On 3/13/11 10:45 AM, Nepenthe wrote:
Are we seriously suggesting that women, as a class, are not editing Wikipedia because sometimes editors use naughty words?
I think what's more likely is that many people (not all of them women) get an inaccurate impression about how seriously we take ourselves as a project, from an essay titled this way.
Speaking from personal experience, I have generally avoided referring to this essay -- even though it's a really important one -- when introducing academic audiences to Wikipedia. I've also never pointed it out to my mom (who may still be lurking on this list -- hi Mom!) I don't feel it would be respectful or appropriate to use this title in such contexts.
My own feeling is that this essay, as titled, served a very positive and important role in the development of Wikipedia, but that the time for a title like that has come and gone. To refer back to the "principle of least astonishment", discussed a few weeks ago, would most readers expect the title of an essay on civil behavior to refer to a sexual organ? I don't think so.
I'd favor renaming the essay "Don't be a jerk." I know that many Wikipedians will continue to use the older name, and it's probably fine in some contexts. But I don't see the use in the "official" title being so provocative.
-Pete