I've created this group as a women's-only group to discuss things without being inhibited by a male presence, if anyone is interested in joining. This group was not created with the goal of competing with Gender Gap, more as a companion or a friendly place for women to discuss their views. I would suggest this group in addition to Gender Gap rather than an alternative--because there are valid opinions to be heard all over.
http://groups.google.com/group/womenonwikimedia
--Maggie
on 10/1/11 7:37 PM, Maggie at rockerrepro@gmail.com wrote:
I've created this group as a women's-only group to discuss things without being inhibited by a male presence,
Maggie,
"...inhibited by a male presence" [?] Isn't this a personal issue that, I hope, each person would want to address within themselves; instead of joining a group that merely enables & facilitates it?
If the goal is to more solidly bridge the gap between the genders in the project - this is definitely not the way to go about it.
Marc Riddell
A resurrection of the previous most controversial discussion topic on this list. Personally I don't have a problem with it if women want a women-only place to discuss gender gap issues (although there are some immediate challenges: (1) this is the Internet, and (2) some might argue that male/female is an incomplete gender spectrum). On the other hand... In order to effect change and be more than an echo chamber, you might need the other 91% of us.
~Nathan
Hi,
This is my first time contributing to this list. First, I'd like to say that I don't think it's inappropriate to create an optional women only space. As Maggie mentioned, she is not interested in replacing this discussion. Protected spaces for minorities may be useful, especially considering the atmosphere sometimes present in this project.
I do think it's interesting that men have repeatedly told the women in this discussion to essentially pipe down, or that they're doing things all wrong. Not that it might not be true, but they have certainly gone about it in a way that comes dangerously close to 'mansplaining.'
Thanks for the invite, Maggie, I'll be joining you.
Lika
On Sat, Oct 1, 2011 at 8:16 PM, Marc Riddell michaeldavid86@comcast.netwrote:
on 10/1/11 7:37 PM, Maggie at rockerrepro@gmail.com wrote:
I've created this group as a women's-only group to discuss things without being inhibited by a male presence,
Maggie,
"...inhibited by a male presence" [?] Isn't this a personal issue that, I hope, each person would want to address within themselves; instead of joining a group that merely enables & facilitates it?
If the goal is to more solidly bridge the gap between the genders in the project - this is definitely not the way to go about it.
Marc Riddell
Gendergap mailing list Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
Let's not reinvent the wheel, shall we?
A group like Maggie described already exist - for years - under the name Wikichix-l (see http://lists.modernthings.org/listinfo.cgi/wikichix-l-modernthings.org )
Is a mailing list who exist since December 2006http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/LSS/foundation-l-archives/2006_12_03-09and the sumary of creation was " *Angela Beesley announced the creation of a mailing listhttp://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikichix-land Wiki http://wikichix.org/ for female WMF-projects editors to discuss gender bias and ways to make the projects more inviting for women. Discussion followed on whether this is a positive development, and whether a number of other divisions will (or should) spring up after this.*" _____ *Béria Lima* Wikimedia Portugal http://wikimedia.pt (351) 963 953 042
*Imagine um mundo onde é dada a qualquer pessoa a possibilidade de ter livre acesso ao somatório de todo o conhecimento humano. É isso o que estamos a fazer.*
On 2 October 2011 04:51, Lika Tika likatikalikatika@gmail.com wrote:
Hi,
This is my first time contributing to this list. First, I'd like to say that I don't think it's inappropriate to create an optional women only space. As Maggie mentioned, she is not interested in replacing this discussion. Protected spaces for minorities may be useful, especially considering the atmosphere sometimes present in this project.
I do think it's interesting that men have repeatedly told the women in this discussion to essentially pipe down, or that they're doing things all wrong. Not that it might not be true, but they have certainly gone about it in a way that comes dangerously close to 'mansplaining.'
Thanks for the invite, Maggie, I'll be joining you.
Lika
On Sat, Oct 1, 2011 at 8:16 PM, Marc Riddell michaeldavid86@comcast.netwrote:
on 10/1/11 7:37 PM, Maggie at rockerrepro@gmail.com wrote:
I've created this group as a women's-only group to discuss things without being inhibited by a male presence,
Maggie,
"...inhibited by a male presence" [?] Isn't this a personal issue that, I hope, each person would want to address within themselves; instead of joining a group that merely enables & facilitates it?
