JJ Marr, you have articulated the exact reason we need to have these things
spelled out. Obviously you can't use visual cues in a policy for an online
written media. I addressed all of this in a proposal on meta over a year
ago. [1] That proposal was based on a set of published guidelines for
employee groups; if anyone would like to go into it further, shoot me an
email and I would be happy to provide the reference. For more about
creepiness, here is something that came across my feed recently about post-
rape culture dating: [2]
Nathan, there were actually two questions in the survey that dealt with
sexual harassment, but IIRC there were some issues about how they were
interpreted. The Pew survey certainly went further. [3] The value of the
WMF survey was that 3,845 Wikimedians participated in the survey. Of that
number, 38% said they had been harassed. Of those who said they were
harassed, 54% said they decreased their participation in the project as a
result. That so few people were willing to participate in the survey
discussion publicly and that those who did, saw the discussion quickly
deteriorate into an aggressive environment, speaks for itself. I would go
further and venture that I cannot name even one person who has spoken out
openly against harassment and is still in good standing and actively
participating at enwiki.
If the WMF intends to do anything about harassment, which remains to be
seen, they cannot continue to depend on crowdsourcing and grad students for
their solutions; they will need people who are able and willing to stand up
against the inevitable pushback.
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IdeaLab/Comprehensive_harassment_and…
[2]
http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/04/rape-culture-dating/
[3]
http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/10/22/online-harassment/
On Thu, May 12, 2016 at 9:51 PM, JJ Marr <jjmarr(a)gmail.com> wrote:
We shouldn't conflate "creepy" and
"harassment" at all, to be honest.
Sure, plenty of things that are creepy are also harassment, but plenty of
things that are considered creepy are just poor social skills (laughing
inappropriately) and may even be due to health conditions (greasy skin).
Harassment is a very serious allegation implying plenty of abuse, and
using the term in conjunction with "creepy" degrades it to a level not
befitting of what it truly is.
Also, saying "defining harassment" and then implying that the definition
of it is the "nature of creepiness" feels pretty discriminatory to those
who are less privileged in the area of social skills. Sometimes I don't
know when I'm talking about a subject for too long, and labelling that
"creepy" and implying it might be harassment seems to be crossing the line
for me.
On May 10, 2016 12:01 PM, "Neotarf" <neotarf(a)gmail.com> wrote:
A study published in the journal New Ideas in Psychology, unfortunately
behind a paywall, reviewed by Dr. NerdLove. [1]
Some highlights:
*"*So we’re not allowed to give women compliments? – *No, telling a
woman how sexy she is isn’t a compliment, especially when you don’t have
that level of intimacy with her."
*"One of the keys to what made someone creepy was the potential for
ambiguity. The study’s authors suggest that because one’s creep-radar is
keyed towards finding potential threats, the ambiguousness of somebody’s
behavior could make people uncomfortable. After all, if you’re continually
wondering if this person actually poses a threat to you, you’re left in a
state of anxious paralysis; you’re continually on edge trying to determine
just what the appropriate reaction to the situation is. Guessing wrong can
have consequences, after all; misjudge a potential threat and now you’ve
made yourself vulnerable to someone who means you harm."
*"One of the most common ways guys are creepy is by ignoring issues of
boundaries and demonstrating that they have more information about somebody
than they should." Example from Instagram: He: "So I take it you're
staying
at the Excalibur?" She: "Excuse me, do you not seriously realize how
f*cking creepy it is for a stranger to message a woman out of the blue
insinuating he knows where she is?"
*From the comments: "Someone who comes close to that line and manages not
to cross it obviously knows where it is."
[1]
http://www.doctornerdlove.com/2016/05/the-science-of-being-creepy/
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