CAPTIMES, March 6, 1997
The Internet: This network
is not just for "old boys"
"The statistics say that more men are using, but the truth is, I
don't see the gender gap - even if the statistics say that there
is one." -- Jim Brody
Central Penn Computer Systems
Jody L. Jacobs
Editor
If an Internet surfer chooses
a cyberspace search engine link titled
"Where the Girls Are: Click Here for
Pictures of Naked Women," that per
son may soon discover, as the screen
jumps to Susan Dennis' web site, that
the title was misleading. Although this
page contains vast amounts of data
about women, there won't be any nudi
ty, just the punch to Dennis' joke: "Ah
Ha! I'll bet you thought you were
going to find the usual Internet
rationing of naked women. .. ."
Dennis says that she titles her
site's search links that way to prove a
point. "I want men and women to
know that there is more information
about women out there on the net than
just naked pictures of Pamela
Anderson."
Her World Wide Web page,
which can be located at
http://www.eskimo.com/—susan/girls.ht
m, is a "hotspot" of links created by
and about women and their issues.
From her site, "Where the Girls Are,"
an Internet user can be launched to
such Web pages as: The Fourth World
Conference on Women, Beijing 1995;
The National Organization for Women
Homepage; The Global Women's
Fund; Women's History Month
Encyclopedia; Cybergrrl, an Internet
network site for women; as well as
numerous links to resources on
women's health, economics, equal
rights, and feminist studies.
Dennis first hooked her
phone up to a computer in 1980, when
she started a public relations career for
IBM. She's says that although she
made many friends in cyberspace, most
of them were primarily of the "male
persuasion."
"I would get so excited when
I would find another woman on the
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net," she explains. "It was like, Wow!
Another girl geek "
She says that she decided to
build the site, "Where the Girls Are,"
so that she could help other women
find "virtual sisterhood." The Web site
went online in Feb. 1995, with 15
links. Today, there are more than 600
links listed.
In addition to maintaining
"Where the Girls Are," and her own
personal Web site, Dennis is the
"Webmaster" for a new company,
Commercial Space Online, which
assists businesses on the Internet. As
Webmaster, she creates and maintains
"I would get so
excited when I
would find another
woman on the net.
It was like - Wow!-
another girl-gee k."
--Susan Dennis
Creator/Webmaster
"Where the Girls Are" Webpage
business Web pages and on-line func
tions. Her computer knowledge and
experience enabled her to leave her job
at IBM for thig position in which she
can work out of her home in Seattle,
Wash.
Dennis believes that there are
easily just as many women on the
Internet as men, if not more. She says
that people may assume that there is a
gender gap because there aren't as
many commercial Web pages created
by women.
"There are a preponderance
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of men on commercial Web sites
because there are a preponderance of
men that run the world," she explains
She insists that this is in no
way an indication that the Internet is a
man's domain, and hopes that her Web
site will continue to help dispel that
myth and allow women to connect to
each other in order to realize that they
are not alone in the cyber-world.
Dennis says that she personally
encounters more women on the
Internet than men through Email
"The Internet can offer
women a community of support and
resources if they know how to find
each other."
Dennis says that this commu
nity of support is particularly important
when women first go on-line. In terms
of technology, she says that women
"fair better" with sympathetic support.
She acknowledges that this is an
"awful stereotype," but that "women
feel more alone when they do new
things, like go on-line." This is
because men, relatives and teachers, in
the past thought they were "too stupid"
to understand computers, she says.
Los Angeles author, Carla
Sinclair, agrees with Dennis that it is
essential for women to be able to
locate each other in cyberspace. Her
book, "Netchick" is an Internet source
book and directory filled with 236 pub
lished pages of on-line addresses to
discussion groups, entertainment, fash
ion, 'zines, social activism, and other
issues that are written by, about and for
women. Sinclair calls her book a
guide to "modem grrl culture."
Sinclair went on-line a year
ago and decided to write her compila
tion of women's sites when she
attempted to buy one herself at a local
bookstore. In the introduction to her
book, she says that a clerk told her that
there weren't enough women on the
FEATURE
Despite statistics, women like Deb Mallek (above), don't notice a gender gap on the inter
net. The world wide web is becoming a place for men and women to find business and per
sonal support.
net to warrant such a publication. So,
she says, she began a private World
Wide Web address book of female
sites that she found. That collection
was the foundation for "Netchick."
