I Have to Give an a??I Cana?? Attitude: Gender Patterns in Beeping Practices

摘要

Intentional missed calling, referred to as beeping through the mobile phone, is a popular communication practice among Africans. Targeting young mobile phone users in Uganda, this article builds on previous research on beeping, but focuses on gender as a point of analysis. Data informing this article are based on 76 qualitative interviews with university students and recent graduates who are currently employed, and the results indicate that beeping practices are embedded in sociocultural, normative, gender patterns. The data also show that beeping is a multilayered exercise that each individual at some social-relational level engages in: It is the relationship to the beep recipient that negotiates this practice. Mapping local, diverse expressions of masculinities and femininity at the intersection of beeping activities, the study offers some recommendations on how Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in general can be useful signals of understanding sociological order.