Gender&Technology
Adults
4 Chapter
45 min
A tour devoted to gender at the Technisches Museum Wien (Vienna Museum of Science and Technology)? Gender and technology: What do they have to do with each other?
One thing is clear: Natural sciences and technology and the description of their past, present and future belong in the TMW: But it is also clear that the basic knowledge about it cannot be seen separately from our daily lives and our cultural and social beliefs. This also includes the gender relations and, in particular, the notions of femininity and masculinity.
When taking a journey through the history of technology, we usually encounter male inventors, researchers and pioneers. This raises a lot of questions: Are technologies “male” per se? What presuppositions and stereotypes about genders are incorporated in the construction, production, design and use of technology? Does this happen consciously or unconsciously? What can a closer look at technology reveal about concepts of gender in the mirror of time? Who makes technology - and for whom?
This tour shows that technology and those who develop and use it are just as diverse as the human perceptions thereof.