I saw an incident recently on WP that's fairly common, but it's not
clear to me what we should do about it, if anything.
A woman editor did something that a few male editors didn't like, and
she was taken to task for it. In the course of the discussion, the
Wikipedia biography of a woman was mentioned and linked to, and her
photograph showed her as attractive. One of the men taking part in the
discussion said something positive about the image -- then he added
that policy prevented him from going into detail about his feelings
about it. (I won't quote him so as not to identify him, but it was
words to that effect.)
It's a remark typical of young men, and he almost certainly intended
no harm. But the effect on me as a reader was that it undermined the
woman taking part in the discussion. She also felt that way, and said
so. The response was that her objection was laughable.
What should we do when we witness this kind of thing? I've never said
anything in these situations, because I see them so often, and there's
a risk of turning it into a dramafest. I also know that some people,
men and women both, would say it's too minor a thing to comment on.
So -- should we be saying something, and if so what and how, or is it
best to ignore?
Sarah
