Remote mothering and the parallel shift: Women meet the cellular telephone

Abstract

New technologies could have a positive impact on women's lives because of their potential to disrupt old social and political conventions. Using the recent development of the cellular telephone as an example, the authors find, however, that gender differences in the acquisition and use of this technology already are reproducing familiar inequities. Women in the authors' study use the cellular telephone to manage creatively their responsibilities for home and children. Their husbands believe the women are in special need of protection.