If the goal is to more solidly bridge the gap between the genders in the project - this is definitely not the way to go about it.
Marc Riddell
Gendergap mailing list Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
Gendergap mailing list Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
On Sun, Oct 2, 2011 at 6:47 PM, Béria Lima beria.lima@wikimedia.pt wrote:
Let's not reinvent the wheel, shall we?
A group like Maggie described already exist - for years - under the name Wikichix-l (see http://lists.modernthings.org/listinfo.cgi/wikichix-l-modernthings.org )
Is a mailing list who exist since December 2006 and the sumary of creation was "Angela Beesley announced the creation of a mailing list and Wiki for female WMF-projects editors to discuss gender bias and ways to make the projects more inviting for women. Discussion followed on whether this is a positive development, and whether a number of other divisions will (or should) spring up after this."
would it be possible for wikichix-l to give a summary or stats of activity on the list (number of active participants, etc)?
-- John Vandenberg
I'm there for months and I must say is a pretty quiet mailing list.
And we have around 60 members. No dia 2 de Out de 2011 09:32, "John Vandenberg" jayvdb@gmail.com escreveu:
On Sun, Oct 2, 2011 at 6:47 PM, Béria Lima beria.lima@wikimedia.pt wrote:
Let's not reinvent the wheel, shall we?
A group like Maggie described already exist - for years - under the name Wikichix-l (see http://lists.modernthings.org/listinfo.cgi/wikichix-l-modernthings.org )
Is a mailing list who exist since December 2006 and the sumary of
creation
was "Angela Beesley announced the creation of a mailing list and Wiki for female WMF-projects editors to discuss gender bias and ways to make the projects more inviting for women. Discussion followed on whether this is
a
positive development, and whether a number of other divisions will (or should) spring up after this."
would it be possible for wikichix-l to give a summary or stats of activity on the list (number of active participants, etc)?
-- John Vandenberg
Gendergap mailing list Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
Have wikichix-l talked about possible solutions to the gender gap?
I'm not sure if I can talk about wikichix-l here (since is a private ml after all). Let me ask them and them I come to you with a answer :) _____ *Béria Lima* Wikimedia Portugal http://wikimedia.pt (351) 963 953 042
*Imagine um mundo onde é dada a qualquer pessoa a possibilidade de ter livre acesso ao somatório de todo o conhecimento humano. É isso o que estamos a fazer.*
On 2 October 2011 09:56, John Vandenberg jayvdb@gmail.com wrote:
Have wikichix-l talked about possible solutions to the gender gap?
-- John Vandenberg
Gendergap mailing list Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
You can go here and look:
http://wikichix.org/wiki/WikiChix
But you also can't access that. The funny thing is that I'm am member on the list but I'm not a member on the website and a you can't join unless you state you are a woman in your application.
Again, I haven't been able to access the archives since I've been a member, and I've never seen a post. I think it's been circumvented with the creation of this mailing list. I joined the list out of curiosity when the "gender gap storm" struck to see if anything was taking place.
Angela is still an active editor, I just spoke to her recently.
-Sarah
On Sun, Oct 2, 2011 at 5:00 AM, Béria Lima beria.lima@wikimedia.pt wrote:
I'm not sure if I can talk about wikichix-l here (since is a private ml after all). Let me ask them and them I come to you with a answer :) _____ *Béria Lima* Wikimedia Portugal http://wikimedia.pt (351) 963 953 042
*Imagine um mundo onde é dada a qualquer pessoa a possibilidade de ter livre acesso ao somatório de todo o conhecimento humano. É isso o que estamos a fazer.*
On 2 October 2011 09:56, John Vandenberg jayvdb@gmail.com wrote:
Have wikichix-l talked about possible solutions to the gender gap?
-- John Vandenberg
Gendergap mailing list Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
Gendergap mailing list Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
The reason you can't find the archives is that it is a non-archiving list, and there are none.
I too have been a member of this list for many years. It is used infrequently, and I believe its intention was to draw issues of interest to women editors to their attention, and to provide support to women who were encountering onwiki challenges; however, my overall impression is that at least for the last few years it has not been terribly active. There's no blame associated with that statement: many of the women on the list spend much of their wiki-time focusing on broader issues, and it's easy to forget posting to a smaller list when one is active on multiple other lists, or is busy working in a particular area that doesn't appear to be particularly interesting to women as a group.
