Hacking into Hacking: Gender and the Hacker Phenomenon

Women hackers, and whether there are any, has proved to be an endlessly fascinating topic. This paper explores the gender dimensions of hacking in terms of the male domination of hacking, the presence or absence of women hackers, the influence of the frontier metaphor and especially frontier masculinity." Central tenets of the 'hacker ethic' are examined including whether hacker communities are more egalitarian than other communities, the equal opportunities, freedom of information and work ethics of the hacker ethic. Whilst these are all problematic in gender terms there are hints that a female version of the hacker ethic is emerging amongst women hackers which is more explicitly political in motivation.