The general perception exists that boys are better at using technology than girls are, and this imbalance in access to new media might be due to the fact that girls are simply not as interested in technology as boys. Even if this were true, however, technology has become an integral part of contemporary life, both in leisure and in the workplace, and the provision of equal access to these resources has become a key feature in promoting gender equality and cannot be ignored.
Technological toys and the gendered contexts within which they are consumed tell us how technology might help to reinforce stereotypes and exacerbate gender inequality. The harsh segregation promoted by the toys and videogames industries promotes inequality in young people’s access to technology from an early age, leaving girls at particular disadvantage. By identifying and understanding these issues, parents and educators might find themselves better able to promote greater equality in young people’s access to technology.
Young children are very sensitive to gender differences as they are in the process of constructing their own gender identity, and for the most part avoid intentionally crossing gender barriers. This means that if a product is labelled – directly or indirectly - as being for the opposite sex, they are not likely to try to access it. By looking at some specific examples of successful toys which are currently in the market I will demonstrate that they are not marketed simply in a way that divides children in two distinct groups - each with their own share of stereotypical characteristics - but actually brackets girls within a group defined as different from ‘the norm’ which results in their ghettoising.
Vtech’s Challenger laptop looks remarkably like a real laptop and affords a variety of different uses, as it possesses a wide range of educational and recreational activities. The manufacturer’s describes this product as:
Upgraded design of our classic compact laptop with 40 curriculum-based activities including English, maths, music and basic French in a fun quiz show styled game play! Share the fun with friends with the 2-player mode. Progressive Learning System cuts study into manageable stages while the progress report can be printed out to show everyone how well you are doing! Real mouse and qwerty keyboard develop essential early computer skills while making fun learning feel grown-up!
While browsing Vtech’s website, parents looking to buy their children educational toys that would encourage them to engage with technology are able to find several similar examples, and there is nothing in the above description or in the look of this toy that implies that it is not intended for girls as well as for boys. In fact, these toys would be gender-neutral if the manufacturer had not gone through the trouble of designing a laptop ‘specially for little girls’, The Petal Power Laptop which is described as:
Pretty flower-shaped laptop, designed specially for little girls. Cute on-screen cyber girl guides players through 18 exciting activities, featuring letters and words, maths, logic and memory games. Special Personal key allows children to save personal details. Select a digital flower; cyber pet and watch it grow as activities are completed. Make a wish and have fun asking questions in the Fortune-teller activity! A good memory and fashion sense needed to find a correct outfit in the Fashion Show game!
This substantial difference in content and appearance could perhaps be justified if the Petal Power laptop was intended for a younger audience than the challenger laptop, but they are both recommended for 4-7 year olds and are sold at similar prices. Gender is therefore established as the only differentiating factor between the two products, and it becomes difficult to justify the fact that the Challenger laptop offers over twice as many activities as the Petal Power laptop. Children using the Challenger laptop get to develop crucial IT skills and feel validated by the fact that they are engaging in a ‘grown up’ type of activity, while children using the Petal Power laptop (in the same age group) get to choose a flower and develop their fashion sense!
While the Challenger laptop strongly resembles a real laptop, its girlie counterpart, shaped like a flower, with flower-shaped keys and made of bright pink and purple plastic bears no similarity whatsoever to adult technological appliances. If we were to trust the perception of girls conveyed by the manufacturer’s description of the Petal Power Laptop, we would be led to believe that girls are only interested in subjects that are fundamentally different from those that would appeal to boys. We could also assume by the shape of this laptop’s interface, that girls have an extremely short attention span and must therefore be lured in with a cute colours and shapes, and then be kept interested in the activities by interacting with themes that are ‘relevant to girls’, such as fashion.
