Variations 27
Gender Through Technology
The relationship between technology and gender has increasingly become a focus of research in recent years. Processes of technologization and digitalization not only influence gender and power relations but also create a historically significant reciprocity between technology and gender: technology can be described not only as a cause but also as a consequence of the transformation of gender relations. In the early 20th century, new professional roles such as stenotypist, secretary, and telephone operator emerged, where technology structured work in a gender-specific way.
Currently, the gendering of technological artifacts is evident in so-called intelligent personal assistants like Siri and Alexa, which are equipped with female voices and seem to tie into traditional role models. The current special issue "Gender through Technology" of the comparative journal Variations gathers German-, French-, and English-language contributions that examine the diverse interrelationships between gender discourses and technology. This includes cultural studies approaches as well as analyses influenced by literary and film studies.