In the article "Integrated Circuits/Segregated Labor: Women in Computer-Related Occupations and High-Tech Industries," the author notes the representation of women in computer magazines. Since the article is over 10 years old, the class became interested in the representation of women in current computer magazines. Below is our table representing our counts for various publications, with each number representing the number of photographs or article authors, "Male" meaning all male figures, "Female" all female figures, "Both" meaning both male and female figures, and "Neuter" meaning undetermined gender or children. Obviously we had to infer gender from the names of authors, since we had no other way of easily determining this.
Magazine Issue |
Photographs |
Article Authors |
Overall Critique |
Circuit Cellar Ink, Oct. 1998 |
8 Male |
11 Males |
The magazine is extremely technical, not reader friendly, not many pictures, not for an uneducated reader, more of a "male" feeling to it. |
Family PC, Sept. 1998 |
30 Male |
29 Male |
Letters to the editor: 19 male, 18 female, 4 neuter. kid/family oriented (not tech-text), rather evenhanded treatment of men/women, female Editor in Chief. |
Java Report, Sept. 1998 |
25 Male |
15 Male |
5 Male, 7 Female names listed on Editorial staff masthead. Very technical magazine, photos careful to show women active. |
Maximum PC, Sept. 1998 |
81 Male |
15 Male |
swimsuit cover, sexist analogy between "sexiness" of laptop and presumed desirable characteristics of girlfriend |
PC World, Sept. 1998 |
120 Male |
37 Male |
Letters to the Editor: 14 Male, 2 Female, 2 neuter. Magazine didn't seem gendered, equal emphasis on men and women in text. |
Software Development, July 1998, Vol. 6, No. 7 |
15 Male |
11 Male |
Almost all the people portrayed were white. Not many advertisements/pictures of people. Audience appears to be corporate professionals (mostly men). |
C/C++ Users Journal,Sept. 1998 |
12 Male |
10 Male |
Q&A/letters to the editor: 9 male, 0 female, 1 undetermined gender |
Wired, October 1998 |
80 Male |
67 Male |
Letters to the Editor: 9 Male, 1 Female, 0 Both, 0 Neuter. Editorial board masthead: 57 Male, 16 Female (including Ed. in Chief), 2 undetermined gender Click here for detailed comments. |
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last updated 11/3/98
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