Meet Cybermommy

Cybermommy is the brainchild (and online alter ego) of Judith Stadtman Tucker, midlife mom and part-time graphic designer now residing on the New England seacoast. Proud parent to Thing One (male, age 6) and Thing Two (male, age 2), she divides her time between trying to tackle the family laundry mountain and reflecting on how emerging technologies will continue to influence our lives and the lives of our children.

I’ve had online access since 1994, but up until about a year ago I used my connection primarily to send and receive email. As improved browser software and search engines eased access to relevant Web sites, my curiosity grew about what might be out in cyberspace that I could apply to my life as a woman and mother.

As I spent more time on the Web, I became convinced the useful information and tools available through Internet technology could be indispensable to the personal empowerment of women. I should add  I consider empowerment anything that streamlines the less desirable aspects of an individual’s life to permit the more productive use of available time; or any situation with the potential to reveal a new or unexpected opportunity; or a piece of information which is intellectually, emotionally, or spiritually enriching. In the struggle to accommodate all the activities and responsibilities modern women pack into their lives, small stuff really does count. For example, I was overwhelmed by a sense of liberation when I discovered I could purchase my favorite moisturizer online, thereby erasing an errand I find truly repugnant, i.e., shopping at department store cosmetic counters. (Personally, I’ve never savored having a pink-smocked 25-year old with flawless maquillage suggest that I might prefer a foundation with higher coverage.)

And it does appear, as the demographics of Internet users rapidly shift from predominantly male to predominantly female, that women have the message and are putting it to work. However, when I presented an introductory seminar on the World Wide Web for adult women, I found that many still had the impression that going online meant travelling unarmed into a wild and unfriendly frontier. This particular group was primarily composed of women in their early and mid-thirties with college degrees, the segment of the US population reportedly flocking to the Internet in the past year. So I question some of the recent statistics; in my estimation, getting the maximum benefit from being online means more than a single online shopping excursion or checking a free email account once a week. I created Cybermommy to encourage women who are new to the Web experience to explore the wide range of the communities, amenities and assistance available to them online.

For women who are seasoned netizens: I hope you will join my effort to connect women to the broader spectrum of the Web. This will become more crucial as excellent smaller sites are overshadowed by monster online networks funded by big media. If you think your friend, sister, mother, or grandmother can benefit from resources on the Web, get her connected. And if she wants some help finding her bearings, Cybermommy is here.

Judith Stadtman Tucker
judy@cybermommy.com
February 1999