Every day sexism and the Digital Diva

I’m going to tell you a story. Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a land not so far away, lived a young girl who was fascinated by gadgets. This was a time before we were all connected through the wonderful web, but still it was a time when electronic gadgetry abounded. She loved to watch the cashiers in the shops as they pressed shiny buttons and made things happened. How she longed to play with the cash registers and input numbers into them. Over time, these shiny gadgets became easier and easier to get hold of, and soon she had experienced many different types of gadgets, including hand held telephones, computer games. One day she decided that she would learn about these magical devices and she went to college. She learnt how these mysterious machines worked, how to connect them together and how they spoke to each other. Her interest in this tech world grew and grew until after many years, after she had been on many courses and had experienced so many things, that she was told that she had grown into a ‘Digital Diva’. Confused at what this could mean, she asked the man that said it to her to explain. ” Well since you have become more successful you’ve become more demanding”.

And this is when it all began to sink in. The girl realised that she needed to change her approach. She had become a threat to the men in their world. She was a stranger, an outsider, daring to enter into the male domain. She went home and told her daughter about this experience and was surprised that her daughter knew all about the language of the male species. Apparently it was a well known technique for controlling women. To call a women a ‘diva’ was known as a silencing technique. How could a women respond? Anything she said after this would present her as difficult or aggressive. Her daughter warned her of this trap and told her to go forth and continue in her confident, innovative manner and not be afraid of the comments of the dark men, those who feel threatened and undermined by a strong confident woman.

And so it was that, to this day, she has stayed true to her path, and will always take forward her ideas with the passion and enthusiasm that has kept her ideas alive. No more will she be affected by the voices of the men who tried to keep her down. For they are but cowards, and she will reveal them for what they are.