Cynthia Cockburns article addresses women in the field of engineering and the status of women in a mans world of techniques and technology. She poses a valid yet interesting question: Have we (women) chosen or were we pushed(into fields of interests)? And if we chose-what exactly was the choice we were offered?
Women have avoided areas of employment and interests that are primarily seen as mens areas. Cockburn argues that technology is symbolic of power and the ability to control ones environment and there are two things that women must not be allowed to have in a male-dominant society. It is believed that technology is nuetral, and available everyone. Cockburn says that Marxists point of veiw on technology is certainly a more valid one: Technology is a capitalist technology and bears the mark and serves the purposes of theclass that own it. Who owns it? Why of course mankind, and as Cockburn points out that the 'man in mankind is not accident at all. It has long been accepted that women steered clear of jobs ussually held by men because of their natural stature and strength being below that of a mans. Technology entailed man and machine working in harmony and mans command over nature, but to the contrary. Technology is designed to do away with the need for strength to do tasks, but needs only a working knowledge of the equipment/technique being used. Still, however, with mans interpretation of work, a womans make-up in its very nature is a flaw, making us incapable of being succesful engineers, technicians, or the like.
One factor that pehaps is another reason that more women are not members of the engineering/technology field is that our inbread attiudes and social upbringing cause us not to even entertain the thought of succeeding in these types of fields. When we think engineering we automatically think male. Dirt, grease, and rough hands--all 'true attributes of manhood. Women are not supposed to like dirt and grime or lying on the ground under some piece of equipment.
Women seem to precoccupied with the social purpose of their work. We tend to levitate toward jobs where we are able to demonstrate our human kindness and compassion. Whereas men are socially pushed toward those things where they can exhibit the machismo. To become, or try to become, a member of the 'mens circle of technology, we stand the risk of not only being chastized by the male population, but also being rejected as a 'traitor by the female population. So what do you do?
Cockburn says that the way to overcome this inequality is for women to slowly make a conserted effort to inffiltrate the world of technology by realizing our potential as future engineers and master of technology--stop standing aside as 'the passive objects of some technologies(at the recieving end of medical and military technologies, for instance, that we should be questioning or resisting), and the manipulated and exploited operators of others(typewriters, washing machines).