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We have all heard the age old explanation of the female stereotype--"barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen." David Nicholson's essay, "Cyber-Gender Stereotypes Just Don't Compute," explores the reasons why this stereotyping of women is not applicable in the computer age.
Nicholson admits that computers and technology have always "appeared to be a guy thing... like sports cars, baseball and expensive stereo equipment" (187). He adds that the reason for this way of thinking is due to the media's skewed view of "computer whizzes as white, male, geeks and nerds" (187).
After a series of interviews with various female professionals, Nicholson admits that he has changed his mind about female aptitudes for computers and technology. He adds that woman have more of a willingness to experiment, "to ask 'What if?' and see if they could, or 'How do I do that?' and then try" when it comes to computing (188). Women want to be able to understand and utilize their computers. The size of a computer's hard drive or the speed of a computer processor is not a primary concern for women.
Men, on the other hand, are fascinated by new technology. "We boast about the speed of our processors and the size of out hard drives" (188). Nicholson goes even further to describe this male oriented feeling as "hard drive envy."
I think that David Nicholson makes an important discovery in this essay. Women should not be subject to the stereotyping of the past. Women are no longer barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen. Women are no longer ignorant of the ever changing technological world around them. We have become "compu-tent" because of our adaptable personalities and willingness to learn about new things. In my opinion, most men are much less computer literate than Nicholson suggests. Although this is a generalization, I believe that most men use their computers for word-processing and game playing. They just aren't interested in much more than that. Women are surpassing men in the world of computers and technology and therefore the old adage must be changed. Compu-tent is a much better description of women these days.
Nicholson, David. "Cyber-Gender Stereotypes Just Don't Compute." Cyberreader. 2nd ed. Ed. Victor J. Vitanza. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 1999. 187-189.