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<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">Now here’s something. As soon as I saw it, I
thought “This belongs in the Gendergap Digest!” It is a Meta essay called “Don’t
be a Dick”. I know that many people will rally for or against it, but before we
do, we have to do four things:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">1. Read the essay at </FONT><A
href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_be_a_dick"><FONT
face="Times New Roman">http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_be_a_dick</FONT></A><FONT
face="Times New Roman">. It isn’t that profane. Also read the disclaimer “<SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; WIDOWS: 2; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; TEXT-INDENT: 0px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; FONT-FAMILY: ; WHITE-SPACE: normal; ORPHANS: 2; LETTER-SPACING: normal; WORD-SPACING: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px"
class=Apple-style-span><SPAN
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 19px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px"
class=Apple-style-span><B>This is an<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><FONT color=#0645ad><FONT
style="TEXT-DECORATION: none">essay</FONT></FONT>.</B><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>It expresses the opinions and ideas of
some wikimedians or Meta-Wiki users but may not have wide support. This is not
policy on the Meta-Wiki, but it may be policy or guideline on other Wikimedia
projects. Feel free to update this page as needed, or use the<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><A
style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial"
title="Talk:Don't be a dick"
href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Don%27t_be_a_dick"><FONT
color=#0645ad><FONT style="TEXT-DECORATION: none">discussion
page</FONT></FONT></A><SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>to propose
major changes.”</SPAN></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">2. Realize that this essay uses a vulgar, yet
not excessively profane, casual line of speech that is inherently manly. Women
might not like that.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">3. Wikipedia is supposed to be a melding of
knowledge and opinions.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">4. Wikipedia and its sister projects advise
against personal attacks (yet this deals with being attacked, or accused of
being a dick and politely dealing with a dick).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">5. Wikipedia and its sister projects advise
against removing content for the benefit of any group, no matter how large or
powerful (the only exception is hardcore pornography).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">Considering these four things, I believe that
the best course of action is to read a lot of essays. They are often the opinion
of one or a few editors.Reading the opinions of many people can help broaden
your mind, even if it is a little vulgar. Take it with a little salt. They
didn’t say something like “If you’re a dick, I will f***ing blank your p***y c**
page because you’re a sl***y b****y c*** who I hope gets raped by a b***h p***y
n****r every day because you’re a dick!” </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">Finally, I hope that using the word “dick” in
this entry has been excused. I believe that this can be seen offensive to both
men and women, but mostly women. But, I believe that if “Don’t be a dick”
inspires anyone to leave Wikipedia or its sister projects, that person shouldn’t
have even been on Wikipedia in the first place. Wikipedia is supposed to be a
melding of opinions. As this is an essay and not an article, it is supposed to
be a place for exclusively opinion.</FONT></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>