Women surfers amount to 35% of all internet users and with the growth in sites specifically geared towards women, they could soon outnumber their male counterparts.

Is the rise in female surfers surprising? Why are women becoming increasing users? Why are women finding the internet so useful?

Should the internet remain a male dominated arena? Is the internet a toy for the boys? Have you come across sexism on the net? Send us your views and experiences.

The internet has its own identity and will be used by whoever wants to use it. I hope the next decade brings about a lack of interest in the isms and what sex, religion, income, colour, age bla bla bla you are. The internet is more than just a tool for making money and statistically grouping its users.
Tracy Eggleton, Australia

The very fact you ask this question irritates me. It insinuates that there is something strange with women. We don't need champions, like white knights, singing our praises. Let us do our own thing.
Roberta Gardiner, United Kingdom

The 'internet' is for all people. It is as central to the lives of all people as the telephone - only much more. There is one thing that is certain. The 'internet' is going to revolutionise the work force and more and more businesses will be operating out of homes. This is going to have an effect on the whole world.
Dave Adams, USA

A computer can't discriminate. The internet is one of the most ground breaking devices of this century. Everyone should use it and feel that they are welcome to use it. Saying that computer technology is a male only area is rubbish. A female teacher taught me at university about computer applications and she did a very good job.
Nicholas Bradley, England

So what. Why oh why do small minds make everything a feminist issue. Women make up 50% of the population, they are better communicators than men are, so why is it such a surprise that women are enjoying using the internet.
Gerry, Scotland

These so-called "new sites for women" all seem to be geared to selling stuff. What kind of an image of women do these sites have? Shoppers first, humans second? Ideally the Internet will wipe away old gender distinctions and give people a level playing field for their activities, be they male or female.
Anon,

To Mark Verth, UK - Listen pal, I may be young and female but so what? I can build a computer from the motherboard up, troubleshoot programs and OS's, and so on and so forth. My genitals have nothing to do with my intelligence. The same can be said for the rest of my fellow IT professionals regardless of their sex, sexual orientation, colour¿
Amanda, USA

The Internet is the most tangible manifestation of the 'global village'. No one should be discouraged from using it on grounds of race, sex, religion or favourite root vegetable.
Ed Bayley, USA (English)

The only reason that there might be more men using the internet is as a result of the inequality of the workplace. This is certainly changing in the Western Hemisphere, as women are competing on more equal terms. However, one must consider when China comes fully on line, it will be mostly men who will have access.
David, France

By using a non-gender specific name, my contracts in web-development have skyrocketed. My salary has climbed from $68k to $150k/year ... All because I dropped the obvious "female" name. Altruistic ideas about which gender benefits from the web, is merely talk; the proof is in my income as to whom the web belongs (unfortunately for women.)
Shaw Cartier, USA

Here are some stereotypes for you: younger people are better able to use technology, men are better with technology. Here's something else: of my four grandparents, one grandmother loves shopping on the internet, the other one enjoys the contact she gets through e-mailing me.
Sarah, UK

The internet is no more a Man's world than the home is a Woman's world in todays society. We men can be interested in things other than technology, sex and beer. As a father of 2 daughters I often use the Net to research childrens health problems, find play activities, teach them how to use computers and so on. When can I see a "Men Only" site for my interests and concerns?
Dave Barlow, UK

The Internet can be thought of as a living thing. It changes and grows according to the needs of those who use it and who develop for it. But one-sided growth isn't good. As for why women are turning to the Internet, that's easy. It's a totally neutral ground. You are who you want to be. You don't need to worry how you look. You don't need to worry if you came from the "right side of the street". If you're sensitive, there's no risk from abuse, as no-one needs to know you're even there, or if you're male, female or an alien from Alpha Centauri. Last, but by no means least, the Internet empowers. YOU have TOTAL power over your environment. I doubt even a fraction of the women who use the Internet can say the same thing about their domestic life.
Bill, UK

If women don't give a monkey's because they're more interested in tactile contact and research, let them. If they want to use the Web, let them. Neither is right nor wrong nor backward nor advanced. They will use what they have available and what they want to use.
Jenni, UK

The thing that bothers me is because of all this media frenzy about 'female use' of the Net all we seem to get as a result is more and more patronising and stereotype-ridden 'women's sites'. I've been online since the early 90s, and to be perfectly honest I far preferred the Web when it was a gender-neutral zone.
Caroline, UK

Technology is gender neutral, the reasons for the difference at the moment are probably historical/social as alluded to in a number of the posts. The internet is no more of a boys toy than is a cheese sandwich.
Russell Middleton, UK

I set up my Internet Cafe 'DISC' six months ago in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne. My regular customers enjoy the fact that I can not only serve them a decent cuppa but I can chat about computers and the Internet if required. I help customers look for work over the Internet and set up e-mail addresses for them. All this service is offered in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. I spent fourteen years at home bringing up my family before returning to work three years ago. The Internet will stay a male dominated arena only if we girls allow it to be!
Suzanne Alderson, England

