Wolfgang Popp Prize for Ylva Staudigel

The Center for Gender Studies (Gestu_S) at the University of Siegen has awarded the Wolfgang Popp Prize for Gender Studies 2024. Dr. Uta Fenske, Gestu_S coordinator, presented the award certificate with the prize money to student Ylva Staudigel for her Master's thesis with the short title "Hey Siri, who is your mother?" In it, the prizewinner deals with the question of which gender attributions have characterized the various media technologies since the 1960s. The answer is not only provided by the voice assistants Siri and Alexa, which have female names and voices. ATMs, typewriters and navigation devices were and are also advertised as "female assistants". Following this pattern, modern voice technologies are also helping to reinforce the image of female servitude, which is challenging social change.

Foundation board member Bernhard Nolz conveyed the congratulations of the August von Platen Foundation, which financially supports the Wolfgang Popp Prize, to Ylva Staudigel. Bernhard Nolz reported that reading the prize-winning work had been very exciting for him because he had been able to revisit his relationship to the technical and social developments of the time.

The award ceremony was part of the Gestu_S lecture series. Dr. Finja Walsdorff, winner of the 2019 Wolfgang Popp Prize, gave a lecture on the topic: "Who plays how? Gender and diversity in games and gaming culture", which the speaker visualized with pictures of game characters and situations. The event gave an impression of the creative research work and innovative questions that are discussed within the framework of Gender Studies Siegen.