Reem Hilu, "Digitizing Domesticity in the 1980s: The Intimate Life of Computers" (U Minnesota Press, 2024)
Dec 10, 2024
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Reem Hilu, an Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, discusses her book, which explores how 1980s home computers were designed to support traditional family structures. She reveals how these technologies shaped intimate relationships, from enhancing couple dynamics to providing companionship for lonely children. Hilu emphasizes the often-overlooked contributions of women in tech, illustrating how feminist critique influenced personal computing, transforming it into a tool for navigating domestic life.
The podcast highlights how 1980s home computers were framed to sustain heteronormative family dynamics, reshaping domestic relationships while marginalizing women's contributions to technology.
The concept of 'companionate computing' illustrates that early personal computing not only served practical functions but also influenced intimate connections and evolving gender roles within domestic settings.
Deep dives
The Intersection of Gender and Technology
The discussion highlights the relationship between gender and technology, particularly focusing on the impact of computing on domestic life in the 1980s. The speaker explores how early computer technologies were often gendered, predominantly viewed as tools for male hobbyists, which marginalized women's roles and interests in this emerging digital landscape. This gendered narrative continued to shape societal perceptions of technology's place within the home, contributing to underlying tensions in family dynamics. The concept of 'companionate computing' emphasizes how technology not only serves functional purposes but also influences interpersonal relationships within domestic settings.
Historical Context of Computing in Domestic Spaces
The origins of computing technology are traced back to military and defense contexts before transitioning to home environments. This transition marked a significant shift in the perception of computers, where they began to be integrated into family life and domestic culture, often without considering the implications for women's roles. The discussion references early interactive media, such as talking dolls with microchips, which also contributed to defining personal computing's place in the home. The analysis reveals that the introduction of computers into family dynamics often led to anxieties over their influence on traditional domestic relationships.
Cultural Shifts Through Relationship Software
The exploration of relationship software in computing reveals how these technologies reflected and shaped contemporary ideals about intimacy and connection during the 1980s. Programs such as 'Interlude' showcased the interplay between gender dynamics and evolving social norms, often through provocative marketing techniques that targeted a male audience. However, even products not explicitly designed with feminist intentions contributed to discussions around romantic relationships and therapeutic culture, indicating broader societal shifts in understanding intimacy. The research highlights that while these technologies did not dictate relationships, they created new avenues for interaction and reevaluation of familial bonds.
Digitizing Domesticity in the 1980s: The Intimate Life of Computers (U Minnesota Press, 2024) shows how the widespread introduction of home computers in the 1980s was purposefully geared toward helping sustain heteronormative middle-class families by shaping relationships between users. Moving beyond the story of male-dominated computer culture, this book emphasizes the neglected history of the influence of women’s culture and feminist critique on the development of personal computing despite women’s underrepresentation in the industry.
Proposing the notion of “companionate computing,” Reem Hilu reimagines the spread of computers into American homes as the history of an interpersonal, romantic, and familial medium. She details the integration of computing into family relationships—from helping couples have better sex and offering thoughtful simulations of masculine seduction to animating cute robot companions and giving voice to dolls that could talk to lonely children—underscoring how these computer applications directly responded to the companionate needs of their users as a way to ease growing pressures on home life.
The Intimate Life of Computers is a vital contribution to feminist media history, highlighting how the emergence of personal computing dovetailed with changing gender roles and other social and cultural shifts. Eschewing the emphasis on technologies and institutions typically foregrounded in personal-computer histories, Hilu uncovers the surprising ways that domesticity and family life guided the earlier stages of our all-pervasive digital culture.
Peter C. Kunze is an assistant professor of communication at Tulane University.