I've been using the internet since 1994 and found fairly quickly women were a minority - when I first started using IRC (internet relay chat) and the newsgroups the number of guys who would suddenly message you 'cause you'd admitted you were female was massive. One of the great things about 'Cyberspace' is that you stand and fall in most places by your actions - you aren't judged on looks, what you wear or the colour of your skin... Just by what you say and how you act. Why should cyberspace be just a 'boys toy'? And how do you know that the 'guy' you are talking to is really a guy :) I've spoken to a lot of girls who go 'undercover' on the 'net just to cut down the amount of messages they get!
Francesca Jackson, England

I too am sick to death of these kind of gender debates. Male or female, black, white, able bodied, disabled - the internet is a useful tool if the PERSON concerned wants it to be. For the record, my favourite sites, are news, travel, bookshops, film reviews and hotmail. My mother likes the stock market. Why do you always try to pigeon hole people. The only man's world is the men's room. The planet earth belongs to us all, as does cyberspace.
Kate, UK

Are books primarily a male tool or are they in fact increasingly a female tool? I know more men than women who are obsessed by the technical spec of their computers. I know more women than men who are able to glitches and bugs intuitively. There again, the people I know are only representative of that small number of people!
Geraldine, England

Perhaps the question that should be asked is: "Why are the media so interested in segregating society into label groups?" Who cares if one gender uses something more than another? Are we being told here that this is the be all and end all defining characteristic for people? Why will you not take people's personalities on a case by case basis? This stereotyping breeds unreasonable expectations of people based upon matters beyond their control. And if I read one more newspaper headline about "Boys/Girls beat Girls/Boys in Exams", I will go insane. I would hope that people could identify with character traits that run a little bit deeper than male/female.
Matt, Netherlands

Existence "online" is a complete social construct. As others have said, information is gender neutral - surely a more appropriate question is to ask if the internet is eliminating men and women in the creation of cyborgs?
Ulrich Zwingli, UK

That is the most sexist thing I have ever heard. Women are just as able as men are when it comes to technology! You could go on forever about who uses what or who is better than who but at the end of the day it comes down to who is willing to try and learn!
Kate, England

I think people are over simplifying a complex issue. Technology is traditionally a male domain (we had computers in my school, male counterparts were taught computer science, I was taught to type). And you don't need to be a genius to work out that language and imagery is subject to gendering, often very subtly. I think the net still is a male domain; the content and users may be changing, but are the creators? Obviously it's a mixed blessing; it has the potential to free up information, to be 'accessible' to all - but it also allows the free flow of prejudice, stereotype, hatred as well as fluff. I am an internet editor and I use it incessantly, I also see it as a great tool for information, discussion and, without meaning to sound pretentious, art.... but at the moment I see it predominantly being used for the distribution of porn.
Luce, UK

When women are shown how to use the 'net by blokes they invariably use it's colossal power and resources to shop (using husbands credit card) or use it as a cheap alternative to expensive phone calls for boring inane phone calls to like minded cretins.
Sid, UK

Men are better adapted and far more competent than women when it comes to machines and technology. I am sure that men will always have the upper hand on the internet.
Dr. S, UK

Its very refreshing to see so many people responding to this question with the contempt it deserves. The huge majority of tensions between the sexes are created by media inventions such as this idea of the internet being a mans world. The sooner people stop trying to make capital out of promoting pointless gender divisions, the sooner the rest of us, male and female, can get on with working together.
Dan Vesty, England

Clearly the internet is as accessible to women as it is to men. It has only been dominated by men up until now because in the early days it was more "technical", I think it is fair to say that on average men are more interested in technology for technology's sake. Whereas the average woman will ask "what can it do for me". With more content than ever before and less technical know-how required to use it we will see the bias restored. The motor car was a "boy's toy" at first, then when the technology improved, so that you didn't really have to know what was under the bonnet - the girls got into the driving seat.
Alex Bath, Belgium

The net is for the user, who wants to derive a particular kind of use out of his/ her surfing. But it will be wrongful to assume that only because a particular usage trend is being seen currently, it will hold up. This amounts to saying that if stocks of a particular industry are rising, they will continue to rise. Look at the situation in it's totality, and we will see that be it men or women, sites which provide specific content, will be interesting for a particular type of user, irrespective of the gender.
Niranjan Upadhye, INDIA

I've been on the net since 1993, much longer than most of the guys I know. No one on the net needs to know your gender, only if you choose to reveal it. That is what makes it so amazing, I can be as feminine or as androgynous as I like. It allows more malleable gender roles, something that may promote acceptance for people of all genders and races, and that can never be considered bad.
Alison Alexander, USA

Nuts! I've been a heavy internet user for over a decade. I do research and find contractual work online. I usually use a generic username so people do not know if I am male or female. Therefore, I have never encountered "sexism" on the web - in fact, this is the first time I've heard of it! The web is the great equaliser - I have a disability, you see. I can compete with anybody on the web, without the usual cultural stigmas holding me back. Hey ladies! Get online, it's a blast!
Abigail, USA

I think the internet is great, I am 74 years old and can communicate with my brother in the UK every day and usually do. It is wonderful for information too. I have only had mine a few months and wish I had had it years ago.
Olive Poole, Australia.

