On Mon, May 7, 2012 at 7:03 AM, Kevin Gorman <kgorman@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi all -

Given this, I'm going to change how the moderation of this list is
handled a little bit moving forward. Previously, there has been no
hands-on moderation of this list. From now on, there will potentially
be some. It won't be draconian - and really, I hope it'll never be
used at all - but I think it's important to guarantee that the
atmosphere of this list remains friendly, and I wanted to announce how
I will be approaching it.

This really makes this place safe. Thank you very much. We've done an excellent job resolving the leadership gendergap on WMF with male +1, female +0.

Honestly though, I can tell you that while I am glad for a moderator, having a male come in and tell me they will be making this a safe place, given the historical problems of men making this feel UNSAFE on this list and the increase in male participation, this makes me uncomfortable and more like this will be an even more unsafe space. :( The first thing you, as a male who knows there are issues with women who feel unsafe participating in this list because of those problems, is make a declaration of firm male leadership and less tolerance of this type of behavior. It feels like a major disconnect, where the end result is women will feel MORE silenced lest they offend you.

--
twitter: purplepopple
blog: ozziesport.com