I moved recently and learned an important lesson about the necessity of feminist technology. Although I tried to keep my possessions limited to objects I could handle by myself, I ended up recruiting my dad and my brother to help with my move. This isn’t just because I’m a pack rat.

I found it difficult to move by myself because many objects simply aren’t designed for women to use and carry. Feminist technology is broadly defined in a recently published volume of the same name as tools and knowledge that enhance women’s capabilities. In my case I am interested in improving my ability to relocate on my own.

Feminist Technology includes pieces from ten contributors and a range of subjects from menstrual suppression to encouraging feminist inventors. The authors are from diverse backgrounds yet some threads of reasoning are present in most of the arguments. Thankfully one of those threads contends that feminism is not uniform. In the same vein, women are not all alike and one design will not benefit all.

Another point that carries through the book stresses that the use of an object --by women and others -- as well as its physical form may determine whether it is helpful to women or not. The method I use to transport a bookcase, how I try to hold it, whether I attempt to roll it -- or whether my dad drops it on me -- contribute to my chance of getting from point A to B as much as the dimensions of the bookcase.

The use of an object is, of course, influenced by social context and this applies as much to the book Feminist Technology as to the technology it examines. Feminist Technology is not a primer on design or methods of social inquiry. The collection of essays facilitates a dialogue between disciplines. One aim of this dialogue is to afford feminist design a place in programs similar to that of green design. The answer to whether or not a design is feminist depends but people should definitely be asking the question.

I was delighted to find that a commenter on the publisher’s blog is thinking about home improvement materials in terms of portability for women as I have been thinking about household objects. The book is already generating discussion so I’d call Feminist Technology an effective feminist technology.

Co-editor of Feminist Technology, Linda L. Layne -- Hale Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences and a professor of anthropology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute -- says "We want to have better products in the world, not just more scholarship. Instead of post facto feminist critiques of technology, our goal is to intervene up front with the aim of getting feminism to have a pervasive influence on design.”

Layne is currently working on a follow-up and is seeking feminist entrepreneurs to be included in the book. If you are or know of a feminist entrepreneur please contact Layne at .

Feminist Technology
Edited by Linda Layne, Sharra Vostral, and Kate Boyer
University of Illinois Press

Image courtesy University of Illinois Press

How have you used "feminist technologies" in your life? Share your thoughts in the comments section below or tell your story in the Your Stories section of our site (registration and login required).

TrackBack URI for this entry

0 Comments

Show/Hide comments

Show/Hide comment form