margaret self

Bears, Beets, Beatlelestar Galactica.

Message me if you want to talk about The Office, equity, or technofeminism. But seriously, can we take a moment from swiping to talk about how a simple re-scripting turned an app based on equality to an app based on equity? Don’t get me wrong, I love swiping on Tinder as much as the next bored college student, but Bumble’s features got me #shook. It’s not every day that you run across an app that takes the safety and comfort of women into consideration. Tinder is great for collecting gross and inappropriate one-liners you make fun of with your friends, but Bumble is better since it gives me the choice to ask for those one-liners or to carry on a normal (but still flirty) conversation. I know people try to hate on Bumble since only women get to make the first move, but providing features that are specifically targeted towards those who need them most is what equity is about.

And equity is what technofeminism is all about. Technofeminism is about creating technology that can help and be used by all women, regardless of class, age, race, or sexual orientation in order to “develop, expand, and express their capacities” (Layne, 2010, p. 3). While technomasculine designers only have to worry about how small and pink to make their next “feminine technology,” technofeminists have to answer questions like “what if a technology empowers some women and disempowers others?” (Layne, 2010, p. 3), what would the consequences of such a technology be, and would the benefits outweigh the cost?

I, for one, am excited to see what new tech technofeminism has to offer. Let’s get coffee and talk about the possibilities (I’ll pay)!