The Role of Mobile Phones in Enabling Changes in Gender Relations

Mobile Phones are being positioned as a device that has empowering potentials for women both in public and private spheres. Using literature review methodology, this paper reveals that women have definitely increased their virtual social space that is facilitating their confidence and assertiveness in the public realm of economic, educational and social justice through their Mobile engagement. However in the personal realm of roles, and inter personal relations, women continue to function within the traditional patriarchal structures. A significant difference exists in the qualitative patterns, motivations and attitudes towards Mobile use which fall along conventional gender roles and relations. Mobile Phone practices constitute and continue to be a site of struggle for power, control and domination. There is limited literature that dwells on the reasons why the structural and power inequality perpetuates even within uses and practices of an egalitarian device like Mobile Phones. Mobiles are uniquely placed simultaneously as a personal intimate device for its user to enable changes at the micro level and a mass adopted device that can potentially change macro social practices and norms.