Hello again, Zuskateers. These last few weeks I've been struggling with malware. You know, the usual malware in my head (migraines) but this time, also, malware on my laptop. Those malware assholes - if they would use 5% of their creativity in doing something good for humankind, rather than figuring out how to redirect my browser to Adult Women Nude!!! Bastards. They aren't even kind enough to send me to Adult Men Nude!!!
I finally gave up trying to remove the malware since I didn't have enough time before taxes were due to obtain the MCSD certification that might have allowed me to begin to understand Microsoft's labyrinthine instructions for things like making a backup of my registry when Windows XP comes pre-installed without the Backup Utility. So I bravely got out the cd-rom that says something like "Never insert this flaming ball of death into your computer unless you are content to wipe it clean of everything ever done since the last time the Dead played 'Jack Straw' ".
As part of the resurrection of my computer, I went through the setup process wherein Microsoft's friendly software prompts you to name and describe your computer. There were examples offered to help with the decision: "David" or "The Ortez Family" for a name; "David's game machine" or "Ortez family office computer" for a description. I named mine after my cats. And I described it as the eyes of the world.
Then my wireless internet didn't work, so I made a call to Verizon's customer support. A service rep who gave her name as Beth was very helpful. It was pretty clear that English was not Beth's first language. I am also pretty sure that Beth's real name was not Beth. Most likely it's something much more difficult for U.S. Americans to pronounce. No doubt Verizon kindly suppled her with a list of more congenial names to choose from; I hope, at least, that it wasn't assigned to her.
In the end, I got everything back to whatever passes as normal for me and I finally got the taxes done. But as I reflected upon my malware melee, I thought "Now there's a perfect concatenation of gender and IT issues."
- Me: I'm a reasonably well-educated individual. Yet I still experienced a non-negligible amount of anxiety about using the recovery disk. I mean, I knew my computer would not blow up or fall into thousands of tiny pieces at my feet, but still...one never knows...
- Beth: a reasonably well-educated woman on a distant shore, being paying paid much less to do her job than I would be paid if I were doing it here in the U.S.
- Judith: a reasonably...who's Judith? She's Bill Gates's imaginary sister, who was not included in Microsoft's list of example computer names and descriptions.
Judith, you may recall, is the name Virginia Woolf gave to Shakespeare's imaginary sister in A Room of One's Own. Microsoft is well aware of "David" and his "gaming machine" interests. The "Ortez family" with its home office computer has entered its database as well. But Judith? Everybody knows girls don't like computers.
It was for Judith's sake that I was so annoyed with myself for being anxious about using the recovery disk and re-installing software on my computer. It was on Judith's behalf that I felt pissed off at Microsoft for not even imagining her as a computer user. It was through Judith's eyes that I saw Beth, forced to deny her name while pleasantly serving cranky U.S. customers who resent the fact that she has a job that should "belong" to an American.
I like to think that Beth's real name is Jayashri, which if I can trust a quick web search, means "Goddess of Victory". Jayashri's issues, my concerns - they may not be identical, but they sure are interconnected. There is a little piece of Judith, a little bit of Jayashri, in every woman. We want women to have access to science, engineering, and technological careers; but we also don't want them to be paid a pittance for their work, no matter where they labor. When you really start digging deep into questions of access and equity, what you will find at the core is the question of economic and social justice for all the women of the world.
5:51:11 PM 
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