You Keep Using That Word

Abstract

CSCW researchers have long inquired into the ways that identity informs, and is informed by, the design of technological systems. Gender is a regularly considered aspect of identity, with extensive work documenting and exploring gendered experiences and designs with the aim of addressing inequalities in, or through, design. Recent work has questioned the way that we conceptualise and "measure" gender, advocating more nuanced classificatory schemes to avoid silencing or obscuring trans and/or non-binary experiences. Building on and extending this research, our work examines how gender is conceptualised more broadly. Drawing from a range of theoretical perspectives in gender studies, feminist and postcolonial theory, we argue for the treatment of gender as "multiplicitous" when we conceptualise and interpret research, in order to avoid unintentionally perpetuating silencing and inequality even as we work to tackle it. Illustrating our argument with examples from both within and without CSCW, we suggest both new research directions for CSCW scholars inquiring into gender, and sensitising questions that scholars can use when constructing and evaluating studies.