On Thursday, February 03, 2011, Sarah Stierch wrote:
Other wiki's like Encyclopedia Dramatica thrive on cartoons and obnoxious tacky stuff (yeah ok, Pedobear is funny, but...) to represent it. I don't need my scholarly labor and research to be associated with that crap.
First, I want to thank everyone for their contributions; it's been really interesting to read people's thoughts, but more so, to read of their experiences.
Second, I also don't think wiki-tan is at the heart of the gender gap, or a symbol of something ominous, but I share the sentiment you express -- even beyond "scholarly labor." I used to follow anime, think cosplayers are goofy/fun/interesting in the same way LARPers are, know that "lolita" is also an associated Japanese style/subculture, but I'm also cognizant of associated creepy, sexist, and/or "fan service" issues (that at the least facilitate the construction of the "boys room"); in the end, it simply seems "inappropriate" and embarrassing if presented as the WP mascot.
My partner has taken to kidding me for my recent fondness for the term "inappropriate" -- perhaps I feel it's sadly gone missing in society at large. However, I'm also very much aware that "inappropriate" is a subjective term and some would no doubt interpret my concern as feministic killjoy. Given that "killjoy" and "censorship" are typical rhetorical responses to critique, I am interested in how open communities (without the benefit of boundary mechanisms, strong/authoritative leadership, and/or very clear rules of conduct) deal with such issues. One way I've been thinking about recently -- given Bucholtz's notion of "geek feminists" [1] (who "acknowledges concerns of feminism but preserves commitment to geek identity"), my long time love of the magazine "Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture", and newfound love of Geek Feminism [2] -- is critique that is super sharp and witty. And, it doesn't require itself to stoop to the assumptions of that which it critiques or even engage those who can not see beyond those assumptions. (You should see some of the crazy emails I've gotten this week!)
[1]: http://www.linguistics.ucsb.edu/faculty/bucholtz/articles/MB_Benor2002.pdf [2]: http://geekfeminism.org/