Sinclair found it hard to
believe, that in a world where more
than 4.9 million computers are connect
ed to the Internet, that there weren't
"enough" women there.
Ron Simmons, a technical
support operator at America Online
(AOL), says that Sinclair's suspicion
was correct. At the end of 1995, 40
percent of AOL's subscribers were
women.
"Now, 48 percent of our sub
scribers are female, and their use is on
the rise," Simmons says.
In "Netchick," Sinclair says
that "Women approach the Internet
with different expectations than men.
We see it as a tool, not a toy. I hope
'Netchick' helps women exist on the
Internet with and without the boys."
"Don't think that men are the techies. My husband has to
call me when he makes a mistake on the computer."
Olivia Thorne believes that
directories and links such as those
maintained by Dennis and Sinclair are
not only important for women to net
work, but because "women are also
less confident that their spaces will be
found."
She explains that if someone
is looking for the Web sites for compa
nies such as ABC or IBM, it is easy to
guess what their on-line address is.
However, finding pages for women and
their issues isn't always as simple as
guesswork.
As Webmaster for the League
of Women Voters, Thorne understands
how difficult it can be to locate sites
dedicated to women and their issues.
She agrees that because commercial
Web sites are so easily found through
search engines, a prevailing myth about
the Internet is that it is occupied pri-
manly by men
"Don't think that men are the
techies," she says. "My husband has to
call me when he makes a mistake on
the computer."
Thorne describes herself as
"one of those people always trying new
things and embracing technology at
break neck speeds." She adds that she
got the league to start thinking about
computers, and that because of her
efforts, her local chapter was the first
to get an Email address and experiment
with chat groups.
She says that Internet tech
nology has even altered the role of her
organization. When she joined over 25
years ago, Thorne says the purpose of
the league was to help women become
knowledgeable about political issues
and confident in expressing themselves
through public speaking at meetings
and to legislators. Thorne now
believes that the purpose of the organi
zation is also to assist women, through
the league's presence on the World
Wide Web, to become more comfort
able at expressing themselves on the
Internet
Thome adds that the technol
ogy offers women (and men) who don't
have time to attend league meetings an
opportunity to become a part of the
governmental process. She says that
because of the organization's link to the
Internet, people no longer have to feel
disenfranchised because they have
another way to address public officials.
In addition to providing the
League of Women Voters an alternative
way to provide their voter service,
organize lobbying and inform the pub
lic about what the League does, Thorne
says that using the Internet is just good
business. It cuts overall costs because it
is cheaper than using the phone. She
adds that it allows the organization to
conduct research and get answers to
questions "fast and cheap."
Jim Brody, of Central Penn
Computer Systems in Camp Hill, Pa.,
says that not only is it good business
for organizations like the League of
Women Voters to be on the Internet,
but it's beneficial for individual women
as well, for the same reasons.
As an Internet specialist, con
sultant and instructor, he introduces
men and women to computer technolo
gy everyday. Based on his experience,
he says that Internet usage between the
- - Olivia Thorne
Webmaster
League of Women Voters
sexes is "fifty-fifty." Brody says that
whether a person is computer literate or
computer phobic depends upon the
individual mind, not on the individual's
gender.
"The statistics say that more
men are using, but the truth is, I don't
see the gender gap, even if the statistics
say that there is one," he says.
Brody says that his clients,
men and women, want computers and
the technology for the very same rea
sons: to improve their businesses and
careers, to keep in touch with other
people, and for a variety of personal
interests, from music to religion.
Deborah Mallek, a senior
communications student at Penn State
Harrisburg (PSH), is an example of a
woman that utilizes the Internet for
personal reasons, such as maintaining
her religious connections.
This mother of three from
Harrisburg, Pa., went on-line last April
and it has now become an integral part
of her life
She accesses the Internet sev
eral times a week to join Jewish reform
discussion groups or for Torah studies.
Recently, she took a two-day course on
building Web sites and now plans to
create a Web page for her synagogue,
Bethel Temple.
This computer technology
allows Mallek to be at home for her
children, but simultaneously allows her
to remain connected to the outside
world and even enhance her education.
She just completed two on-line courses
from her living room, which were
offered by the New School for Social
Research in New York City.
Mallek also uses the Internet
to help her elementary-school-aged
children with their homework and to
keep in touch with her family who live
across the country and in Brazil .
"I have not yet used the
Internet to its fullest capacity," Mallek
says. "I don't even know if that is pos
sible."
Mallek says that many people
resist technology and change, but says
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