The "Girls Around Me" problem
2012-04-04 16:23:27.845189+02 by Dan Lyke 0 comments
The 'Girls Around Me' Problem Isn't Just About Data, but Sexism:
Another consequence of the trend to only talk about data and not society, norms, politics, values and everything else confusing about the analogue world is the victim-blaming implicit in most of these articles. The cause of the problem? Women sharing data. The solution? Women need to better control their data (in fairness, Madrigal also asks what companies can do about this, but does not come to any answers; the burden is left on women). This data-centric view of "data-sharing-is-bad and control-your-data" borders on blaming the victim instead of criticizing the sexist culture that makes this data dangerous in the first place.
Kashmir Hill makes this point when stating, " 'You're too public with your digital data, ladies,' may be the new 'your skirt was too short and you had it coming.' ...