Electronic devices, attention, and subtextual messages
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/fashion/17TEXT.html?_r=1&ref=technology&pagewanted=all
"Keep Your Thumbs Still When I’m Talking to You" by David Carr
This article (well, it's sort of a cross between an article and a personal opinion piece, I guess) discusses electronic device etiquette. It says what you might expect it to say: People stare into their little screens in public and with friends. Is this rude? Is it destroying social connections? Shouldn't we put our devices down more often?
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What really fascinates me, though, is the image that was chosen to accompany the article, which comes right after the title. A young conventionally attractive Asian woman is standing and using her electronic device, while a young conventionally attractive white man crouches in front of her, with his hand on her arm, and makes a "screeching in distress" face. Accompanied by the title "Keep Your Thumbs Still When I’m Talking to You," it seems like there is a subtextual race and gender message.
It's always been the case that there is a power dynamic involved in "who gets to divide their attention and who doesn't."
Other than that I'm not sure I can put the race and gender messages of the image into words.
Can you?
This entry was originally posted at http://firecat.dreamwidth.org/714460.html, where there are
comments.
"Keep Your Thumbs Still When I’m Talking to You" by David Carr
This article (well, it's sort of a cross between an article and a personal opinion piece, I guess) discusses electronic device etiquette. It says what you might expect it to say: People stare into their little screens in public and with friends. Is this rude? Is it destroying social connections? Shouldn't we put our devices down more often?
( Collapse )
What really fascinates me, though, is the image that was chosen to accompany the article, which comes right after the title. A young conventionally attractive Asian woman is standing and using her electronic device, while a young conventionally attractive white man crouches in front of her, with his hand on her arm, and makes a "screeching in distress" face. Accompanied by the title "Keep Your Thumbs Still When I’m Talking to You," it seems like there is a subtextual race and gender message.
It's always been the case that there is a power dynamic involved in "who gets to divide their attention and who doesn't."
Other than that I'm not sure I can put the race and gender messages of the image into words.
Can you?
This entry was originally posted at http://firecat.dreamwidth.org/714460.html, where there are
