Cynthia Selfe: "Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution: Images of Technology and the Nature of Change" (16)
In this article, Cynthia Selfe examines the different narratives present in the discourse community of English studies, especially those relating to technology and the role of society (namely American society) in dispersing that technology, as well as its benefits, to the rest of the world. By analyzing advertising campaigns of technology companies, Selfe challenges both the conventional narratives adopted by Americans as well as the revised (and often more accurate) versions of these narratives in a more global, multi-cultural viewpoint.
The "Global Village" and the "Electronic Colony" Narratives
Selfe points out that we, as Americans, tell ourselves that computers are the tool by which global peace and community will be created, connecting people all over the world, regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic states, or location. This vision is known as the "Global Village" narrative, and Selfe cites advertisements featuring images of tribal-garbed natives, bereted Frenchmen, and a veiled Middle Eastern woman as representative of the "global community." These same images, Selfe contends, can be viewed through the "Electronic Colony" narrative, in which we can see that though the people featured in these ads are supposed to be connected to Americans in a "global community," in reality the ads portray these people as the grateful recipients of American ingenuity and generosity in the "gift" of technology. Similar ads from Polyglot International and IBM also fit into the "Electronic Colony" narratives, causing Selfe to cite these narratives as driven by profit and corporate gain rather than genuine concern for the cultures of the world.
It is interesting to note here Selfe's assumption that readers will identify with her argument as "Americans," though she addresses the article, for the most part, to her colleagues in the field of English studies. Her one acknowledgement to this distinction comes in the her characterization of Virgin Records as a British company whose advertising and marketing targets give it "a decidedly American flavor, thus, joining the two countries under the potency of a single colonial gesture" (298). Is she, in some ways, reiterating that notion that the world revolves around America by specifically addressing Americans in her article, or does she, in the same way, prove her point by example?
The "Land of Equal Opportunity" and the "Land of Difference" Narratives
In this narrative, Selfe examines the all-too-familiar notion that America is the "Land of Equal Opportunity," affording the same opportunities and access to all people, regardless of race, gender, or class. Many of the ads she cites in this section feature many references to the 1950s, harkening back to a time of comfort, stability, and possibility. What these advertisements ignore, however, is the truth--historically, America has been the "Land of Opportunity" only for some groups of people. Slavery, immigration, and women's sufferage all point to a time when American was really the "Land of Difference," controlled by middle-class white males and oblivious to the people of different social and economic situations.
"The Un-Gendered Utopia" and "The Same Old Gendered Stuff" Narratives
The ever-debated topic of gender equality is the center of this narrative; computers, we like to believe, will create a "utopic world in which gender is not a predictor of success or a constraint for interaction with the world" (305-06). Despite evidence that females consistently use computers less than males, both in educational settings and in the workplace, computers are still seen as the unifying force through which males and females become equal. However, Selfe contends, computers are actually "socially determined artifacts" which contribute to a gendered society (306). In the ads from this section, the women portrayed--supposedly to signify the inclusion of women in technology--are still viewed in the conventional roles of wife, mother, and homemaker, who use technology in order to make their lives easier or to make their households run more efficiently. Men, on the other hand, use technology to "accomplish things" (308). Even in the ads, women are not in control of the computer itself; the keyboard--the source of authority over the computer--is either in the hands of a man or not present.
One has to wonder, however, whether men or women created these
advertising campaigns. It is almost understandable if men are responsible for
the portrayal of women in the submissive, hausfrau roles, but if women took
part in these campaigns, why didn't they rebel against this image of themselves?
Or did they protest, and were overruled by their male counterparts?
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