Blair, Kristine. “A Complicated Geometry: Triangulating Feminism, Activism, and Technological Literacy.” Writing Studies Research in Practice: Methods and Methodologies, Southern Illinois University Press, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central. Web. 63-72.
Summary:
The main objective in this article is to tie together, or triangulate, the three aspects of feminism, activism, and technology. Blair states in her essay that there should be a pressing need to educate girls’ literacy technology skills, and to incorporate and encourage women to take on technologically-centered skills and to utilize these abilities when writing.
Blair brings in Judy Wajcman, who defines “technofeminist research” and claims that technofeminism represents the coming together of diverse females who can familiarize themselves with the digital world, and who can then share their story with a greater audience online. The sharing of women’s’ narratives online allows for incredible dialogue and narrative-sharing to take place worldwide, and this all begins with the growth of female technology literacy, as men are commonly guided towards technological skills, leaving women behind.
So what defines feminist research? According to the article feminist research must acknowledge women’s experiences, provide a theoretical framework of gender and power in explanation of patriarchal social phenomena, and acknowledge the position of the researcher and the cultural assumptions that he or she might bring to the research. Feminist research is world-sharing, and it’s vital that women have the online platform to share their story and to learn of other female experiences. Women need technological literacy skills to further feminist research, and women must deploy activist politics to educate women on technological literacy. Some questions we must consider when making technological literacy more available to women are as follows: how and why do women use technology in their daily lives, what are the material or capital restraints of technological literacy, and what methods should be utilized to enable opportunities for women to be more literate in technology?
One form of technological literacy that is knowledgeable, powerful, and available for most women is narrative writing- telling other women around the world what your female experience has been, what your life is like, etc. Any women can write her own narrative, but we want every woman, any woman, to be able to share her story online. We want these female experiences to be shared with the world. Sharing these narratives online and educating women to have independent technological literacy is empowering and important. So how can this be achieved? There are two goals we must strive for: 1. to research the extent to which electronic spaces have been hospital and available to women from diverse backgrounds, and 2. to provide spaces in our teaching where these diverse groups of women to have more of a role in shaping our understanding of technology’s possibilities and usages.
One example where this practice has been employed is a 3-day computer camp program titled Digital Mirror Computer Camp, where girls can develop skills in blogging, authoring, digital imaging and editing, etc. This camp is now in its fifth year and has been an extremely successful program for new and returning girls to learn about computer skills that are otherwise commonly targeted to men. Programs like this are great at reaching out to young women to broaden their computer skills, allowing them to become confident and knowledgeable with modern technology.
In closing, Blair actively advocates for the technological literacy skills of women, especially young women, to be taught and spread. Educating women to be knowledgeable with computer skills allows them to share their story with others and support themselves. We must strive to create a community of women who are well-versed in technological literacy skills, we must teach other women these skills, and actively push for women to have more of a role in the online community.
Quote Bank:
- “This chapter emphasizes the importance of ‘technofeminist research,’ which Judy Wajcman defines as a ‘scholarly activity that redefines the problem of the exclusion of groups of people from technological domains and activities’” (64)
- “Feminists must learn to deploy an activist politics that can address issues of identity, representation, and empowerment in a digital age” (65)
- “Women with limited access to technology can often view a lack of technological knowledge as an innate inability to use computers” (66)
- “The emphasis on narrative of lived experience across media genres is not only a necessary methodological approach but also a potentially powerful form of technofeminist, activist research” (68)
- “As an example for such activist outreach, my most recent technological literacy project is a three-day residential computer camp for middle school girls titled the Digital Mirror Computer Camp, a space in which girls develop skills in blogging, web authoring, digital imaging, and video and audio editing” (69)
Analytical Reflection:
Overall, I found this article to be interesting and informative. I hadn’t previously considered the importance of ensuring that technological literacy skills are available to all, especially women. However, this essay really focused on the problem of the triangulation of feminism, activism, and technological literacy, but it’s difficult to point out plausible solutions to this social issue. Computer Camp Skills are smart, but there aren’t enough educational programs like this around the world to fulfill the hefty goals set forth in the piece. It’s easy to write about the problem but challenging to address real-life and accessible solutions for this.
Another aspect of this essay that was noteworthy was Blair’s incorporation of other scholarly sources and quotes. Blair turns to other academic scholars in the field such as Wajcman to better define technofeminist research and to put these scholars in conversation with the field. This shows a persistence by scholars, and Blair herself, to share the advocation for technofeminist research and activism with the greater academic community.
For my own pedagogical research design, I’m planning on implementing a game-based learning activity every other week to study the effects of GBL activities and comprehension levels in English 101 students. I plan on using Kahoot for a couple games. Kahoot is free online website when teachers can design multiple choice questions which students answer from a personal account on their own phones, tablets, or computers. The questions will be shown on the big screen via the class computer and the students will submit their answer choice from their own technological device. This GBL activity utilizes technology very clearly, both I as the instructor and my students will rely on our devices to play and create this game. Technological literacy is extremely important, and this is something I hadn’t recognized prior to reading this article.
I can confidently say that I take technological literacy skills for granted. I rely heavily on technology and so does my class curriculum, proving that it is extremely beneficial for women (and men) in academia to be well-versed and knowledgeable in technology.