Minutes of the second planning meeting for Scholar and Feminist X, 1982, page 2

          _ 2 _

Someone asked whether or not women should be involved in designing and producing
technology. Reasons for a critical posture towards technology were presented
and many of these related to issues of power and control. It was observed

that technology, especially computer technology, is often used as a tool of
power - as power over information and power over women's lives. For example,
in home technology women's ability for action is diminished. People felt

the need to differentiate between freedom and control when discussing women as
users of technology; in particular a woman's decision to buy an elaborate home
appliance is different from being forced to use electronic technology to do
piecework at home. The former (the "Cuisinart" example) is a luxury available
to certain classes of women, while the latter limits freedom and may not
provide sufficient income. Some people questioned why, if the quality of life
has in general been improved through advances in technology, the lives of
women and working people haven't improved?

It was reiterated that we must develop a broader perspective on the impact of
technology on women's lives; to address the questions of technology and perception,
that is to say, the impact of technology on our understanding of our daily lives,
how we look at and respond to the world, how we see the nature of objects, how

we understand relationship.

Other issues raised included: the difference between mechanization of the
assembly line and computerized factories where workers do verydifferenttypes
of work; the popularity of computer games; the portrayal in feminist science
fiction of the relation between women and technology.

The next Scholar and Feminist planning committee meeting will be on Thursday,
October 14 at 4:15 pm. The following readings will be discussed and copies
are available in the Women's Center for borrowing.

J. Scott, "The Mechanization of Women's Work" and V. Guliano, "The
Mechanization of Office Work" Scientific American, Sept. 1982.

C. Cockburn, "The Material of Male Power," Feminist Review #9, October 1981.

Linda Lim, "Women's Work in Multinational Electronics Factories," in
R. Dauber and M. Cain, eds., Women and Technological Change in Developing
Countries, AAAS Symposium 53, 1981.

Bettina announced that the annual SHOT meeting, to be held on October 28-31 in
Philadelphia, will have sessions on women and technology. She plans to attend
and would like to know if other members of the planning committee are interested
in going to the meeting.

Present: Bettina Berch, Leslie Calman, Sally Chapman, Lee Coppernoll, Elizabeth
Corbett, Sally Cumins, Eva Eilenberg, Wendy Fairey, Jane Gould, Diane Harriford,
Jaime Horwitz, Janie Kritzman, Maria La Sala, Julie Marsteller, Nancy Miller,
Georgia Pestana, Quandra Stadler, Mary Ellen Tucker.