Nattering on the Net: Women, Power, and Cybersapce

By Dale Spender

Book Overview

Published Under the Garamond Imprint Multimedia, the information superhighway and the Internet have changed our world almost beyond recognition. Electronic networks have revolutionized the human relationship to time and space, and have undermined national boundaries. But what of class, race and gender boundaries? Is it true that women use technology, but men fall in love with it? Dale Spender promises to change the way we think about computers. She reveals that men are writing the road rules for the information superhighway subjecting women to new forms of sexual harassment and even data rape. Violence on the Internet is an all-too-common event in virtual reality. These are some of the problems raised by the new technologies, but Dale Spender is also excited about the possibilities of the new media. She asks, will the Internet create virtual sisterhood? Nattering on the Net is the result of many years' research during which the author made the transition from books to the Internet. She conveys her sheer delight cruising the Web and satisfying her unquenchable curiosity. She argues that it is creating unimaginable opportunities in the areas of education and authorship; the question is: can we use it for good?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1551930048
• ISBN13: 9781551930046
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

There's only one chapter about cyberspace, kids.

I definitely expected something different, but was not entirely disappointed with this book. Basically, Spender spends 95% of this book making sure the reader knows that women have seldom been dealt a fair hand when it comes to technological advances that involve the spread of information. A good introduction for people who've been living in a cave for thousands of years. She basically uses a brief chapter on the implications of cyberspace for women - how it is paramount that they be taught to use computers, etc., if they are to survive in the world of men - to bring her argument full-circle. A good read, but I expected more cyber-goodness.

Excellent, informative, well-written book

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which is not at all a how-to manual, but a philosophical yet lively, easy-to-read analysis of women and the internet: how the new medium affects how they relate to men, each other and the technology itself. Highly recommended for anyone interested in feminism, whether or not they have on-line experience.