Gender and the Household Internet

Abstract

Internet research has reached a point where a detailed analysis of household Internet use is necessary. Given that the household is a contested terrain for feminist theorists (Hochschild, 1989; Luxton, 1980), it is often a site of struggle between household members and a place where unequal divisions of domestic labour situate women as bearing the load of housework and caregiving (Cockburn & Furst-Dilic, 1997). How should researchers examine Internet use in the household? There are two particular areas that need to be considered in order to contextualize household Internet use. The first is household roles: the interactions and relationships shaped by societal expectations and social roles (gender, class, and race). The second is the domestic division of labour: Who is responsible for domestic tasks and how does this influence household Internet use?