No Nails Were Harmed in the Typing of This Post

Sorry to pull out this bit of very old news to blog about, especially since it is once again from the New York Times (I really need to get a subscription to the Post), but y’ know what? It’s still bothering me. A lot.

I’m a woman who works in and knows mucho about technology. And lately, there are more and more of us invading. We don’t necessarily walk around covered in gadgets (unless the cell phone, the laptop, the camera, and the mp3 player count), but we know a lot about them and we don’t need a manual to use them. So when someone writes an article about how spiffy it is that companies are dumbing down electronics for women, it tends to rub us the wrong way.

The article does make one good point: “Women are busier than men.” This is a sad cultural reflection of the fact that the feminist revolution didn’t rid us of our child-growing and house-cleaning duties. But it’s the truth, and it’s why mom isn’t playing with the new scanner. Unless you make a point of it (and goodness knows that society has discouraged that one), you don’t have time to know your tech specs.

That being said, the solution is to change the situation and shake off the “gadgety girl” taboo, not make electronics that reinforce the stereotypical “computer guy.” But that’s exactly the “revolution” that this article is celebrating:

Behind this quiet revolution are engineers and designers who are bringing a more feminine sensibility to products historically shaped by masculine tastes, habits and requirements… There are more subtle touches, too, like the wider spacing of the keys on a new Sony ultraportable computer notebook that goes on sale next week. It accommodates the longer fingernails that women tend to have.

Sorry? Fingernails are handicaps on our typing ability, now? I’ve never personally seen that one. Anyone get their fingernail caught in the “r” key lately? The very scientific testing behind these products is even better:

This charger is flat, round and sold with interchangeable faceplates in silver, black and eggshell that help it blend in with kitchen appliances. Large light-emitting-diode readouts spell out what the countertop charger is doing at every phase of the charging cycle. Focus-group testing indicated that men were turned off by the Easy Charger, especially in how its readouts appeared to tell them what they thought they already knew, said Mandy Iswarienko, the brand manger for rechargeable products.

Well jeez genius, ever thought that if you call it “the Easy Charger,” men might be turned off by the implication? And you made it look like a decorative kitchen appliance? Manly men are really going for that one!

So, the lesson of the day is: it’s called gender constructs. Make women out to be family-obsessed, tech-dumb, and long-nailed, and no, they aren’t going to like gadgets or have a programming hobby. Make easy electronics out to be girly, and no, men aren’t going to buy them. And I like browsing Shiny Shiny as much as the next kitsch-deprived techie, but dude, we’ve already got crap like “Beauty and the Geek” telling us we women can’t be bookish. Do you have to take away our “unsightly” wires and “giant” digital S.L.R.’s, too?