Yeah, it's total boy zone material!!

As a woman who grew up in boys clubs - dabbling in the "gaming" culture as a teenager (yes, Dungeons and Dragons, Advanced, thanks!) etc, I've seen that stupid anime Sailor Moon wanna-be cartoon in a million different ways and I hated it as a teenager and I hate it as an adult. A teenage boys dream, that's what I always saw it as.

I was talking about my experience at the Wikipedia 10 event here in DC - I compared it to a "gaming convention." Not every guy is into anime and coding who is a Wikipedian, but, when the "mascot" came on the screen during a video most people (most = men) cheered, except, well, me, and the women from the Library of Congress who didn't seem to impressed.

:)

But, I also don't see that mascot used too frequently, perhaps I'm hanging out in the right circles.

It just doesn't show much "professionalism" but, if it brings people to Wikipedia and makes community members feel a part of something - right on, but, not all of us are "computer geeks" and "cos-players" or attracted to hot big boobed anime cartoon girls.

Ugh, now I'm just talking about the reputation of Wikipedians in general. Whenever people ask me about my projects and I explain to them what I do, I try to speak in a language that leads people to believe I'm "cool, I swear." (It's like saying you play World of Warcraft or whatever, seriously, there's a stigma!)

But, our logo for Wikipedia Public Art shows a pigeon sitting on a "W" and we often talk about the bird flying around pooping on sculptures. So screw professionalism? :D

OK! VENT DONE!

Sarah

On 2/2/2011 11:25 PM, Risker wrote:

On 2 February 2011 23:16, <jidanni@jidanni.org> wrote:

>>>>> "K" == KC <fluffernutter.wiki@gmail.com> writes:

K> our "mascot"? An overtly sexualized, large-breasted woman who people
K> regularly draw in bikinis and maid costumes? I mean, I know
K> Wikipe-tan is not actually The Problem. But she's the most egregious
K> example I think we have of the sort of unconscious "boyzone" culture

Ah, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipe-tan .
Actually a lot of girls like such images too.

As a small note of irony here, I am viewing this email through Gmail, which of course runs "topic-related" advertisements along the right side of the page. The ones that are up right now are for a matchmaking service and a soft pornography photosite.

I think the segment of the female population who would actively seek out participation in a site where Wikipe-tan was a frequently-seen icon is very, very small. I'm particularly concerned about one of the "examples" at the bottom labeled "Gothic Lolita Wikipe-tan, which is entirely the wrong message.

Risker/Anne
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