My thought was on reading your comment was something like... it didn't seem
at all a sexist comment, and wondering why you were focusing on the word
"body" and ingnoring "mind".
It struck me as somewhat odd, pleasant, sweet post which elicited an
unpleasant reaction.
I'd suggest probably to anyone reading it.. the reaction is what might put
them off Wikipedia. Because after all, a friendly posting on a noticeboard
getting flamed is the sort of environment we *know* is offputting to people.
Tom
On 18 July 2013 16:10, Katherine Casey <fluffernutter.wiki(a)gmail.com> wrote:
But I did all those things, Powers. I said that I knew
it was supposed to
be humourous and that LoS might not personally mind it, and I said that my
concern was for other people reading it. And the responses I've gotten,
both directed at me and among people not talking to me, were pretty
horrible. All of them alleged that I had no right to speak at all, and
certainly not a right to ruin the fun other editors were having with my
silly old "women are equal" crap.
I see a large part - maybe the bigger part - of the problem here as the
fact that men perceive my intervention as "humorless scolding" that's just
out to ruin their good, clean fun (fun that was totally humorous and in no
way in need of correction, of course), and that they feel the appropriate
response to that is to jeer, laugh, and insult me freely, the better to
make sure no woman dares speak up next time.
As a thought experiment, Powers, consider: would you ever tell a male
editor that their behavior came off as "scolding"? I suspect the answer is
no; that's a term almost exclusively reserved for use against women.
-Fluff
On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 8:41 AM, Powers <LtPowers_Wiki(a)rochester.rr.com>wrote;wrote:
I think your approach was well-intentioned but
flawed, much like
Drmies’ initial post.
Unfortunately, your admonition came off like the stereotypical “that’s so
sexist to comment on a woman’s body” approach, which triggered defenses
that focused on the fact that it was just a joke, Drmies and LoS are
friends, why don’t you people have a sense of humor?
If, instead, you’d acknowledged the humor (rather than just an attempt at
humor), acknowledged that LoS herself likely would not find it offensive,
nor that Drmies intended it as such… and then explained that your concern
was for other editors who might come across the comment and, not knowing
the relationships involved, tick Wikipedia down yet another mental notch in
“welcomingness”.
Instead you came across as humorless and scolding, which rarely garners
productive responses.
Powers &8^]
-----Original Message-----
*From:* Katherine Casey [mailto:fluffernutter.wiki@gmail.com]
*Sent:* Wednesday 17 July 2013 14:24
*To:* Increasing female participation in Wikimedia projects
*Subject:* [Gendergap] Casual sexism on en.wp
Another day, another
example<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia%3AAdministra…
casual sexism exhibited by en.wikipedia editors who mean absolutely no
harm, but simply don't understand how they could cause harm while meaning
none. I seem to
have<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboar…
significant alarm and offense to a number of male editors be
publicly pointing out that I found the comment inappropriate.
Was there a better way to handle this? I can't help feeling that saying
nothing or hatting the section would have been supporting the notion that
it's either not a problem or not remarkable for male editors to make
comments encouraging others to comment on female editors' bodies.
-Fluff
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