Hi folks,

I'm going to point out that posting sexually objectifying photos of
people of any gender or sexuality in a venue that is intended to be
equally accessible to all is still inherently discriminatory towards
women specifically. This is because the sexualized imagery occurs in
the context of widespread misogyny and sexism which includes the
sexual double standard for women, the objectification (in a very
literal sense) of women in sexual situations, and a much higher
prevalence of sexual violence against women than men (I don't know the
stats for people who don't identify as either but I'm sure they aren't
good either).

In other words, because the vast majority of humans alive today live
in cultures where sexual attitudes about women are so negative,
bringing up sex in a venue like this immediately creates a hostile
environment for women. I am repeating some of what Sumana already
wrote, just being very clear that pictures of male cheesecake or
sexualized photos of homosexual men also create a hostile environment
for women.

Other venues are a different matter. It is indeed possible to create a
safer and more welcoming environment in which sex can be discussed or
displayed with less or no harm to women, but Picture of the Day is not
it.

This is something I have to explain constantly to tech startups here
in the Bay Area, comprised often of mostly men who think there's
nothing wrong with literally covering the office walls with penis
jokes because "we're making fun of male genitalia, so that can't be
sexist towards women." These attitudes have real and lasting harm,
both for Wikimedia project participation and content, and for many
other areas of society.

-VAL

On Wed, May 14, 2014 at 6:56 AM, Lane Rasberry <lane@bluerasberry.com> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I wrote to a company which does male fashion and I might write to more,
> asking them to donate media.
>
> Fashion is controversial but as an industry it has driven world history.
> Part of fashion is sexuality and Wikipedia is harmed by suppressing
> sexuality and the world is harmed when Wikipedia does this. Fashion is both
> what is marketed and how people present themselves in any context.
>
> Two Wikipedians, Dorothy Howard (user:OR drohowa) and Jason Moore
> (user:Another Believer) are coordinating a Wiki Loves Pride event to
> commemorate June as LGBT Pride month. Especially if we could present other
> photos equally objectifying and celebrating a range of genders and body
> types then this kind of picture presentation could become a more positive
> experience among a general call for appreciation of sensual beauty in all
> its forms, rather than just pop-media marketing ideas.
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wiki_Loves_Pride_2014>
>
> The Wikimedia Commons challenge will also be LGBT-themed for June
> <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Photo_challenge>
> so perhaps people can upload sexiness and fun from various gay pride events
> around the world in June. Flickr in particular has and will continue to have
> lots of LGBT pride pictures from around the world. See also
> <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_events_by_year>
>
> I would love to see this controversy turn into a discussion about acceptance
> of all kinds of people and praise for healthy expression of sexuality.
>
> yours,
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, May 14, 2014 at 8:57 AM, LtPowers <LtPowers_Wiki@rochester.rr.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> > So where is the dude cheesecake? :)
>>
>>
>>
>> We don't appear to have any that has reached Featured Picture status yet.
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm kind of torn on this one. I don't think we should be making value
>> judgments on whether or not a particular FP is "worthy" of being featured on
>> the Main Page or not; if it's good enough to be FP, it should be good enough
>> to be POTD.  But the opponents are right that this would turn off a lot of
>> editors and potentially cause a firestorm.  That makes this seem like a case
>> of maintaining our ideals versus being practical about the impact, but maybe
>> that's oversimplifying?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>                         Powers  &8^]
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> Lane Rasberry
> user:bluerasberry on Wikipedia
> 206.801.0814
> lane@bluerasberry.com
>
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>



--
Valerie Aurora
Executive Director

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