Algorithm criticism is an important process to remember when engaging with sets of data. There are questions surrounding algorithms that could impact the data sets that are shown. Who created the algorithm? Why did they choose to do it this way? Who does this algorithm directly effect? These are a few things to consider when attempting to understand why a data set exists the way that it does. In Noble’s Algorithms of Oppression we see that there is a need to understand the power that creates these algorithms 1; while a private entity can create the physical code that is the algorithm, it is dependent upon the consumers and fellow google-searchers to undermine the oppressive nature of online algorithms.
Feminism in the 1930’s proved more relevant than ever after the New Deal. The political and societal understanding of the time was that the men were the sole breadwinners meanwhile the women were to tend to the traditional house duties 2 Feminism here challenged the status quo in an attempt to show the world and the American society that women were indeed capable to provide for their families; they wanted to show that they were beneficial to society outside of the household. Today feminism still promotes the equality of women but in a different sense. No longer are women expected to remain at home to raise children but they are ever present in the workplace. An issue that feminism continues to tackle today is the gender wage gap in which women are being paid less than men even though society says that they are equal and capable of the same jobs.
WPA activists share similarities with modern-day activists in the sense that they are fighting social norms by pushing boundaries. Referring to the American Yawp‘s section XII and my previous paragraph, we see that the feminist were fighting gender norms and stereotypes by forms of protests. The modern day digital activists are challenging society’s modern day stereotypes. For example, a simple google search provides a laundry list of predicted results before even finishing your search entry. These activists want to change these predictions through understanding algorithmic code and there is an attempt to move away from the racist or sexist search tools by changing the way society accepts these results.3
- Noble, S. U. (2018). Algorithms of oppression: how search engines reinforce racism. New York: New York University Press.
- Locke, J. L., & Wright, B. (2019). The American yawp: a massively collaborative open U.S. history textbook. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
- Noble, S. U. (2018). Algorithms of oppression: how search engines reinforce racism. New York: New York University Press.
