Women's Role in Networking on the Net

There is much which remains to be done. We are only on the threshold of this new networked world. We should recognize that the Internet is a tool for communication, not communication itself. Just as the telephone, radio and television are means of communication, they may empower us to communicate with each other, but they do not produce a 911 call, or Shakespeare's sonnets, or the 6 o'clock news, they can only transmit them.

Who will produce the content on the Net? Much of it so far has been produced by advertisers who want you to buy a certain shampoo or young techies, mostly men, who are anxious to use and display all the technical wizardry and innovation they are learning and bringing to us. This definitely advances the technical science, but does it advance and deepen our souls and spirits? Does it provide us with insight and lead the way to change and improvement in our lives?

Women must understand that the Internet is like the early days of cable TV, when everything was formative and no one yet knew the reach and power of the medium because, literally, it had not been built yet.

But who will build it? The question is, what do you really want the Internet to be? Cyberspace is not only where the future of commerce, entertainment and education are headed, it is where new communities are being formed which will shape the future in each of those areas. A broad range of issues are at the center of the computer revolution; everything" from sexual harassment to questions of distribution of wealth and power" will be put into play and ultimately settled on the Internet (Spender,1996).

In one sense, the Internet will become more and more like TV. It will become increasingly visual, with motion and audio. It will become segmented into many channels of interests, like TV, with a Sports Channel and an Arts and Entertainment Channel and a News Channel.

And there will be channels for women. A few years ago, only 10% of the people on the Net were women. Now it's 50% and climbing and undoubtedly this group will be broken down into smaller groups with specific interests whether they are cooking or gardening or astronomy.

There will be a merging of mediums so you can read your email on your cell phone, or "surf the Net" on your TV.

But there are also great differences between the Net and TV as it is today. The Net is not a passive experience in which you are fed news or entertainment; the Net is an interactive medium which encourages participation and response and features two way communication, forums, group discussions, debate, voting. You can get on the Net and , by participating, help shape it into what you want it to be.

So, the choice, ultimately is yours; you can decide if you want the Net to be a place with electronic billboards and catalogs, soap operas and ezines solely about cooking and gardening, herbal baths and cosmetics. Or you can choose to harness the power of the Net to make progress for women so their voices will be heard and they have equal access to pay and power and benefits.

After all, who will lead women's charge onto the Net? And who will help write the rules of cyberspace? Who should that role fall to? The men? The technicians? Java programmers? Microsoft?

The Internet is very much like democracy in that ,even if you are entitled to vote, you must still get out and do it yourself. You can't assign it and you can't delegate it . You must do it yourself.

Women professionals are leaders who have the capability and the tools to improve the future for other women everywhere. Strong parallels exist between access to knowledge, access to levers of power, and the ability to enter and advance in the workplace. A recent book, Nattering on the Net, Women, Power and Cyberspace, by Dale Spender makes a compelling case for women seizing the moment and gaining equity in cyberspace as a key to their future equity in the world community (Spender, 1996). Spender traces for us the historic barriers to knowledge for women which strongly parallel barriers in the workplace since knowledge is required to gain entry to any profession or occupation except the most menial. Just as there is a gap for women in the workplace, there is an increasing gap between the information rich and the information poor. It is critical that women have access to the wealth of information which resides on the Internet in the form of news, research, information exchange, debate, communication and the intellectual growth and stimulation which interaction with new technology brings. It is equally important that a meaningful part of that content be fully inclusive and representative of women, that it be shaped and produced by women and offer new paradigms to support women in their attempt to advance. Already some women educators have recognized both the scope of this challenge, and the milestone nature of this newly created opportunity to speak directly, across the globe, to women everywhere.

Two forward looking women educators, Dr. Beverly J. Irby and Dr. Genevieve Brown, of the Center for Research and Doctoral Studies, Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas, along with Advancing Women, have launched the first international women's on-line professional refereed journal, Advancing Women in Leadership , published by, Advancing Women . This journal seeks to expand the feminine leadership paradigm by revealing and celebrating actual voices and visions from national and international leaders and researchers who have experienced common pasts and who can offer insights, perspectives, and advice to future generations of women leaders. Authors will represent women from business, arts, economics, engineering, medicine, education and other professional areas. This is an historic landmark in serious communication as it advances women's hope that women around the world will accept this historic challenge and choose to become key players in this new game to use the advantages they have been blessed with -- their education, talent, abilities and determination -- to advance women everywhere.

Hopefully, many more of you will come forward to produce more landmark pieces for a women's electronic support structure: forums, discussion groups, strategy sessions, all focusing on specific steps to advance women and support us in our common goals.

Women are no longer asking men if they can join the game. The Net has allowed them to route around men and start their own game. We invite you, and women everywhere, to step up and join us in creating this new global electronic network to support women. As an old proverb says, you make the path by walking on it. And you put the Web to Work for women by networking on it. Who better to shape the future of the Net, than you?