Digital Gender Gap Pattern in Indonesia

¹ Magister Ilmu Komunikasi Universitas Diponegoro, Jl. Erlangga Barat VII No. 33, Semarang, Central Jawa - Indonesia
² Departemen Ilmu Komunikasi, FISIP UNDIP, Jl. Prof. H. Soedarto, S.H., Tembalang, Semarang, Central Jawa - Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: annapujilestari@gmail.com

Abstract

The development of Communication Technology through the Internet brings a digital gap for women, especially for Baby Boom generation, women who was born in 1946-1964. This study aim to describe the digital gap in family communication. The theory used in this research is Gender Structuration Theory and Liberal Feminist Theory. This research is a descriptive qualitative research with critical phenomenology design. The results suggest that women on Baby Boom generation still marginalized from access to information over the internet due to unequal power on the use of communication technology between female and male family members. That have been happened because of the absence of digital gender awareness of the Y generation (born between 1977 - 1997) to provide internet access and facilities for women on Baby Boom generation who are their mothers. Y Generation prefer to provide internet access and facilities for his father, the Baby Boom man. The provision of means of communication (smart phone) and internet access for baby boom generation is preferred for men. This was due to patriarchal thinking in the pattern of family relationships that assume men have more rights to master communication technology than women.