I'm not sure that registering and having enclosed spaces is the best way to make women feel welcome. I'm sure that might make some women feel that way, but at the Wiknic we had in LA, for example, far more women who had never edited and not signed up for the event just dropped by because we were in a park and looked inviting. Yes, Wikipedians can look inviting! (I don't think it hurt that there were other women there, either.) I think there is room for both approaches.
Adrianne
I think Adrianne has a point. Both methods work.
One small example:
On a wiki meetup in Gothenburg (where there for some unexplained reason are always more women present than at the ones in Stockholm - different women, not just the same), I mentioned the gendergap issue to one of the female newcomers. She was not interested at all in the issue, since she felt that her edits should stand on their own merit, not be based on her gender. (Which made me feel like a creep for bringing the issue up.)
My lesson was that some women are very inspired by the gendergap issue, while some are not and in fact feel like they are only being appreciated because of their gender and not because of their knowledge. As a man, it's very hard to argue on any side of that issue, I feel. I guess it's a matter of making it personal for the person you're talking to and not painting everyone with the same brush.
Best wishes,
Lennart Guldbrandsson
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From: wadewitz@gmail.com Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 21:08:44 -0700 To: gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: [Gendergap] On how to make women feel welcome
I'm not sure that registering and having enclosed spaces is the best way to make women feel welcome. I'm sure that might make some women feel that way, but at the Wiknic we had in LA, for example, far more women who had never edited and not signed up for the event just dropped by because we were in a park and looked inviting. Yes, Wikipedians can look inviting! (I don't think it hurt that there were other women there, either.) I think there is room for both approaches.
Adrianne
On 6/28/2013 5:09 AM, Lennart Guldbrandsson wrote:
On a wiki meetup in Gothenburg (where there for some unexplained reason are always more women present than at the ones in Stockholm - different women, not just the same), I mentioned the gendergap issue to one of the female newcomers. She was not interested at all in the issue, since she felt that her edits should stand on their own merit, not be based on her gender. (Which made me feel like a creep for bringing the issue up.)
Ah, but was she registered with a female name, or a handle that sounded female? Or did she have a neutral handle and fail to mention her sex?
Plus there's the issue of the vibes we give off even behind handles. Some people probably give off more obviously (or stereotypcially?) male than female vibes and vice versa, even if those are not our genders or sexes of choice... ;-)
cm in dc
On Fri, Jun 28, 2013 at 10:48 AM, Carol Moore DC carolmooredc@verizon.netwrote:
On 6/28/2013 5:09 AM, Lennart Guldbrandsson wrote:
On a wiki meetup in Gothenburg (where there for some unexplained reason are always more women present than at the ones in Stockholm - different women, not just the same), I mentioned the gendergap issue to one of the female newcomers. She was not interested at all in the issue, since she felt that her edits should stand on their own merit, not be based on her gender. (Which made me feel like a creep for bringing the issue up.)
I don't really understand how "merit of edits" is necessarily connected to issues of the gender gap (they aren't to me). Is there a way to frame speaking of this that helps assuage that? Perhaps I'm missing something.
Heather
Ah, but was she registered with a female name, or a handle that sounded female? Or did she have a neutral handle and fail to mention her sex?
Plus there's the issue of the vibes we give off even behind handles. Some people probably give off more obviously (or stereotypcially?) male than female vibes and vice versa, even if those are not our genders or sexes of choice... ;-)
cm in dc
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