[Gendergap] Bothersome? (Re: Pimp)

[Kevin Gorman]

To me, article differentials like this are one of the most interesting
manifestations of the gender gap, and are worth talking about on this list.
 Content that deals primarily with women is systematically underdeveloped
throughout the projects, and that is a big deal.  The gendergap would still
be disturbing even if this weren't the case - but to me at least, the
systemic underdevelopment of content is probably the single most worrisome
issue involved.

I conduct physical outreach about gendergap issues in the bay area on a
regular basis - I think I have five talks/lectures/brownbags currently
scheduled in the next month and a half.  This sort of example is great,
because it helps people understand why Wikimedia's massive demographic gaps
are a serious problem.  Obviously a single example can't prove a systemic
problem, but using concrete examples makes the issue much more real to some
people than just saying "According to researchers at NYU, we're XX% more
likely to be missing important biographies of women than Britannica is."  I
usually mention the hairdresser/barber example, and it's probably been more
effective at generating interest than any other single thing I've mentioned
- at this point I'm getting emails from people I've never met who want to
get involved after having had that example relayed to them by people who I
have talked to.

So, thanks Sarah, this specific example will work itself in to a talk in
the near future :)

----
Kevin Gorman
User:Kgorman-ucb
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