When Computers Where Women
Title: (Light, 1999) date: 2023-03-20 type: reference project: @lightWhenComputersWere1999
tags:: #source #sexism #computing projects:@lightWhenComputersWere1999
Reference¶
Light, JS. 1999 When Computers Were Women. Technology and Culture 40(3): 455–483.
Summary & Key Take Aways¶
This paper discusses discrimination in the early stages of the modern industry of computing and computer science. It discusses the post-war publication of the ENIAC project and the systematic discrediting and scilencing of womens efforts alongside their prompt removal from their jobs in the post-war economy. The paper also discusses how the roots of computer science are in women and where at the time gendered feminine and the modern conception of computer science as a "masculine" profession are deeply misunderstanding its roots.