Active Reading
Most of you have done college for a while at this point. I hope you have a good system for reading that allows you to read actively and comprehend sufficiently. You never have to (it is impossible?) read for a complete understanding, but you have to give the effort to encounter a text and walk away with some new knowledge that you did not prior to trying to read that text.
That is what I will be asking you to do for each reading in this course. For tips on how to do that, I highly recommend this brief resource: Active Reading Strategies: Remember and Analyze What You Read | McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning (princeton.edu). Use these strategies.
Getting Started with Data Feminism
Most book introductions will set out some key terms and the overall aims of the book, as well as a general overview of how the book is organized.
Data Feminism is a book we will read in completion this semester, so it is all the more important to have a firm understanding of what the central ideas and goals of the book are since we will be spending so much time with it.
As a way to gain a collaborative understanding of this introduction, I want you to return to the notes you took (of course you took notes while reading!!!–see previous section on this page) on the introduction and skim back through the introduction to the book. What terms jump out as especially important? What is the book trying to “do” (i.e., what are its goals? how specific can you get with those goals?)?
In a comment below, do your best to define a key term from D’Ignazio and Klein in your own words or describe an aim of the book in your own words. (many studies show that comprehension and retention are increased when using your own words to describe what was read). Make sure you do not repeat a key term or aim from another student…there should be plenty of ideas to work from!
After commenting, click the below button to continue:
It is evident to me that D’Ignazio and Klein are informing us about the disparities and discrimination in data collection and analysis of these data. They made a point on page 23 of Chapter 1 (The power chapter) that the people collecting the data are mostly the dominant groups and not the minorities. So, taking the Serena Williams example from the beginning of the chapter, we can see that she herself went through birthing complications that only black women face and was listened to because of her status and fame. However, of these women are not taken into account in data with an emphasis in their specific race and gender being a main factor. The lack of inclusion of minority groups is a big flaw in our data collection as well as in our government policies and the way they are written and published.
I believe the book’s aim is to open the world of data and science to all those systemically shunned out of these fields for decades. Using feminism as a start point to include all women and other expressions of gender. Considering feminism as a verb to push for inclusion, it acts to destabilize the patriarchy with the STEM field. To apply intersectionality to data science and address the problems with race and gender but the book’s aim also wants to take on privileges and the effects of oppression.
For me Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren Klein are informing and creating awareness of the topics of segregation and privilege evident in the data science world. They both are trying to proof through numerous examples the idea that data collection have a big influence on majors issues in our society. For instance, the authors put emphasis on the oppression experience of both Christine Darden and Emma DeGraffenreid, demonstrating that their data and any other aggregated data with similar experiences could in a future challenge the systems of power and inequality in our society which ultimately will help to form a less segregated environment. These ideas are incorporated in one key concept and that is Data Feminism.
The very first key term that would caught my attention when I just look at the title of the book is the word “Feminism.” Straight to the introduction where the authors asking “Why data science needs feminism,” the word “needs” is included in the question to create a connection as well as emphasizes as aiming the importance of feminism affects toward the society. Briefly through the first few paragraphs, although Darden was an educated black woman but she would never been treated equally as being her gender and her education status in her workspace. The book is bringing up the topic about segregation of equality, discriminatory conditions, and racism during the time.
