Reconstructing Babylon: Essays on women and technology

Women have always used technology, but never from a position of control. The history of technology has been premissed on the world view that men protect and provide for women while women service them. Even women scientists are expected to serve as wife-like and daughter-like assistants to their male colleagues. Recent developments in reproductive technologies, which use the female body as the subject of scientific experiment, mean that women now have even less control over their own bodies and their own lives. This collection of essays focuses on how women are affected worldwide by environmental toxins, reproductive and biomedical technologies and surrogacy. The authors, all members of the Institute on Women and Technology, stress the need for a scientific policy which empowers women and in which women's dignity and autonomy are central considerations.