In the span of a single human lifetime, digital computers have evolved from an experimental code-breaking technology to an ubiquitous presence in day-to-day life. One outcome of this rapid growth is that everyday users of computer technology are often not aware of the historical beginnings of the systems they are using. Or, if they think about the subject at all, they often do so through cultural filters that gender technology as a domain of male control and expertise.1 For much computing technology, however, this is not the case.
Computer technology functions as any other system, with an archetechnology within its structure that includes both the way it works and the historical groundwork that created it. Today’s computer technology was largely designed and structured originally by women who leveraged the undetermined genderedness of computer systems and networks to extend the reach of social and logical structures previously gendered as “feminine” or “female”.
This website is an inquiry into how a feminist rhetorical approach to the history of computing can dismantle current ideologies of computer technology as a male-oriented and male-dominated space
About this site
I do not pretend this site is a full treatment of its subject matter. My intent is to examine how historiography and feminist rhetoric work together to illuminate the women-created archetechnological foundations of digital computing. I am choosing to focus on rhetoric, and feminist rhetorics of computing technology in particular, because rhetorical discourse analysis “is uniquely attuned to…[the] ethical and political quality of discursive action.”2 Fortunately, the process of restoring the pioneering women of computer technology to their rightful historical status is already underway, and I will reference a number of these sources in the "Archetechnology" section. Viewing this historical recovery through the lens of rhetorical analysis, however, is not yet widespread.
How this site is structured
Why Rhetoric?
This is a discussion of the role rhetoric plays in our understanding the history of computer technology as a field. I will try to show how feminist rhetorical historiography and feminist rhetorics of technology provide opportunities to revise our understanding of this history.
Current state
A discussion of the status quo as of 2022. Unfortunately, this mostly comprises a patriarchal and neoliberal discourse of computing that is often openly hostile to women, and women’s contributions. This includes a short examination of two recent incidents that question the presence of women in computing.
Archetechnology
This section comprises two brief case studies based on current primary and secondary sources. In them, I examine history of digital computing using feminist rhetorical practices as a lens to examine the contributions of women developers and systems experts.
Discussion
A review of the outcomes of this inquiry. I also discuss limitations and directions for future research.
References
An APA 7 formatted list of references for this site. In-text citations are also provided in APA 7 format, linked to the text through footnotes. I settled on this hybrid option as APA in-text citation is clumsy to read in a webpage format.
Abstract
Current hostility towards women’s presence in the computer and digital media industries is reflected in a pervasive ideological rhetoric that genders these industries by asserting that computer science and computer programming skills reflect “male” attributes and skill sets. This stance is sharply contradicted by the actual history of programming and software development.
These fields were designed and structured originally by women who leveraged the undetermined genderedness of computer systems and networks to extend the reach of social and logical structures previously gendered as “feminine” or “female”. This history remains as an underlying ‘archetechnology’ which has implications that reframe how computer programming and digital technologies are conceptualized and perceived.
Feminist rhetorical historiography provides tools for recovering the archetechnological base of current computer technologies, and disrupting the ideological rhetoric of misogyny within the industry.