Geeks, meta-Geeks, and gender trouble: activism, identity, and low-power FM radio.
In this paper, I consider the activities of a group of individuals who tinker with and build radio hardware in an informal setting called 'Geek Group'. They conceive of Geek Group as a radical pedagogical activity, which constitutes an aspect of activism surrounding citizen access to low-power FM radio. They are also concerned with combating the gendered nature of hardware skills, yet in spite of their efforts men tend to have more skill and familiarity with radio hardware than women. Radio tinkering has a long history as a masculine undertaking and a site of masculine identity construction. I argue that this case represents an interplay between geek, activist, and gendered identities, all of which are salient for this group, but which do not occur together without some tension.
Dunbar-Hester
Christina
C
Department of Science & Technology Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. cd92@cornell.edu
D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D011057:Politics; D011845:Radio / Q000266:history; D012933:Social Identification; D013672:Technology; D014481:United States