Guys, not to sound like "queen of the obvious" but this list was startes because the foundation is trying to address this issue......and the lack of women is not only a wiki problem but more a technology problem.....and its not just females...its also a diversity issue......i think we should be grateful that they brought attention to this issue...very few orgs would do so
Sandra Ordonez www.collaborativenation.com Tecno-Activism, Community Management, Collaboration Sent from iPhone On Jun 23, 2011, at 10:28 PM, Charlotte J <ravin...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi, Marc, > > Back in February, you'd responded to Brandon: > > "You are absolutely right, Brandon. This is a systemic problem that has been > in existence nearly as long as the Project has. And it has been documented > countless times. If this were a technical problem it would have been solved > long ago. If it were a problem that the Foundation felt was affecting > financial contributions to the Project, it would have been a problem given a > high priority to solve. Instead, the problem involves people. And the powers > that be don't seem to know, and are not willing to learn, how to solve it. > The attitude seems to be, "If a person leaves, there are plenty to replace > them." There seems to be a high regard for content in the encyclopedia, but > a very low one for those who create it. This is a recipe for disaster." > (emphasis supplied) > > I agree with you for more reasons than I'll get into right now, but when I > first read this -- right after returning from a lunch meeting with my estates > attorney to discuss updating my will, as luck would have it -- I couldn't > help laughing (ironically), given the context in which Wikipedia had come up > during that lunch. > > My estates attorney is a dear old friend, so one goal for our lunch was to > catch up with each other, quite apart from and in addition to the business > purpose for our meeting. Consequently, as we ate, I regaled her with the full > story of what I'd recently experienced on Wikipedia. My estate is structured > to divide the bulk of my funds (such as they are) among non-profits I've > given time to over the years (assuming my children are fully educated and > launched into adult life by the time I collect my eternal reward). > > "So," she asked mischievously, after I'd concluded my sorry tale, "just how > much are you going to specify as a bequest to the Wikimedia Foundation in the > new will?" > > "Not. One. Red. Cent." I replied. > > I'm only a single former female editor, of course, and a bequest from my > estate (such as it will likely be) would only be a tiny drop toward the > Wikimedia Foundation's funding goals, but as recent research on gender and > philanthropy has revealed, "Most Women Give More Than Men," so the Wikimedia > Foundation may well be shooting itself in its metaphorical financial foot it > it fails to correct the gender imbalance and reduce its offensiveness to > women. Ideals have their place, of course, but money purchases new hardware > and keeps the servers running. > > Just something the Foundation folks on the list might want to consider in > this context, since I doubt I'm the only woman to have had this reaction, nor > that I'll be the last. > > Best, > > Charlotte > > _______________________________________________ > Gendergap mailing list > Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
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