Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2009 > March > 16 > Entry
Panel: Are Women Taken More Seriously On The Web?
Date/Time: 11:30 a.m., Monday
Panelists: Blagica Bottigliero (Social Media Consumer Brands, Edelman), Karen Chu (graphic designer, PlayFirst Inc), Laura Roeder (principal, roederstudios.com), Carly Kocurek (doctoral candidate, University of Texas at Austin)
The gist: For better or worse, how women are treated online reflects how they are treated in a society, and historically, the technology industry hasn’t been as open to women. In theory, the Web allows women to put out ideas and opinions without first being judged for being a woman, but with the availability of profiles and people using their names, gender anonymity isn’t a given.
Blagica Bottigliero said that women have the opportunity to be taken eqully, but in some ways, we’ve taken a few steps back, by using tools in an incorrect fashion. She used the examples of profile photos and videos. She also talked about using a different writing style in e-mails to disguise her gender (when asked for specifics, she said she uses “dude” and ends verbs with “-in” instead of “-ing”).
This was the calmest, least combative of the women and technology panels so far at the festival. The panelists agreed that women are often to blame for undermining other women on the Web, because it’s difficult to have a disagreement online without it being called a “catfight.” Carly Kocurek said that being critical of one another isn’t the same as being in a catfight, but when these discussions are public, it’s easier for people to pick them apart and deem them “catfights,” instead of allowing women to simply disagree.
There are equality issues with who is able to get online in the first place, Kocurek pointed out.
Takeaways: Don’t apologize for interests that are perceived as feminine, Kocurek said. It creates a crack that people can then go into to pick you apart. Take yourself and your interests seriously, but the bottom line is that you have to know what you’re talking about to be taken seriously anywhere on the Web.
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