumer behavior of both women and men is shaped by notions of gender. We will examine the social relations between the people using new technology to produce consumer items and those buying and using these products. How are the makers and marketers of new "high-tech"products influenced by contemporary gender roles and stereotypes? How do consumers themselves shape technologies to fit their own priorities? Case studies range from electrical appliances to chocolate candies.
November 15 Horowitz & Mohun chapter 1, pp. 7-32: Lubar
November 17 Horowitz & Mohun chapter 4, pp. 95-109: Williams, "Getting Housewives the Electric Message"
Juliane Neale, Kevin Barrow, Jessica Green
November 22 Horowitz & Mohun chapter 3, pp. 67-89: Cooper, "Love, War, and Chocolate"
Julianna Booth, Jennifer Stevenson, Zeenat Haq
November 24 Part I of paper due. Review Lubar, Cooper, and Williams
THANKSGIVING BREAK
November 29 Horowitz & Mohun chapter 5, pp. 115-132: Carlat, "A Cleanser for the Mind"
Emily Bantleton, Hope Jones, Xani Podolny
December 1 Horowitz & Mohun chapter 7, pp. 165-181: Parr, "Shopping for a Good Stove"
Heather Alfano, Oscar Hsu, Cathy Zamborsky
December 6 Horowitz & Mohun chapter 8, pp. 189-222: Cohen, "From Town Center to Shopping Center"
Maya Spottswood, Kenyetta Scipio
December 8 Review Carlat, Parr, and Cohen
December 13 Paper due. Review of course.
December 22, 10:30-12:30 Quiz #3 (final)