The recent thread on the low numbers of women applying for ArbCom and subsequent discussion about systemic bias and under-representation of women has led me to wonder about the nature of gender-related systemic bias on the English Wikipedia. As far as "gender is irrelevant" goes, this is simply not true. Gender of editors really does matter as far as coverage and quality thereof goes. Most of the women I know spend one or two hours in the morning with a straightening iron and a blow dryer. Wikipedia has http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowdryer and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Hair_iron . These two articles are considerably out of date and do not begin to encompass the complexities of these appliances (and there is not even separate articles for straightening irons and curling irons!). Compare to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television , the two appliances I have known men to use most. Or even to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Microwave_oven and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator . Or to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razor . The bias is there.
My question is not "Does systemic bias exist?" but rather "Where is systemic bias hurting us most?" From a coverage standpoint, we have vast comprehensive articles on sports of all kinds, but our ballet articles make me weep inside (I've just started a Ballet WikiProject to address this, but had been too intimidated to do so since first reading/editing until I met another female ballet dancer on wiki). However, how does this compare to the way policy is formed and implemented? Is an unequal ratio of men to women affecting the way we run things? Is it negatively impacting the structure of the encyclopedia? Is it proceeding in this way such that men find it easier to join and women do not? What is suffering the most from this bias, and are there ways to better receive the input of those who would otherwise not be heard?
As far as women reading the mailing list, I know that there are plenty who do (like myself), but do not discuss much. I know that I also read more than I edit, perhaps this is the case with more females than just myself?
Food for thought. :] --Keitei http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Keitei