Technology is not gender-neutral. The internet is not gender-neutral. In the digital world, we see the negative stereotypes in our society augmented in both access and experience. It’s time to start making our digital products feminist.
Women around the world have to overcome multiple barriers to even access digital products. In low- and middle-income countries, women are 26% less likely to be internet users than men. They are more likely to share a device and to have their online activity monitored by someone else.
For women who have access, experiences online can range from annoyingly irrelevant to discriminatory or downright hostile. The majority of digital products are created by men in the global north and are often not that relevant to women in the global south. More and more products include some form of AI, which tend to reinforce gender bias in both historical data and user behaviour. And out of women who use the internet daily, 23% of women living in Europe and 45% in West Africa have experienced gender-based violence online.
We all bring our social norms and biases into the digital world, whether you are a designer or a user. Even products created with the best of intentions can end up reinforcing negative gender stereotypes. We need to actively design for inclusion and gender equality.
“But I work for [ insert name of any non-activist organisation here ]. Can I really make my product feminist?” Yes, you can! This talk will give you practical tips on how you can avoid unintentionally reinforcing negative stereotypes or exclude female users. Or even better, how you can positively influence your users and help advance gender equality.
