Transcript Racial and Gender Biases on the Internet

Racial and Gender Biases on the
Internet
Kevin Clements and Rachel Loria
Gender Gap:
The Stereotype
• Commonly held that there is a great divide
• Notion that it is a man’s world
• Women are inadequate and the lesser sex
(therefore, they can’t use the internet—so
why include them?)
(Social Science Quarterly)
Gender Gap:
The Reality
• Evidence shows that times are changing
– Internet geared more towards women
– More women are online
• “Women value [the Internet] for the human
connections” (The Guardian)
How many women
use the internet
• An estimated 50% of online users are women
• Women spend an average of 24.8 hours per
month online (men average around 22.9)
What men and
women seem to like
• Social networking is more popular for women
than men online (Facebook)
(PostMedia News)
What men and
women seem to like
• When it comes to Twitter, men are more likely
than women to post their own tweets
What men and
women seem to like
• Women like deals and promotions at shopping
sites
Online Shopping
• Websites seem very geared towards the
woman crowd
Web spaces geared
toward men and
women
• Men are more likely to read the news, check
weather forecasts, download music and do
job-related research.
• Women send emails, view maps, and get
background information on health problems.
(The Guardian)
Web spaces geared
towards men
• (news, weather forecasts, downloading music
and job-related research)
Web spaces geared
towards women
• (emails, viewing maps, and background
information on health problems)
Cyber-Racism
The Shape of CyberRacism
• Civilized messages, the “educational narrative”
• Humorous messages
• Self-preservation
“Educational”
Narrative
Humorous Messages
Self-preservation
Regulation?
• First amendment rights
– Hate speech
– Inciting violence
• Internet anonymity
• Websites cross national borders
Hope?