Thursday, April 15, 2010

Blog Post #9

Friday 11 AM section


Looking through the posts, I see that I came upon a similar realization as Fiona. Last week, when we discussed hardcore vs. casual gamers, we focused especially on how gaming was divided along gender lines. I couldn’t help but realize that Yoon’s article also brings attention to gender. He writes, “Furthermore, in contrast with representations of computers, representations of mobile phones in Korean advertising and newspaper editorials tend to present the mobile phone as a feminine, light and playful technology.” (Yoon, 110) This seems ironic since later Yoon discusses the fact that the use of the mobile phone was considered male and adult. Women and teenagers could not be trusted to properly use a mobile phone because, for example, they might use it excessively. It appears that regardless of the actual device, the whole field of technology is placed in the realm of the male. Why is this so?


Throughout the article there is also the presence of different relationships of control. There is the relationship between the phone and the user (how the mobile phone can overpower the user to the point where one becomes addicted to the technology). In addition, the distribution of power/control is more uncertain when both parties in a social relationship (parent/child, husband/wife) have a mobile phone. For example, one concern that is briefly touched upon by Yoon is the worry that mobile phones will cause a loosening of familial bonds. I find the fact that a medium that allows people to constantly keep in touch can also make one feel isolated to be an interesting phenomenon.

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