Marie Tessier - Digital suffragists : women, the web, and the future of democracy

Digital Suffragists

Women, the Web, and the Future of Democracy

Marie Tessier

The MIT Press

Cambridge, Massachusetts|London, England

2021 Massachusetts Institute of Technology

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher.

The MIT Press would like to thank the anonymous peer reviewers who provided comments on drafts of this book. The generous work of academic experts is essential for establishing the authority and quality of our publications. We acknowledge with gratitude the contributions of these otherwise uncredited readers.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Tessier, Marie, author.

Title: Digital suffragists : women, the web, and the future of democracy / Marie Tessier.

Description: Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021000496 | ISBN 9780262046015 (hardcover)

Subjects: LCSH: Women--Political activity--United States. | Political participation--Social aspects--United States. | Internet--Political aspects-- United States. | Communication in politics--Technological innovations-- United States. | Democracy--Social aspects--United States.

Classification: LCC HQ1236.5.U6 T44 2021 | DDC 320.082/0973--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021000496

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List of Figures

Gender bias in commenters names in six international and metropolitan news sources.

Source: Fiona Martin, Getting My Two Cents Worth In, #ISOJ, April 15, 2015, https://isojjournal.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/getting-my-two-cents-worth-in-access-interaction-participation-and-social-inclusion-in-online-news-commenting.

How welcoming are online neighborhoods to men and women?

Note: n = 2,489.

Source: Pew Research Center, American Trends Panel (wave 4), survey conducted May 30 to June 30, 2014, https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2014/10/22/part-2-the-online-environment.

Having their say: Women speaking at Vermont town hall meetings, 1970 to 2011.

Source: Frank M. Bryan, Real Democracy: The New England Town Meeting and How It Works (University of Chicago Press, 2004).

Balance in speaking turns, by proportion of womens seats on a school board.

Source: Christopher Karpowitz and Tali Mendelberg, The Silent Sex: Gender, Deliberation, and Institutions (Princeton University Press, 2014), 299.

Speaking turns and motions by proportion of women on a school board.

Source: Christopher Karpowitz and Tali Mendelberg, The Silent Sex: Gender, Deliberation, and Institutions (Princeton University Press, 2014), 287.

Source: Christopher Karpowitz and Tali Mendelberg, The Silent Sex: Gender, Deliberation and Institutions (Princeton University Press, 2014), 406, table A10.1.

The evolution of technology adoption and usage.

Source: Aaron Smith, Record Share of Americans Now Own Smartphones, Have Home Broadband, Pew Research Center, January 12, 2017, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/12/evolution-of-technology. Surveys conducted 2000 to 2016. Internet use figures based on pooled analysis of all surveys conducted during each calendar year.

Men and women experience different varieties of online harassment.

Source: Pew Research Center, American Trends Panel (wave 4), survey conducted May 30June 30, 2014, n = 2,839.

Young women experience particularly several forms of online harassment.

Source: Pew Research Center, American Trends Panel (wave 4), survey conducted May 30June 30, 2014, n = 2,839.

Online abuse wheel.

Source: Womens Media Center, Online Abuse 101, https://www.womensmediacenter.com/speech-project/online-abuse-101.

I like her for her brains. Facebook posting.

Source: Women, Action & the Media, http://www.womenactionmedia.org/examples-of-gender-based-hate-speech-on-facebook.

Women more likely to be upset by online harassment.

Source: Pew Research Center, American Trends Panel (wave 4), survey conducted May 30 to June 30, 2014, n = 932.

Readership in major U.S. news sources, 2012.

Source: Pew Research Center, Demographics and Political Views of News Audiences, in Trends in News Consumption, 19912012: In Changing News Landscape, Even Television Is Vulnerable, September 2012. Figures may not add up to 100 percent because of rounding. Based on regular readers, viewers, and listeners of each news source.

Gender profile of news audiences.

Source: Pew Research Center, Where Men and Women Differ in Following the News, February 6, 2008, http://www.pewresearch.org/2008/02/06/where-men-and-women-differ-in-following-the-news, data from Pew Research Center, Online Papers Modestly Boost Newspaper Readership, July 30, 2006.

U.S. digital news audiences by gender, 2020.

Source: Data based on Nic Newman et al., Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2020, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, June 2020.

Gender inequality in the U.S. news landscape, 2017.

Source: Womens Media Center, https://womensmediacenter.com/reports/the-status-of-women-in-u.s.-media-2017.

Women of color are underrepresented in U.S. news media.

Source: American Society of Newspaper Editors: Print numbers are based only on the fraction of newsrooms that responded to ASNEs survey. The chart shows white and minority percentages of overall workforce, including both newsroom leaders and all others. Radio Television Digital News Association: Percentage estimates based on random sample.

Note: There is no data for both the race and gender of online-only news staff. Unknown: The race of a very small number of employees at some organizations is listed as unknown because those persons desired not to provide the information.

Global representation of women in tech positions in ten major companies.

Source: Sara Harrison, Five Years of Tech Diversity Reportsand Little Progress, Wired, October 16, 2019, https://www.wired.com/story/five-years-tech-diversity-reports-little-progress.

The share of women in tech jobs has grown, 2014.

Source: Sara Harrison, Five Years of Tech Diversity Reportsand Little Progress, Wired, October 16, 2019, https://www.wired.com/story/five-years-tech-diversity-reports-little-progress.

Overall representation in tech jobs.

Source: Rani Molla, How Facebook Compares to Other Tech Companies in Diversity: Its Just as Diverseor Notas Other Tech Companies, Recode, April 11, 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/4/11/17225574/facebook-tech-diversity-women.

Behavioral differences in relation to technology.

Source: design-people, We Are Product & Experience Designers, https://www.design-people.com.

Design thinking: A five-stage process.

Source: Rikke Friis Dam and Teo Yu Siang, 5 Stages in the Design Thinking Process, Interaction Design Foundation, July 13, 2019, https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/5-stages-in-the-design-thinking-process.

The lean startup.

Source: Eric Ries, The Lean Startup Methodology, TheLeanStartup.com.