Many things jumped out at me, namely the reference to Beyoncé and her song “Bow Down” which has a speech by Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, In the song she says that feminism is the, “political, social, and economic equality of the sexes”. I love Beyoncé, so I had to include that, I love that the writers referenced her. But, something else that jumped out to me was when they were discussing how Betty Friedan’s book, The Feminine Mystique, started the “second wave” of feminism which I think is extremely important. The book and the “second wave” of feminism was mainly focused of defying gender roles and doing away with outdated ideas about what women could or couldn’t do. This played a part in Darden’s experience in the workplace because she noticed that the men who had the same credentials as women were getting promotions and moving up in the company, but the women were sent to computing pools and remained there until they left the company. When she confronted her boss about this he said, “Well, nobody’s ever complained,” and, “The women seem to be happy doing that, so that’s just what they do.” Women were expected to just take what they could get and be quiet. This “second wave” of feminism encouraged women to come to together to speak out against domestic violence, reproductive issues, and restrictive gender roles. What her boss said made sense to an extent. When he said, “nobody’s ever complained,” that was probably true. The importance of the “second wave” of feminism is that now, instead of biting their tongues on issues they were dealing with and not complaining when they really had every right to, women were going to say something until there was change. The book also brings up intersectional feminism which is an important term. Women, as a whole, experience inequality, but when you break down different groups of women- that inequality is not experienced the same. A white women does not experience gender inequality, or inequality in general, in the same way that a black woman would and it is important to take these differences into consideration because these issues cannot be handled the same way. The same principle applies to a trans woman. She will have a much more difficult time navigating the world and trying to achieve equality than a cisgender woman would. The book emphasizes that feminists need to be aware of these differences in order to advocate, uplift, and empower all women as effectively as possible.
I really said the wrong song name, shame. The song is Flawless by Beyoncé.
One general key term that came to me throughout the reading is “power.” Ever since being a little girl I remember my mother constantly telling me you have the power to do anything and be anything and it stuck with me forever. Power can be understood and interpreted in many different ways, whether it be physical power, mentally, or power in numbers. This also applies to data and the way it’s interpreted. To be honest, before Monday’s class when I heard the word ‘data’ the only thing that came to mind was graphs, numbers, and experiments. After Monday’s class and reading the introduction I was convinced that there’s so much more to it. There’s more to seeing charts and statistics. It’s about how we can know what’s on them and how we can discuss the significance of them. Going back to the concept of power I’m convinced that by May, as a woman I’ll have the power to understand and comprehend data.
By reading through the introduction, “unequality” is the term that can represent my understanding of the title of the book. Currently, there is nothing that is perfectly balanced. It is being described in the book, “Data is a double-edged sword.” Although data can help discover evidence, pro and con by applying data are not controllable. In the introduction, a historical event was mentioned that “the General Motor factory” claimed they did hire black men and they did hire women. In general understanding, it provides evidence that the factory does not violate the rule. However, when integrating two conditions, the truth floats up. From my perspective, the book is talking about inequality, and feminism arises as a role that would help us maintain the balance within data.
In the introduction of the book, I found many interesting key term that would help us to understand the further chapters, but I found interesting the therm intersectionality, basically it means the aspects of situations, people, political and religion identities in which the combination of all of them does not have to create a discrimination or have a type of privilege, in contrast intersectionality tries to combine everything without leaving any aspects outside the box. I think the one of the main goal of the book is combine every key term (power, feminism, data, oppression, and more) and make it powerful, and understandable to everyone in which the reader can apply it on our day-to-day lives.
Important terms for me are the time period. There were rebellion and segregation of race and gender diversity. In spite of having the qualifications women were not recognized for their intelligence. There were inequalities of gender roles in the workplace because only men went to the moon and women stayed in one position whereas men with the same amount of qualification got promoted to engineer positions. The goals are to tell us of the inequality and gender roles in the workplace. Also, females are only supposed to do lighter jobs than males. It was as though men are stronger and powerful than women and are made for certain types of jobs.
I think the aim of the book is to tell readers how data is basically a benefit to others and it can also be a liability. It is trying to tell us data is used as a weapon by people that have power and they use it because they want to combine their control. This book informs us about segregation and how women didn’t have the same privileges as men did. I believe the book is trying to prove that data has an impact on society in many ways. it’s trying to tell us that data can be a solution to many issues and can be looked back as a reference to help reduce segregation problems etc.
There are two general key terms that caught my attention while reading the introduction; sexism and racism. Sexism and racism have been existed in this world for what seems like an eternity. Even though the cases of racism and sexism are much lower in the work industry than they used to be, but they still do exist. This book focuses on the impact of these terms. For example, in the introduction, the authors say “men with math credentials were placed in engineering positions, where they could be promoted through the ranks of the civil service, while women with the same degrees were sent to the computing pools, where they languished until they retired or quit.” This shows that no matter how hard-working and intelligent women were, they were considered beneath men, and men took all the credits that women worked so hard for. Also, women were computer gods and did everything from calculations to flight path to the moon, and men didn’t even know the names of the computer. From my point of view, I believe that this book is trying to focus on how data science can help women to work towards social justice, and make a place of their own in the field of science.