As I recall, there was also some debate a while back about whether or not trans women should be included in the list that created some dissent. Ultimately, I believe it was decided they could participate; in fact, my introduction to the list was from a trans woman.
Risker/Anne
On 2 October 2011 10:46, Sarah Stierch sarah.stierch@gmail.com wrote:
You can go here and look:
http://wikichix.org/wiki/WikiChix
But you also can't access that. The funny thing is that I'm am member on the list but I'm not a member on the website and a you can't join unless you state you are a woman in your application.
Again, I haven't been able to access the archives since I've been a member, and I've never seen a post. I think it's been circumvented with the creation of this mailing list. I joined the list out of curiosity when the "gender gap storm" struck to see if anything was taking place.
Angela is still an active editor, I just spoke to her recently.
-Sarah
On Sun, Oct 2, 2011 at 5:00 AM, Béria Lima beria.lima@wikimedia.ptwrote:
I'm not sure if I can talk about wikichix-l here (since is a private ml after all). Let me ask them and them I come to you with a answer :) _____ *Béria Lima* Wikimedia Portugal http://wikimedia.pt (351) 963 953 042
*Imagine um mundo onde é dada a qualquer pessoa a possibilidade de ter livre acesso ao somatório de todo o conhecimento humano. É isso o que estamos a fazer.*
On 2 October 2011 09:56, John Vandenberg jayvdb@gmail.com wrote:
Have wikichix-l talked about possible solutions to the gender gap?
-- John Vandenberg
Gendergap mailing list Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
Gendergap mailing list Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
-- GLAMWIKI Partnership Ambassador for Wikimedia http://www.glamwiki.org Wikipedian-in-Residence, Archives of American Arthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SarahStierch and Sarah Stierch Consulting
*Historical, cultural & artistic research & advising.*
Gendergap mailing list Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
On 1 October 2011 19:37, Maggie rockerrepro@gmail.com wrote:
I've created this group as a women's-only group to discuss things without being inhibited by a male presence, if anyone is interested in joining. This group was not created with the goal of competing with Gender Gap, more as a companion or a friendly place for women to discuss their views. I would suggest this group in addition to Gender Gap rather than an alternative--because there are valid opinions to be heard all over.
I wish you well on this Maggie. However, I hope you won't mind if I wax historical for a few minutes here.
Some years back, a small group of Wikipedians decided that user harassment, particularly harassment of female users, had reached dangerous levels. There was definitely some justification for feeling that way - several female Wikipedians had been contacted at their places of employment, their family members and employers had been contacted, and some of the messages indicated the possibility of real-world, in-person stalking. Some male Wikipedians had also had similar experiences, and found them every bit as unsettling; however, the percentage of female administrators/users who were affected was much, much higher, and had resulted in a significant number of them leaving the project or having to take protective steps in their real lives.
In any case, this small group decided to create a private mailing list/group to brainstorm methods of dealing with these issues. They included in their circulation a bunch of people who'd not requested to join, and who really paid little attention to what was going on with this group. Ultimately, it came to light that actions were being taken onwiki that had been discussed on this mailing list or that of one of its subgroups, which included administrative actions up to and including blocking accounts. This went very badly, as one of the accounts that got blocked turned out to be the new pseudonymous account of a (male) editor who had been harassed in real life. The fallout from this had some very serious effects on the reputations of the people who had started the group, with the good faith hope of trying to solve a problem.
I tell you this story, not to say that such groups are inherently bad, but that the community considers them to be very much a net negative, and the community's past experience with such lists is that they start off with good intentions and wind up going off in tangents and trying to affect the project in non-transparent ways.
I know, speaking as the only person who is a list administrator for every non-public list associated directly with English Wikipedia, that there is constant and very negative assumption that whatever is happening on private lists is inherently anti-wiki, gossip-ridden, and potentially harmful to the project. (When the arbcom-L list sprang a leak earlier this year, it created a huge number of problems that still haven't been completely settled.)
So...bear this in mind. I am not saying "don't do it", just giving you some history as to why it might create some perceptual difficulties, particularly given the existence of a public list.
Best,
Risker