On Thu, Feb 17, 2011 at 9:22 AM, Joseph Reagle
<joseph.2008@reagle.org> wrote:
On Wednesday, February 16, 2011, ChaoticFluffy wrote:
> Joseph and Andreas, I think you're assuming facts not in evidence here, so
> to speak. If you disapprove of porn or the pornmaking process, that's got
> nothing to do with wikipedia.
I'll note that I've said nothing about the moral standing of porn or varied sexual practices. I personally think it is inappropriate for WP, but that is my opinion.
My concern here is how to make WP more accessible/friendly (to women and others). I'll note that the conversation is reminiscent of the old "playboy calendars in the firehouse" conversations of the 80/90s (i.e., most guys object to their removal, a few women say it doesn't bother them, someone might even put up a Playgirl in some attempt at parity) and fortunately (IMHO) we've moved beyond that in society at large. Yet, it continues in the free culture movement (why can't we have such images on WP, or display them in FOSS conference presentations, etc.?). In any case, my thinking/concern is informed by evidence that "stereotypical" masculine elements in an environment (e.g., even just Star Trek posters and Mountain Dew cans!) can affect a sense of belonging and interest. (And I say that as someone who kept Kirk and Spock toys on my desk for many years.)
[[ http://depts.washington.edu/sibl/Publications/Cheryan,%20Plaut,%20Davies,%20&%20Steele%20(2009).pdf
Sapna Cheryan, Victoria C. Plaut, Paul G. Davies, Claude M. Steele
Ambient belonging: how stereotypical cues impact gender
participation in computer science
j=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology kw=gender n=6 pp
=1045-1060 v=97 y=2009 r=20100105
"People can make decisions to join a group based solely on
exposure to that group’s physical environment. Four studies
demonstrate that the gender difference in interest in computer
science is influenced by exposure to environments associated
with computer scientists. In Study 1, simply changing the
objects in a computer science classroom from those considered
stereotypical of computer science (e.g., Star Trek poster,
video games) to objects not considered stereotypical of
computer science (e.g., nature poster, phone books) was
sufficient to boost female undergraduates’ interest in computer
science to the level of their male peers. Further investigation
revealed that the stereotypical broadcast a masculine
stereotype that discouraged women’s sense of ambient belonging
and subsequent interest in the environment (Studies 2, 3, and
4) but had no similar effect on men (Studies 3, 4). This
masculine stereotype prevented women’s interest from developing
even in environments entirely populated by other women (Study
2). Objects can thus come to broadcast stereotypes of a group,
which in turn can deter people who do not identify with these
stereotypes from joining that group." \acite
{CheryanEtal2009abh}
* Section: General Discussion
* when an environment stereotypically associated with
computer science—containing video games, StarTrek
memorabilia, and the like—was made salient, women were
consistently less interested in joining the domain than
men. This effect held across four different decisions (the
computer science major, work teams, generic companies, and
web design companies), three different gender
representations (majority male, entirely female, and gender
balanced), and two different methodologies (exposure to
actual objects and imagining objects). Across three
studies, we observed a consistent explanation for why these
objects discouraged women’s participation. Men and women
saw the stereotypical environments as masculine. However,
this masculinity compromised women’s, but not men’s, sense
of ambient belonging, which led to less interest in
pursuing the field. In fact, the women who perceived the
environment as most masculine were consistently the least
interested in joining it. \acite[1058]{CheryanEtal2009abh}
* What happened when these objects were replaced with less
stereotypical ones? When sitting in a nonstereotypical
computer science environment that signaled less
masculinity, women expressed more interest in the field.
This aversion to the stereotypical environments by women
was the case even when the gender proportion, salaries,
work hours, and job description were identical across the
two environments, demonstrating the power of environments
to signal to people whether or not they should enter a
domain. \acite[1058]{CheryanEtal2009abh}
* Section: Increasing Female Participation in Computer Science
* Society has communicated to this young woman and countless
others that they should dream in code, watch Star Trek, and
read science fiction to be a computer scientist. Instead of
changing the women who do not relate to this stereotype,
our studies suggest that changing the field of computer
science so that those who do not fit the present
stereotypes feel that they have a place in the field will
go a long way toward recruiting women. The present work
shows that changing the stereotypes is possible and
suggests a promising strategy. In our studies, a quickset
up of a few objects in a computer science environment gave
women the means by which to consider the field. The
cost-benefit calculation is highly favorable; these are
quickly and easily implementable adjustments with great
potential for effecting desirable change. \acite[1058]
{CheryanEtal2009abh}
* But is it wise to overhaul present computer science
environments if women will simply enter the field to be
greeted by stereotypical objects and people who embody the
stereotype? Those actually in the field claim that present
stereotypes of computer scientists are highly exaggerated
and inaccurate (Borg,1999). However, the stereotype
discourages those who do not relate to it from trying
computer science, which in turn decreases the prevalence
and salience of nonstereotypical environments. Breaking the
cycle may therefore involve intentionally and overtly
changing the stereotypes. Once women enter the field in
greater numbers, the process will hopefully build on itself
by further changing environments and stereotypes associated
with computer scientists and subsequently attracting more
women. \acite[1058]{CheryanEtal2009abh}
* Changing the stereotypes of computer science may also
encourage more men to enter computer science. Indeed, in
each of our studies, there were many men, albeit fewer than
women, who also favored the nonstereotypical environment
over the stereotypical environment. Although their gender
might not be incompatible with the masculinity of the
stereotypical environment, other aspects of the stereotype
-- for instance, social awkwardness or an unhealthy
obsession with computers (Cheryan & Plaut, 2009) -- may
discourage some men (and women) from considering a future
in computer science. Across all studies, the degree to
which people (both men and women) felt they belonged in the
environment strongly predicted whether they chose to join
that group, under-scoring the importance of belonging in
determining choices of members of underrepresented and
overrepresented groups. Broadening the image of computer
scientists to be inclusive of a greater variety of
identities may therefore increase both women’s and men's
sense of ambient belonging and participation in computer
science. \acite[1058]{CheryanEtal2009abh}
* Section: Conclusion
* In four studies, we examined the role that stereotypical
computer science environments play in communicating
stereotypes and a sense of ambient belonging to potential
majors. Our studies demonstrated that these environments
broadcast a masculinity that made women feel like they do
not belong in the field. However, when stereotypes of
computer scientists were altered through the objects in the
environment, women had the means and motivation with which
to engage computer science as a possible future pursuit.
Altering a group’s image by changing their environments can
therefore inspire those who previously had little or no
interest in pursuing the group to express a newfound
interest in it. \acite[1058]{CheryanEtal2009abh}
]]