Sherry Turkle has done perhaps some of the most interesting social research of our time, on the ""subjective side" of people’s relationships with technology, especially computers". She is a clinical psychologist, and the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT and the founder (2001) and current director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self.
I became aware of her work when I decided to teach a class on older MOO (Multi-User Object Oriented) game programming in order to nudge my students into gaining some detachment from the graphic laden world of MMOG, (massively multiplayer online games), environments, which I had taught earlier. I was hoping by venturing into older, less immersive text-based virtual worlds, they might be able to consider the social and psychological structures they encountered in online networked environments.
Her earlier work focused on networked gaming environments, like MOOs, MUDs, and MMOG’s. Her more recent research has focused on artificial intelligence and robotics, or evocative objects.
In early 2000, I attended a lecture she gave, where she presented images from the research of Rodney Brooks who developed a robot infant, which had baby "states of mind" that change with your actions to it. This was before there had been any announcement that this infant robot was to be sold through Hasbro as a consumer toy, (it was later pulled from the market). The lecture was interesting, but it was actually in the subtext found in the photos that struck my attention.
I have failed to find the images online, but if I do I will post them here. They showed a typical robotics lab, filled with electronic and mechanical gear, and several male researchers. In one, a male researcher was holding the baby robot over his shoulder as a caring mother might do. The robots were programmed to be very life-like, with facial expressions created by the movement of artificial "muscles" under their "skin"
This research has since evolved. But after spending the last week at a conference in Second Life, (SL), called Life2.0, these images have resurfaced for me.
The role of women in Second Life, does not seem to have evolved much. I keep waiting for this to occur. But I am not sure it ever will.
One of the speakers was a woman, (she had a woman’s voice at least for a while). She is a controversial figure in Virtual Worlds, and was initially thought to be man, as she had a male avatar. Later, a story came out in the New York Times, showing an image of her, as a woman, and said, she was a translator of the Russian Language. She is outspoken, forceful, aggressive, cruel and on many levels brilliant. They did not mention her "history" to the audience, in her introduction. I found it out later. She appeared as a male avatar when she did her lecture. After further research, I am not yet convinced she is a woman in real life. Not because of her personality. But something else. Never-the-less, she could be.
This was of interest to me, because I have recently changed to a male avatar, as my female avatar was altered, (I have said hacked), for a brief period, in the first few days of my "life" on SL. I changed to a male avatar to see if it too would be altered, and to see how my interactions might be different. My male avatar so far has been left untouched. Perhaps writing about it here will only cause it to be attacked…But I then thought….
Someone at the conference mentioned that the average demographic of programmers at Linden Labs, (the company behind Second Life), is a 33 YO Caucasian male. I have no proof that anyone at LL altered my avatar, but I was told by someone who has been active on SL for years now, that only someone at the Linden Level could access it. So let’s just entertain this idea for a moment, that someone from the average demographic at Linden Labs, was having "fun" with my avatar. Isn’t it interesting that they felt compelled to alter or disfigure my female "doll", or representation, (avatar), but they had no stomach for disfiguring my very very white male avatar, (see images on the side bar)?
Some slightly critical comments were made during the conference about having an avatar that does not accurately represent your gender. I was addressed as "s/he" in chat. I have run into several female avatars who revealed themselves to be males. But I have not encountered many females presenting as male avatars, except the speaker I mentioned above. But as I said, I am not convinced she is a female. Second Life allows you to operate in a (heightened), hyper-social state. You do not have to live by the confines of your biology, if you can manage it. This allows for a lot of interesting things to occur, and it has great value, (thank-you Linden Labs).
If the male researchers at MIT get to make babies, I am hoping in Second Life, I will be allowed to build things, without too many rabbit holes being created, "just because they can". This is something that has been an up hill battle for me at every turn, in my current biological form. Can those in or under Second Life continue their suspension of disbelief long enough to allow my male avatar to thrive, and build along side others? Or will I be relegated to the traditional role of writing about my attempts or the achievements of the biological men?
It’s something to ponder.
Also, the speaker I referenced above, accused me of being a feminist. May I add, I am not, nor do I think feminism has benefited women who want to build with technology. On the contrary, the males I encountered in technology centers, were happy to see feminists appear, as they did not compete for the same resources as their male counterparts. I think feminism has further marginalized women in technology. But that is only my current opinion. It could change.
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