What Matters Who Writes?
What Matters Who Responds?
Andrea Lunsford, Rebecca Rickly, Michael Salvo,
and Susan West
I've been reading Wired religiously for about five months now, and though I
am in some ways fascinated by it, I am also disturbed. Take the current issue, for
instance, the December '95 one (at the time of the construction of this web, it
was the curent issue). The relentless devotion to fragmented presentation,
each page a maze of sidebars and all in day-glo colors, is one thing. But take a closer
look, and you will see a fairly conservative magazine, sometimes even extremely
conservative. And by mostly white guys, or it sure sounds like it. You'll look far and
wide for a woman contributor, or for anything about women or the role women play (or
should play) in cyberspace. Or for anything about the growing gulf between haves (who
can get Wired ) and have nots (who are simply, more often than not, wired).
The present issue is no different. It opens, on the inside cover, with a two page
advertisement for Dewar's scotch. To the right is a balding white bartender, black bowtie
and white shirt on, leaning on the bar. On the left is a glass of (supposedly) Dewar's and
the caption, "Do you really want to ask this guy to give you a 'Screaming Orgasm'?"
Excuse me? Following this (non)opening come gobs of pages of ads and then a series of
articles that are often hard to distinguish from the adds. Check it out. Esther Dyson
appears to be one of the few women who get published in Wired -- see also
her interview with Newt Gingrich, which is very complimentary to the speaker.
Back
Postmodern (un)grounding *
Collaboration *
Copy(w)right/Ownership *
Possible Futures
Title Page *
Conclusions