Technical Communication Quarterly Aug 2007

“Just Roll Your Mouse Over Me”: Designing Virtual Women for Customer Service on the Web

Sean Zdenek Texas Tech University

Abstract

This paper explores the growing popularity of animated software agents as a rapidly evolving technology for supporting website users and particularly the tendency among designers to figure them as young women. While designers claim that animated/personified interfaces are more intuitive and natural than the traditional point-and-click interfaces that users encounter, this paper aims to show how virtual humans can enact familiar scripts about women's work, circumscribe the range of possible roles and personalities for women, invoke service to others as the primary context for women's work, and objectify women through a not-so-subtle process of linking technology-as-tool to the idea that women are tools, fetishized instruments to be used in the service of accomplishing users' goals. In conclusion, this study develops our field's tools for critiquing technical communication texts and interfaces by focusing attention on the implications of how technologies for interacting with website users are designed.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
2007-08-29
DOI
10.1080/10572250701380766
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
technical communication
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (4)

  1. Malone (2024)
    “Technical Editing and Women Scientists Were Made for Each Other”: Ethaline H. …
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Sánchez (2017)
    The Roles of Technical Communication Researchers in Design Scholarship
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Jones et al. (2016)
    Disrupting the Past to Disrupt the Future: An Antenarrative of Technical Commun…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. White et al. (2016)
    Are We “There” Yet? The Treatment of Gender and Feminism in Technical, Business…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

References (63) · 10 in this index

  1. (2004)
    How to create virtual beauties.
  2. André E. (2001)
    AI Magazine
  3. Badler, N. I., Bindiganavale, R., Bourne, J., Allbeck, J., Shi, J. and Palmer, M. Real time virtual humans. P…
  4. 10.1007/BF01205516
     ↗
  5. Bailenson J. N. (2001)
    Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence
Show all 63 →
  1. Bickmore T. (1999)
    Proceedings from AAAI Fall Symposium on Narrative Intelligence
  2. Blyler (1998)
    Taking a political turn: The critical perspective and research in professional …
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. 10.1353/con.1996.0018
     ↗
  4. Borzo J. (2004)
    The Wall Street Journal
  5. Brunner C. (2002)
    Ghosts in the machine: Women's voices in research with technology
  6. Cassell J. (1998)
    From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and computer games
     ↗
  7. 10.1145/332051.332075
     ↗
  8. Chang J. (2004)
    The Unbearable Heart. Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism
  9. Cowan R. S. (1998)
    Sex/Machine: Readings in culture, gender, and technology
  10. Crevier D. (1993)
    AI: The tumultuous history of the search for artificial intelligence.
  11. Dobrin D. (1983)
    New essays in technical and scientific communication: Research, theory, practice
  12. Durack (1997)
    Gender, Technology, and the History of Technical Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  13. Gurak et al. (1994)
    Making gender visible: Extending feminist critiques of technology to technical …
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  14. 10.1080/03634528909378756
     ↗
  15. 10.2307/358988
     ↗
  16. Hopkins P. (1998)
    Sex/Machine: Readings in culture, gender, and technology
  17. Johnson (1997)
    Audience involved: Toward a participatory model of writing
    Computers and Composition
  18. Koerber (2000)
    Toward a Feminist Rhetoric of Technology
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  19. Kurzweil R. (1999)
    The age of spiritual machines: When computers exceed human intelligence.
  20. Kuypers J. A. (2005)
    The art of rhetorical criticism.
  21. LaDuc et al. (1994)
    The critical eye, the gendered lens, and “situated”; insights—feminist contribu…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  22. Lam B. (2004)
    Wired
  23. LAY (1991)
    Feminist Theory and the Redefinition of Technical Communication
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  24. Lerman, N., Mohun, A. and Oldenziel, R. 2003. “The shoulders we stand on/the view from here: Historiography a…
  25. Lerman, N., Oldenziel, R. and Mohun, A. 2003. “Introduction: Interrogating boundaries.”. InGender & technolog…
  26. Liu C. (2000)
    Copying machines: Taking notes for the automaton.
  27. 10.2307/375964
     ↗
  28. Miller C. R. (1989)
    Technical writing: Theory and practice
  29. Miller, C. R. Writing in a culture of simulation: Ethos online. Paper presented at Rhetoric Society of Americ…
  30. Nakamura L. (2000)
    The cybercultures reader
  31. 10.1111/0022-4537.00153
     ↗
  32. 10.1007/BF01205512
     ↗
  33. Plantec P. (2004)
    Virtual humans: A build-it-yourself kit, complete with software and step-by-step instructions.
  34. Quesenbery W. (2001)
    Technical Communication
  35. Romaine S. (1999)
    Communicating gender
  36. Rothschild J. (1988)
    Machina ex dea: Feminist perspectives on technology.
  37. Savage G. (2001)
    Writing a professional life: Stories of technical communicators on and off the job.
  38. Scharff V. (1998)
    Sex/Machine: Readings in culture, gender, and technology
  39. 10.2307/358761
     ↗
  40. Shneiderman B. (2003)
    Leonardo's laptop: Human needs and the new computing technologies.
     ↗
  41. 10.1287/opre.6.1.1
     ↗
  42. Smith et al. (2002)
    Feminist Theory in Technical Communication: Making Knowledge Claims Visible
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  43. Spencer J. (2003)
    The Wall Street Journal
  44. Stanley A. (1983)
    Machina ex dea: Feminist perspectives on technology
  45. 10.2307/1208942
     ↗
  46. Stone A. R. (1998)
    Sex/Machine: Readings in culture, gender, and technology
  47. Sullivan D. (1990)
    Journal of Advanced Composition
  48. 10.1162/105420499760347342
     ↗
  49. THOMPSON (1999)
    Women and Feminism in Technical Communication: A Qualitative Content Analysis o…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  50. Thompson et al. (2006)
    Women and Feminism in Technical Communication—An Update
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  51. Thralls C. (1993)
    Professional communication: The social perspective
  52. Turkle S. (1995)
    Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the Internet.
  53. Villiers de L'Isle Adam A. (1982)
    Tomorrow's Eve.
  54. Wajcman J. (1991)
    Feminism confronts technology.
  55. Wajcman J. (2004)
    TechnoFeminism.
  56. Wiedemann J. (2002)
    Digital beauties: 2D and 3D CG digital models.
  57. Wood G. (2002)
    Edison's Eve: A magical history of the quest for mechanical life.
  58. Zdenek S. (2002)
    Gendered Practices in Language
CrossRef global citation count: 23 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Written Communication May 2026
    Leveraging Human-Centered Design and Artificial Intelligence to Improve Rural Healthcare: Wicked Problems, Design Thinking, and Mutable Methodologies ↗
    Richard Johnson-Sheehan; Thomas Rickert; Paul Thompson Hunter; Adrianna Deptula
    technical communication artificial intelligence
  2. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication May 2026
    The User Experience of Virtual Reality for Longitudinal Writing: A Diary Study of Immersive Graduate Dissertation Composing Experience ↗
    Jason Tham; Rich Shivener; Niveditha Pookkottuvariam; Sarah Riddick
    rhetorical criticism graduate education technical communication archival research empirical research qualitative research
  3. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2026
    Visualizing Heat Risk: Infographics, Memorability, and Design ↗
    Preksha Mysore; Kathryn Lambrecht
    technical communication
  4. 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
    technical communication professional writing
  5. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2026
    What Video Games Can Tell Us About Interactive Technical Communication ↗
    Emily Kuzneski Johnson
    technical communication multimodality