On Thu, Mar 17, 2011 at 7:37 AM, Brandon Harris <bharris@wikimedia.org> wrote:


On 3/16/11 1:18 PM, Laura Hale wrote:

       Erik is the Deputy Director of the Wikimedia Foundation.  As to why he
is on this list and participating in the conversation, it is because the
overall health of Wikimedia projects is his primary concern.

       My reasons are similar: I am the User Interface Designer employed by
the Foundation.  I believe my paramount mission is increase overall
participation and collaboration.  The male/female gendergap falls into
the purview of that mission.

       If anything I have said has made you uncomfortable, I apologize;
however, I do not necessarily believe that I should stop my (admittedly
limited) participation in this conversation because of my gender.


Erik's comment made me feel decidedly uncomfortable.  On a list dedicated to helping increase the female participation rates on Wikipedia, Erik basically said: WOMENS! THEY IS DISCRIMINATING AGAINST ME!  If I went to some women's communities and I posted Erik's comment (and comments of other male posters) with the context of these comments being said on a list dedicated to increasing female participation rates...

... well, you'd potentially have a mob involved.  This effort?  It would appear extremely sexist.  (The large male involvement, the defensiveness of men regaridng their participation contribute to this image.)  That these sexist comments are coming from the Deputy Director of WMF?  It makes this worst because it is sexism coming from inside the institution.

If you and Erik want to belong, that's great.  It should be purely in support roles: Women say they are doing this project and need help.  WMF officials step in and say we can help this way.  If this was the general mode of male participation on the list, of specific support offered in response to specific requests, male involvement would be less problematic.

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