One thing that stood out to me in the reading was social protests. Sure it gets brought up for a few lines but social protests are very important in our society. They show that change is very much needed if a protest is occurring. It mentions how Darden herself was part of many protests such as lunch-counter sit-ins. Last year in 2020, we had the big Black Lives Matter protests going around. It shows that people can band together and try to change the system that is oppressing us. It also shows that authority figures are not exercising their powers in the right way and instead can be seen as abusing them. Another protest I am following closely right now is the farmer protests going on in India. The government passed three acts and the farmer unions have demanded that they be repealed and are showing it with their protests. Of course the police misuse their power and abuse the peaceful farmers that are protesting. It is a sad sight to see cause farmers are crucial to India as they grow all the crops and those crops get circulated through the market. Social protest can help change things that are not seen beneficial to society as a whole.
Reading through the introduction to the Data Feminism Book, I am struck by the authors’ definition of what they call data feminism based on how Darden modeled it: “a way of thinking about data, both their uses and their limits, that is informed by direct experience, by a commitment to action, and by intersectional feminist thought.”
To my family and most others that are still living and raised in the fundamelist community that I was born into; identities such as gender, beliefs, race and color are what define a person and their place in society and should never be challenged. For a long time I believed that it was best to keep my past in the past. But as time goes on I’m learning that if we keep quiet about oppression, injustice and all kinds disparities; we not only do a disservice to ourselves, but to everyone else that might find themselves in similar situations.
As someone that works with data everyday at work, I’ve learnt that it’s not only data based on personal stories that can be exclusionary but also business and financial data. I’m really excited to begin this course and start to expand my knowledge on how I can use data to change the world. And yes I know I cannot change the entire world on my own but as the authors write that shouldn’t stop any of us: “This is a complex and weighty task, and it will necessarily remain unfinished. But its size and scope need not stop us—or you, the readers of this book—from taking additional steps toward justice.”
The terms that stood out to me most while reading this piece were, liberty, “equality and opportunity for all.” The central message focuses on Darden was the only colored women amongst all the chaos that was actually doing something of importance. I believe this is also what the books is trying to convey. Equality. We see the issues in this time period in which sexism and racism openly prevailed. However, Darden was accomplishing her victories. I find this fascinating how during those times, she was able to show up and do what it took to help regardless of any social status or misconceptions.
After reading the first chapter of our text, the most Important term I recognized, though somewhat cliche, was feminism. I found it important that the author gave us the definition, and further defined feminism as “any act that is required to turn that belief into reality”.
After re-reading, I found this description to be far more important than it was at first glance. I believe that It was a small sentence that defined the way that the author would further make points throughout the book. In my own words, action is highly relevant. I think one of the largest aims of this book are to both encourage action from those that believe in greater equality, and glorifying those that are successful in their attempts.
The aim of this book is to bring attention to us how data plays a role in mitigating the disparities among different genders, races and how can we utilize this data in our feminism activist work. We see how data is a big factor in fighting for more equality in every aspect of life and how crucial it is that this information we are given to be backed up by action in our fight for feminism. We are introduced a new term, intersectional feminism, which is different dimensions of individual and group identity interlaced together in determining how each of us faces the world. Hence, feminism is intersectional and each one of us should use the data we are given to fight for more equality and justice in our everyday life.
Learning Module 1: One of the key terms from D’lgnazio and Klein’s Data Feminism is “privilege hazard”. It says that those of use who occupy the most privileged positions such as ” those with good education, respectable credentials and professional accolades” are poorly able to recognize oppression in society. They lack the day to day lived experience of the underclass. As members of the elite, their wealth affords them higher quality education, better healthcare and greater access to opportunities. The authors give a description of the life of the average straight white male as compared to other races of men. White men occupy this privileged position and generally live a life of leisure, comfort and stability. A more concrete example is given is that it is the case that white men are over-represented in the training data-sets of facial recognition software. Machine intelligence systems are less able to detect darker skin features.