When not 'here' I also write for another blog GirlyGeekdom. Not usually one to cross-post (that's for a more lazy journo approach), this piece is interesting and worthy enough to 'double up'.The just lauched UK edition of Wired Magaine. This week I am struck by the obvious; With more technology for our geeky pleasure, are the GirlGeeks being overlooked? I ask: Where are the women writers?... For the front page byline 'Your Life in the Future' - 'your' must refer to the men only...
A particularly pertinent piece is the article 'The People Who Really Run Britain' (PWRRB) (p.136). Thankfully not Bob Quick as Senior Counter Terrorist Officer, but a portfolio of ardent workers who for Philip Sinden 'operate in the shadows'. Individuals who range from the 'nation's memory keeper' - guarding official documentations in an underground 'safe house'; 'the time setter' responsible for keeping the nations clocks to time; to the a 'Channel tunnel guardian' who 'keeps air flowing through the Eurotunnel'.
Only one of the PWRRB's Top Ten is a woman. I do not want to labour the point too much, but it seems appropriate to point out (with the support of GirlyGeekdom) that women are not only the minority in terms of written content in Wired, but the same is also true in terms of subject and article presence. The (only) Woman Who Really Runs Britain is Caroline Porter, 29, a business manager at London Metal exchange. Her role is to control the feeds of metal prices - 'the global reference prices' - that are delivered to the global economy. Without her there would meltdown, literally.
Skip to the front of Wired (P.15) and the 05.09 Contributors Page, of the six main contributors, one, Susan Greeenfield (Baroness no less), is the pioneer of content contributed by women. I am not suggesting that Wired is all male-to-male content. Far from it. UK Wired is, in my opinion, far better than its US counterpart in the publication of balanced, interesting and satisfyingly technology divulgent coverage. But then I flick back again through the magazine and the if the masculine led written word doesn't hit you, the masculine emphasis of marketing and advertisement will. TagHeur watch here, Sony Bravia with football coverage there, Jaguar where 'the thrill lasts much longer' and Tom Ford 'for men' (just to re-assert the masculine message) set the tone for the First Edition.
The 'How to...' contribution from Kevin Braddock and Jack Dyson (a relation?) is a revelation in its inventiveness for instructions for everday living. From 'eating for free', to 'making your own lipstick'. The boys may fail to explain how to raise the profile of women within a wired culture... but maybe they are building to that in the next edition...
Oh and FYI, type 'Susan Greenfield' into the search engine of Wired to reveal...
Your search - susan greenfield - did not match any documents.
Suggestions:
- Make sure all the words are spelled correctly.
- Try different keywords.
- Try more general keywords.
Time to create my own Wired.
4 comments:
Think you said it all. Create your own Wired.
@ Anthony,
Kind words. Maybe there's space in the diary for another project... Wired just got its first woman led future...
You're my new Wired Mariann. Challenging, thought provoking. Who needs the techno lad mag...
I usually love Wired, but have to agree - was so disappointed by the lack of female presence in the debut issue. Am just flicking through the US version and note one female contributor - a VERY poor showing, but not that unusual outside the world of women's magazines. Check out last month's Vanity Fair for further evidence. Yikes!
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