Technical Communication Quarterly Oct 2012

User Agency, Technical Communication, and the 19th-Century Woman Bicyclist

Sarah Hallenbeck University of North Carolina Wilmington

Abstract

This article considers how users employ extraorganizational technical communication to reshape technologies, both materially and symbolically, even after these technologies enter into common use. Specifically, I analyze how women bicyclists of the 1890s authored instructional materials to complicate gendered and classed assumptions about users implicit in manufacturer-produced texts. I argue that technical communicators, in their teaching and research, should consider the role that extraorganizational technical communication plays in generating vital and lasting cultural changes.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
2012-10-01
DOI
10.1080/10572252.2012.686846
Open Access
Closed
Topics
technical communication

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (21)

  1. Griffin (2025)
    Articulating Need: Histories of Financial Aid Deservedness in the FAFSA
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Rea (2025)
    Social Problems and Racial Agendas: Analyzing the Structural Racism of Historic…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Randazzo (2024)
    The Exclusionary Potential of “Professionalism” in Hiring Situations
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Tham (2023)
    Instructional Design Pedagogy in Technical and Professional Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Stambler (2022)
    “An Excelent Good Remedi”: Medical Recipes as Ethos-Building Tactical Technical…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 21 →
  1. Randall (2022)
    Taking the Tactical Out of Technical: A Reassessment of Tactical Technical Comm…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Rajan (2021)
    Making When Ends Don’t Meet: Articulation Work and Visibility of Domestic Labor…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Fiss (2021)
    Ridicule, Technical Communication, and Nineteenth-Century Women Performing Coll…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Clegg et al. (2021)
    Programmatic Outcomes in Undergraduate Technical and Professional Communication…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Edenfield et al. (2019)
    Queering Tactical Technical Communication: DIY HRT
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  6. Petersen et al. (2018)
    Bridging Analysis and Action
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  7. Carradini (2018)
    An Organizational Structure of Indie Rock Musicians as Displayed by Facebook Usage
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  8. Kimball (2017)
    The Golden Age of Technical Communication
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  9. Peter (2017)
    “Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom”: Jihadist Tactical Technical Communica…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  10. Kimball (2017)
    Tactical Technical Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  11. Petersen et al. (2016)
    Using Antenarrative to Uncover Systems of Power in Mid-20th Century Policies on…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  12. Moeller et al. (2016)
    Food Fights: Cookbook Rhetorics, Monolithic Constructions of Womanhood, and Fie…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  13. Rohrer-Vanzo et al. (2016)
    Technical Communication in Assembly Instructions
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  14. Frost (2016)
    Apparent Feminism as a Methodology for Technical Communication and Rhetoric
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  15. White et al. (2016)
    Are We “There” Yet? The Treatment of Gender and Feminism in Technical, Business…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  16. Petersen (2014)
    Redefining the Workplace: The Professionalization of Motherhood through Blogging
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

Cites in this index (2)

  1. Kimball (2006)
    Cars, Culture, and Tactical Technical Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Koerber (2000)
    Toward a Feminist Rhetoric of Technology
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Also cites 3 works outside this index ↓
  1. Oudshoorn N. (2003)
    How users matter: The co-construction of users and technologies
     ↗
  2. Pickering A. (1995)
    The mangle of practice: Time, agency, and science
     ↗
  3. Spinuzzi C. (2003)
    Tracing genres through organizations: A sociocultural approach to information design
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 26 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2026
    Developing Intercultural Socioemotional Communication Skills: A Hybrid Student Exchange Project Between Kenya, Ireland, and Germany ↗
    Belinda Oechsler; Yvonne Cleary; Sissi Closs
    multimodality technical communication
  2. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2026
    What Video Games Can Tell Us About Interactive Technical Communication ↗
    Emily Kuzneski Johnson
    multimodality technical communication multilingual writers
  3. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2026
    “Is This Ethical?” New Data on the Ethical Principles and Practices of Document Design ↗
    Leslie Seawright; Amy Hodges; Timothy Ponce
    multimodality technical communication disability studies multilingual writers
  4. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2026
    How to Write With GenAI: A Framework for Using Generative AI to Automate Writing Tasks in Technical Communication ↗
    Guiseppe Getto; Susan Kelley; Bremen Vance
    artificial intelligence technical communication multilingual writers
  5. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Mar 2026
    “It's Hard to Show ROI When You’re Preventing Things from Happening”: How Impact Storytelling Frames Community Health Initiatives for Executive Audiences ↗
    Margaret Hsiao
    qualitative research multimodality technical communication professional writing multilingual writers