On the one hand, the Internet can be seen as a tool for empowering women, a space where women can contribute to the construction of cultural knowledge. On the other, the Internet is seen as simply another medium that is contained and constrained by a contemporary society informed by capitalism and patriarchy. As a result, women seem to locate the Internet as a problematic site for themselves. Men may dominate the Internet in terms of numbers at present, but it is a space that can be used by women for connecting, networking and sharing information with other women. It is these lived and contradictory experiences with the Internet that interest me.
Women taking an active role in Internet culture are true spinsters.
They not only have a presence and a voice, they are spinning new ideas and thoughts through their web pages, making connections with other women and organizations. Several questions guided my thoughts as I surrounded myself with these readings. While I can not hope to address each of these questions in depth, I do hope to provide some critical thoughts based on the results of my readings. I have come to realize that there are common themes that are brought up by authors addressing Internet technology in terms of gender. I tried to focus specifically on women's unique relationships to the Internet instead of looking at the theoretical relationship between gender and technology.