[Gendergap] Hello and a (small!) manifesto

[elisabeth bauer]

2011/2/6 Brandon Harris <bharris at wikimedia.org>:

> On 2/6/11 10:10 AM, Fred Bauder wrote:

>> I think many women have enough patience or insight to stick around long
>> enough to get though preliminary unpleasantness, survive the systemic
>> problems we have, and make substantial contributions to content and
>> policy, particularly if there is social support.
>
>        I don't think this is a wise perspective.
>
>        The treatment that new users receive is very clearly one of the reasons
> why they don't stick around.  Simply saying "oh, they'll get over it in
> time" doesn't do anything to help solve the problem, it only perpetuates it.

and it probably has two more effects:
* it acts as a filter to only let a specific personality type enter wikipedia
* it educates newbies the wrong way how to behave in wikipedia

It is also one of my personal reasons for leaving Wikipedia (I don't
want to live in a house any more where well-meaning people are
regularly beaten up when they try to enter)

greetings,
elian
(wikipedian since 2002, wikipedia researcher 2006-2008, passive
observer with occasional edits since then)