Fred,

I don't know about the Hawthorne effect, but institution a women's issues noticeboard certainly would put to rest the notion that there's no open sexism/misogyny on Wikipedia! Imagining the probable reaction to the creation of such a board, let alone the type of discourse on it, makes me want to go back to categorising for the rest of eternity. At least the open expressions of sexism I've encountered on Wikipedia are rare. I deal with that kind of bull enough in "real" life; I don't want to seek it out in my pastime.

Nepenthe



On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 1:47 PM, Fred Bauder <fredbaud@fairpoint.net> wrote:

> Go ahead and do it if you feel passionate about it (of course), but you
> asked for people's views, so I'm just saying that you should be prepared
> for
> an awful mess of drama and bickering, some of which is likely to drive
> out
> the very women we're trying to retain.
>
> --
> Steven Walling
> Fellow at Wikimedia Foundation
> wikimediafoundation.org
>

I'm counting on the [[Hawthorne effect]], and I don't think I'm wrong. In
fact, some good rows and frank expression of sexist attitudes, if such
are held, is sure to attract passionate involvement by women. We need to
stake out a public position.

Fred



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