Supporting gender equality in the deployment of and access to information
and communication technologies (ICTs) involves accepting that gender relations
and ICTs within any given community are continuously being shaped by
one another. There is a growing body of research on gender and ICTs in the
developing world. However, little empirical evidence exists on how certain aspects
of gender relations can inºuence the ways that ICTs are perceived and
used, framings which can, in turn, reinforce or reshape existing gender norms
and practices. This article examines the relationships that exist between
gendered access to education and the ways in which mobile phones, ªxed
phones, and the Internet are perceived and used in a rural and an urban Bhutanese
community. The ªndings, organized by levels of literacy, reveal similar
patterns in ICT perceptions and use across the two communities.