What's more important than the content of what Baseball Bugs said, to
me, was the underlying assumption; that there couldn't possibly be any
women around who might be offended.
I'd venture that most people would hesitate to recount a particularly
hilarious episode of South Park featuring the character Timmy (a
caricature of a disabled boy) if they were standing next to a stranger
in a wheelchair, because for most people it's slightly more important
not to hurt someone's feelings than it is to impress others with their
wit. Maybe the person in the wheelchair also thinks Timmy is hilarious
-- but maybe he or she doesn't, and I think most people would agree
that it's not worth the risk of coming off as offensive or insensitive
until they know for sure. Similarly, I think if Bugs was aware that
there *are* (gasp) women on the Internet, and on Wikipedia even, he
would have thought twice before posting a comment about how women do
and do not act.
For me, this is a great example of Wikipedia's problematic gender
dynamic in action: it's not about directed hostility and hounding of
female contributors (though that may very well happen). To me, it's
more about a majority that does not see the problem because it doesn't
ever hear the minority voice -- and in the rare cases when they do
hear it, they choose to interpret it as shrill and reactionary. And
it's about a minority that doesn't want to be painted as a bunch of
hysterical reactionaries, so they continue to remain silent.
So thank you, Fluffy, for speaking out calmly and sensibly, even if it
seems like nobody's listening. It may feel discouraging and
frustrating, but I'm absolutely certain that it's little acts like
that that are going to make a big difference :)
Maryana