On 9/1/07, Ray Saintonge <saintonge(a)telus.net> wrote:
Perhaps, it is wrong to assume male as a default
value. Until this
thread I had no reason to believe that K P was female, and I wasn't too
concerned. Most often the gender of the third person pronouns that we
use depends on the topic rather than the participants. We refer to each
other in the first and second persons which are themselves gender neutral.
Ec
Women on-line also tend to assume I'm male, even when they've
correctly guessed others with gender-neutral names and clueless user
pages as female. Not just on Wikipedia, either, but on most of the
web, and often even when I use my given name, which is a traditionally
very female name. I don't correct people on Wikipedia, because it's
not relevant to the areas where I edit.
I guess on line, it's a default value, in a way, that people assume a
user is male unless and until they give specific clues that they are
female. In my case even they are given specific clues.
In my case it appears there is something about the way I write on-line
that tends to make users assume I'm male, even when attached to a
female name, even though most of my web interactions are about a
traditionally female field and craft (sewing). I don't correct people
who use the wrong gender pronouns with me, although other editors on
Wikipedia do. I don't consider my gender to be relevant to my editing
Wikipedia, and English is structured to require pronouns, so I'm not
going to fault someone for trying to use language correctly. I have a
friend who is mixed gender and prefers that people not use either
pronoun when discussing this friend--this gets awkward in speech.
Nobody thinks I'm male in person or on the phone,
even when I worked
in a >traditionally male field and wore work boots, coveralls,
and a
hardhat.
By way
of suggestion for Wikimania 2008, a meeting between the core of
Wiki-chix and an invited assortment of relatively sympathetic males
could explore ways of breaking down some of the barriers.
Ec
Not necessarily relatively sympathetic, but interested, imo.
KP