The internet by design is available to all. Whether you're male or female isn't important. What is important is that we all learn to use its unlimited possibilities for information and communication to transcend the old media establishments' preoccupation with conflict and division.
Steve Gallas, New Zealand

Here we go again, gender politics raises its ugly head. We are all people, why must the media constantly seek to invent divisions that aren't there? You might just as well ask why children like to use the net and will they be taking over as the largest group of surfers? Please don't insult those of us who happen to have been born female by treating us like strange aliens!
Fiona Artur, UK

Of course the net is a boy's toy. The vast majority of women are not in the least interested in computers and those that are seem to want one only to send gossipy emails to their girlie pals . They should leave cyberspace to the men.
Mark Verth, UK

I have been surfing the net since 1997 and have never thought of it as a 'boy's toy'. I think it is a shame that it is now filling up with 'women's' sites. I am not interested in gender-specific sites only in interesting ones .As to why are women finding the internet so useful, from my own experience it is the same as for anyone else - quick, easy access to information about pretty much any topic you can think of.
Sarah Scott, UK

Boring, boring, boring. I'm ambidextrous, does that make me a pressure group? Rally round Now Web sites for two handers. There cannot be too much happening of import in the world if this is the new battlefield. As Fiona Arthur pointed out, why is it always a race to see who can create gender based friction. No joke intended of course.
David Clark, UK/US

The internet is probably the most "common" computer-related application these days. One could argue that hard core software development and graphics design may tend to be "masculine" tasks (largely due to stereotypes). But, the Internet is truly the thing for both genders in equal manner.
Alexander, UK (Russian)

My mother has recently started to use the internet, and is becoming increasingly knowledgeable. The reason? She had a specific need for information, and saw the internet as a means to get it. I don't believe that gender has anything to do with use of the internet. If someone can see that it will address a specific need then they will use it. It may be that men and women have different needs that will lead to different usage, but I have yet to see clear evidence for this.
Owen Crossby, UK

When I first came across the internet, in 1993, it was the exclusive domain of "geeks" (as they are called by themselves and by others), i.e. people to whom computers constitute a hobby as much as a tool, which is an almost exclusively male group. Now that the net is so ubiquitous, with a wealth of information on every conceivable topic available and with every company under the sun leaping aboard, there's no reason why it should remain male-dominated. Are libraries frequented only by men? Do more men than women use directory enquiries? Of course not, so why should we expect that to be true for the internet?
Tim, UK

Simply put, women tend to communicate better than men. We men take ourselves far too seriously while women are more prepared to listen. With the advent and ongoing development of such clever innovations as ICQ chat, they are in their element. Hence the rapid growth of female users despite the overwhelming predominance, previously, of males on the net. Essentially, however, I agree with those who say that we should not focus too much on gender differences. There are many women users of the Internet who will put most men in the shade as to their familiarity and expertise with this medium.
Simon Cameron, UK

I agree with Fiona Arthur. Why is the media trying to stir up trouble? The net is not a male or a female toy, it is many things for many people. Let well alone and quit making trouble.
Richard T. Ketchum, USA

I don't think there is anything in today's world a man can do and a woman cannot. I think it is the media that tries to oppinionate people or should I say men specifically into believing that it's a man's world.
Matthew Parker, UK

I agree with opinions that it is ridiculous to segregate women. The internet is interesting to facilitate access to news around the world. The difference between the number of males and females could be explained by the big amount of males that do nothing at home, so they have a lot of time to surf.
Andy, Brazil

I think the internet is great. If women are using it - so what! They are after all humans like us men. Personally, I love women and consider them to be just as capable and intelligent as men. The only difference is that they are generally, physically weaker
Bob, Canada

Sure, just like the emergence of books for women has made the bookstore - er - a woman's world. Sheesh, come on folks. Grown up.
Jon Livesey, USA

What an absurd question. Is food a "women's toy" ? And if so, why are there so many obese men ? Are books for men or women ? Is the phone a male thing or a female thing ? What's so different about the Internet then ? This doesn't deny the fact that men and women may tend to use all these things in different ways, at different times or with different motivations .. but on the whole, the premise of such a simplistic question is too laughable for words.
Christine Burns, UK

I think it is not an issue who is using the internet more, as long as the children can not get access to porn or violent sites on it. We had to cancel the internet at home, because I don't want my 10 year old son getting, even accidentally, on those pages. Eliminating access to such pages for children (or anyone who is not interested in them) - this is the problem to discuss.
Irene , USA

No, it is not a toy just for men. As a matter of fact, a number of major internet providers have women who are their top engineers. It is idiotic to think that women should leave it alone. We helped build it.
Janine Reed, USA

And hey, 100% of babies are born to women! I am with Fiona...stop creating divisions that aren't there!
Barry,

I have two teenaged daughters. They love to chat with other teenagers, all over the world. I think it is great. But it does exhibit the "female psyche" they love to communicate. The web serves this purpose very well. They also use the web to research school papers.
Collin, Canada