Review: Julia Ahrens (2009). Going Online, Doing Gender. Alltagspraktiken rund um das Internet in Deutschland und Australien [Going Online, Doing Gender. Everyday Practices around the Internet in Germany and Australia]

Abstract

The Internet can be integrated into domestic life in various ways. This interesting study analyzes, primarily on the basis of problem-centered interviews and a qualitative content analysis (MAYRING), the (active) mode of picking up this medium and its integration into daily life. In the center of this study are the effects of Internet use and forms of communication, divided into temporal, spatial, contextual and social dimensions. In particular, this study focuses on the effects of Internet usage in the field of partner relationships with respect to gender relations. The question is raised as to the extent to which structures of inequality in the field of "going online" are reproduced. On the basis of the analysis of 12 couples, the integration processes in two countries (Germany and Australia, which differ somewhat in terms of diffusion level) are compared. The author argues that qualitatively oriented observation alone can bring the processes of communication and interaction in domestic (everyday) life into view—as shown by this study, even if "only" a more exploratory alignment is evident. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1102177