Geeks Who Care: Gender, Caring and Community Access Computers

Abstract

Caring work, both professional and informal, supports the social networks that are key determinants of health. Caring theory reveals this work as gendered. Direct caring work, generally understood as women’s work, has been devalued and even rendered invisible. Men have been more involved in more visible executive caring. While direct caring is likely to be women’s work, technology has generally been associated with men and masculinity. This chapter shows how these two contrasting gendered processes of care and technology interweave at a particular community-based setting. The MacMorran Community Centre is located in a low-income neighbourhood of St John’s, Newfoundland,¹ and offers programmes to enhance the health and well-being of residents, including a programme of public access computers. Interviews with 25 key informants allowed us to explore the intersection of gendered processes involving technology on the one hand and caring on the other. We focus on ‘executive care’ (a more stereotypically masculine activity), ‘direct care’ (more stereotypically feminine) and receiving care, and on perspectives on the technology that may be intrinsic (more stereotypically masculine perspective) or instrumental (more stereotypically female). Our analysis reveals more involvement of men in caring (both executive caring and more visible, direct care), a development that appeared to enhance the community’s abilities to support the health of its members.