TOW #13 - Nonfiction Text: “Why Do I Have to Call This App ‘Julie’” by Joanne McNeil

The thought of having a personal assistant is something several companies have taken into consideration. Today, companies like Apple and Microsoft have given their customers the ability to use the  built-in personal assistants known as Siri and Cortana. Named after women, these personal assistants follow a stereotype that predates the technology. Joanne McNeil explores this gender issue in her article “Why Do I Have to Call This App ‘Julie,’” making light of it through the use of facts and figures as well as an anecdotal experience. These artificial intelligences are dressed up with a feminine name and voice, and feminine pronouns.  Joanne points out that the reasoning behind the naming process, “It seems like developers decided on Julie, Amy and Clara only because these are common women’s names. These products, representing new technological possibilities, play into old stereotypes about what gender is best suited for administrative work,” (McNeil). This stereotype predates the technology, rooted in the female secretaries of office spaces. Now the steryotype can live on in your phone. McNeil points out that despite the advent of male versions of Siri, they are largely unused. Through McNeils use of such artificial intelligences like Siri, Cortana, or in her case “Julie,” McNiel points out the gender issue of having a “female” secretary. “ The product is an interesting idea and easy to use, but interacting with a fake woman assistant just feels too weird. So I shut “her” off. This Stepford app, designed to make my work more efficient, only reminds me of the gendered division of labor that I’m trying to escape.”