I definitely agree that women actively don't want to participate on Commons, from what I've seen, heard, and felt myself.
On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 11:29 AM, Sarah Stierch <sarah.stie...@gmail.com>wrote: > It's been so long since I've had a chance to vent on this list about > this! > > On 4/29/13 8:43 AM, Katherine Casey wrote: > > Yeah, the sheer domination by numbers of masculine voices - even when > they're not *trying *to argue from a particularly masculine perspective, > can just be draining in situations like this. *Especially* when they're > not trying to argue from a particularly masculine perspective, frankly, > because it's very hard to get across "I know you're not *trying *to > ignore the value of a slightly different perspective, but..." without > making them feel like they need to defend themselves and go on about how > we're reading into them things they're not saying, they're not biased, men > are capable of being open-minded, there's no single male perspective, etc. > All those things are true, and before any of our male allies on this list > get upset, I want to acknowledge that...but at the same time, that > gender-related invisible > knapsack<http://ted.coe.wayne.edu/ele3600/mcintosh.html> can > just sort of steer male-dominated discussions in directions that a more > gender-balanced conversation might not swerve, or might not swerve so > strongly. > > > Ha! That is exactly what happened when I said I was no longer watching the > page and I was disconnecting myself from the discussion on the Amanda > Filipacchi article: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:SarahStierch#.22women.22_categories > > I have never read that essay - thank you for sharing it! Interesting, I * > was* lucky that my education and my interest in punk rock music taught me > about "skin color" privilege, wealth privilege, and male privilege, but, > when I moved into different areas of work (and a flipside getting my > masters which was 95% women in the program, however, majority were Anglo, > which is another issue that museums - and open culture - are trying to sort > out) it wasn't until I got involved (again) in the "gender fight", this > time focusing on Wikipedia, that I realized what was happening. And it's > often a challenge to walk the line of wanting to call out male participants > in some regards, but also acknowledge allies. On an interesting twist, I > even find that male allies are often unaware of who they sympathize with > and the life they lead and how they got that life. It's really prominent in > the tech industry, and I'm sure else where. > > It's quite a challenge - I don't want to be the sexist jerk, but at the > same time, there is a lot happening that people aren't realizing they are > doing or a part of and it's hard to know how to educate them - or if you > should even say "Oh, and thanks to all those white guys who built > Wikipedia..I appreciate it...BUT..." which I find myself doing sometimes. > And then I get comments on Facebook saying I'm being a jerk to the white > guys and I just facepalm, because inside I'm laughing going "oh, poor white > guy! Truth hurts!" I was also told recently "you should be more polite and > have less attitude when you talk about gender issues, maybe more people > would listen," (by a white European male who identifies as an anarchist who > is prone to cursing). It's been emblazoned into my head, mainly because of > who said it - not that it's changing my ways. > > > Commons, especially, is just completely dominated by certain viewpoints > with regard to sexual images, and Sarah, you get tons of my respect for > just *attempting *to function there, because I certainly can't do it. I > might be able to handle an inadvertent boys-zone atmosphere - I hang out on > enwp, after all - but my blood pressure just can't handle the level of > aggression Commons bring to bear on anyone who dares speak for the deletion > of potentially-damaging images. > > > I've had to stop. It's been months now since I even nominated a "nudie" > image for deletion. I now just upload my images, and when I have time, or > depending on my work, I do some gnomish stuff. After I was told (by white > male editors) to curb my loud mouth behavior so I an become an admin > someday, I totally stopped. I'm still shocked I let that happen - but, on > the flipside, as you put it - it's terribly demoralizing, depressing, and > painful to participate on Commons. I thought, if I could become an Admin, > perhaps I could *really* make a difference. At least on Wikipedia you know > there are some women, or at least active allies and women you can even call > on when needed (canvasing isn't a policy :) ) for help or support. Most of > the women I know go "Oh no, I'm not going on Commons, hell no!" LOL. > > -Fluff > > P.S. On re-reading the threads from my original email, I note that I was > wrong about the "100% male" thing - Beria Lima commented twice. So uh, > 99.999% male? > > Ha! Glad at least one woman was there. > > -Sarah > > -- > *Sarah Stierch* > *Museumist and open culture advocate* > >>Visit sarahstierch.com <http://sarahstierch.com><< > > _______________________________________________ > Gendergap mailing list > Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap > >
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