On 9/1/07, Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net wrote:
Perhaps, it is wrong to assume male as a default value. Until this thread I had no reason to believe that K P was female, and I wasn't too concerned. Most often the gender of the third person pronouns that we use depends on the topic rather than the participants. We refer to each other in the first and second persons which are themselves gender neutral.
Ec
Women on-line also tend to assume I'm male, even when they've correctly guessed others with gender-neutral names and clueless user pages as female. Not just on Wikipedia, either, but on most of the web, and often even when I use my given name, which is a traditionally very female name. I don't correct people on Wikipedia, because it's not relevant to the areas where I edit.
I guess on line, it's a default value, in a way, that people assume a user is male unless and until they give specific clues that they are female. In my case even they are given specific clues.
In my case it appears there is something about the way I write on-line that tends to make users assume I'm male, even when attached to a female name, even though most of my web interactions are about a traditionally female field and craft (sewing). I don't correct people who use the wrong gender pronouns with me, although other editors on Wikipedia do. I don't consider my gender to be relevant to my editing Wikipedia, and English is structured to require pronouns, so I'm not going to fault someone for trying to use language correctly. I have a friend who is mixed gender and prefers that people not use either pronoun when discussing this friend--this gets awkward in speech.
Nobody thinks I'm male in person or on the phone, even when I worked
in a >traditionally male field and wore work boots, coveralls, and a hardhat.
By way of suggestion for Wikimania 2008, a meeting between the core of Wiki-chix and an invited assortment of relatively sympathetic males could explore ways of breaking down some of the barriers.
Ec
Not necessarily relatively sympathetic, but interested, imo.
KP