Question Technology

Waking up to the Web's Misogyny

If by some chance you haven't seen any of the discussion this week about the Kathy Sierra affair and about the prevalence of abuse towards women on the web, this article by Joan Walsh today in Salon is a good starting point.  Excerpt:

Is there really any doubt that women writing on the Web are subject to more abuse than men, simply because they're women? Really? I've been following the Kathy Sierra blog storm, thinking I had nothing new to say, but the continued insistence that Sierra, and those who defend her, are somehow overreacting, or charging sexism where none exists, makes it hard for a mouthy woman to stay silent.

I say this as a mouthy woman who has tried for a long time to pretend otherwise: that Web misogyny isn't especially rampant -- but even if it is, it has no effect on me, or any other strong, sane woman doing her job. But I wasn't being honest. My own reactions and those of others to the Sierra mess served to wrestle the truth out of me, and it wasn't what I hoped.

Link: Men who hate women on the Web | Salon.com.
Also recommended: Annalee Newitz, Who's afraid of Kathy Sierra?

She's Such A Geek

Feminist/science blogger Zuska mentions this forthcoming, must-read book: She's Such a Geek: Women Write About Science, Technology, and Other Nerdy Stuff.

Link: Thus Spake Zuska.

Land of the Vanishing Girl

Excerpt from a story in today's Chicago Tribune:

BADHOCHHI KALAN, India -- This is the land of the vanishing girl, where 14 boys and seven girls attend 1st grade, where educational plays warn of a future with no women. A nearby midwife delivers one girl for every five boys.

Villagers do not talk openly about why the number of girls is so low here--how couples use ultrasound tests illegally and then abort female fetuses. But everyone knows the reason.

"I want a son, because daughters don't stay with you," said Jaspreet Kaur, 30, who has two daughters. "Around me, in all the houses, there are boys. All my classmates have boys."

This village of 3,000 is well off by Indian standards. People here are educated. They crave small families, only one or two children. They talk about relatives in the United States, Canada or Lebanon. And they talk about sons--how at least one son is necessary to run family land, to care for parents. Some talk about daughters as if they were walking price tags.

Link: Fewer girls, and few will discuss why | Chicago Tribune.

via Center for Genetics and Society.

Competition for Donated Eggs Heats Up

NPR ran a story this week about how stem cell researchers are increasingly competing with fertility clinics for donated eggs.  Donating for reproductive use pays, but donating for stem cell research doesn't, because of ethical concerns.  Some argue that it should.

Link: NPR : Stem-Cell Scientists Compete for Human Eggs.  See also this companion NPR article: Q&A: Embryonic Stem Cells: Exploding the Myths.

For a comprehensive rundown of the issues with egg donation, check out the fact sheets and other background material put together by the Center for Genetics and Society: Egg Extraction For Stem Cell Research: Protecting Women's Health.