The on-line medium might seem perfect for equalizing the genders. After all, no one is seen and no one's voice is heard. Since women find that their gender is still an issue, it can affect their interactions in cyberspace. Lately there have been a slew of reports in the media about women being sexually harassed, stalked and otherwise victimized on-line. From Ann Landers to the Village Voice, the overwhelming message is that cyberspace is populated by cyber-stalkers, lying lotharios and perverts.
Technophobia is a disease that tends to plague more women than men.
In school and at home, women are raised to see computers and technology as the domain of males. The maleness of the computer world is something that gets programmed into female minds beginning in childhood and reinforced well into adulthood. Not only are the games oriented to boys, but computers at home are more likely to be found in a boy's room and more likely to be used by boys and their fathers. Despite these signals, girls and boys perform equally in math, science and computer usage until about the fifth or sixth grade. By graduation, the gender gap has been etched into the lives of high school students.