Channels, Fall 2016

Page 74 Duffus • Feminist Theory and Technical Communication technical communication, they have had a large role in the past. Students need to see the importance between these theories and technical communication as we now know it. For example, it is liberal feminists who have fought to reconstruct the social norms that constricted them from flourishing as technical communicators (Gurack and Bayer 1994). Rather than letting society tell them that women could not or should not ride bicycles, women tested the boundaries and taught themselves how to ride, even in public places. And they didn’t stop there. Two women, Maria E. Ward and Frances Willard, ended up individually writing manuals that acknowledged women as capable of riding and taught them how to properly ride bicycles (Hallenback 2012). Figure 1 shows an image from Ward’s manual, illustrating how women should take charge of their own bicycles. Postmodern feminism is what first introduced women into the field of technical communication because these feminists did not view gender roles or feminism as stable entities; they knew these areas were fluid, so they boldly entered a field that only men typically worked in. Both of these examples illustrate that feminism completely changed the trajectory for women as technical communicators and opened up many opportunities for them. If students study feminist theories and the history that accompanies them, they will make many of these connections on their own. They will also have a more comprehensive understanding of the field’s history as a whole. Given the opportunity to learn about feminism and how it has impacted technical communication as a field, as illustrated in the previous examples, students will be able to observe just how much the field of technical communication has evolved. Observing the field’s evolution through a new perspective could also create a deeper appreciation for where the field is today, especially for women. Women will see that they are much more valued than before, they do not have to fight as hard to be seen as credible, and they can take credit for their own work without fearing discrimination (for the most part). Figure 1. (Hallenback 2012)