I think the idea of a forum is counterproductive. I get along on Wikipedia
by not knowing that my colleagues are, like any normal swath of the
population, often bigots of all sorts. Better to be silent and thought
hateful than to speak and remove all doubt. The last thing we need is a
forum to foment unrest and drama; enough of that is created during the
course of actual editing.
I'm all for relaxing of the "not myspace" rules, because I think they often
are excessive and silly. Wikipedia is a hobby, not a job (with respect to
those who work for the Wikimedia Foundation), and I don't think I'm alone in
not finding a "professional" atmosphere particularly enjoyable. Humans need
to form communities and the way women are socialized makes us, in general,
even more apt to form communities. But a forum or debate type environment
does not foster community, or at least not the kind of community that we
want.
Nepenthe
_______________________________________________
Gendergap mailing list
Gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap