On Thursday, February 03, 2011, Sarah Stierch wrote:
Other wiki's like Encyclopedia Dramatica thrive on
cartoons and
obnoxious tacky stuff (yeah ok, Pedobear is funny, but...) to represent
it. I don't need my scholarly labor and research to be associated with
that crap.
First, I want to thank everyone for their contributions; it's been really interesting
to read people's thoughts, but more so, to read of their experiences.
Second, I also don't think wiki-tan is at the heart of the gender gap, or a symbol of
something ominous, but I share the sentiment you express -- even beyond "scholarly
labor." I used to follow anime, think cosplayers are goofy/fun/interesting in the
same way LARPers are, know that "lolita" is also an associated Japanese
style/subculture, but I'm also cognizant of associated creepy, sexist, and/or
"fan service" issues (that at the least facilitate the construction of the
"boys room"); in the end, it simply seems "inappropriate" and
embarrassing if presented as the WP mascot.
My partner has taken to kidding me for my recent fondness for the term
"inappropriate" -- perhaps I feel it's sadly gone missing in society at
large. However, I'm also very much aware that "inappropriate" is a
subjective term and some would no doubt interpret my concern as feministic killjoy. Given
that "killjoy" and "censorship" are typical rhetorical responses to
critique, I am interested in how open communities (without the benefit of boundary
mechanisms, strong/authoritative leadership, and/or very clear rules of conduct) deal with
such issues. One way I've been thinking about recently -- given Bucholtz's notion
of "geek feminists" [1] (who "acknowledges concerns of feminism but
preserves commitment to geek identity"), my long time love of the magazine
"Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture", and newfound love of Geek Feminism
[2] -- is critique that is super sharp and witty. And, it doesn't require itself to
stoop to the assumptions of that which it critiques or even engage those who can not see
beyond those assumptions. (You should see some of the crazy emails I've gotten this
week!)
[1]:
http://www.linguistics.ucsb.edu/faculty/bucholtz/articles/MB_Benor2002.pdf
[2]:
http://geekfeminism.org/