[Gendergap] Women4Wikipedia

[Collective Action]

Hi all, 



Having asked the original question on this thread I thought I might 
chime in with my thoughts to the responses. When I posted it I imagined 
I'd get responses from women rather than men so it was interesting that 
the initial responses came from men and then a discussion ensued about 
the merits/disbenefits of the idea of Wikipedia dominated by women as it
 is presently dominated (statistically) by men. 



I was thinking of it more in the context of the content on Wikipedia 
given the issues previously raised on this list so it was interesting to
 see my idea interpreted in terms of relationships. It had not occurred 
to me that in asking people (in my mind women) to imagine what Wikipedia
 would look like if the contribution stats were reversed on the variable
 of gender that this might be interpreted as some kind of agenda so I 
ought to state how I do see the issue of women's participation for the 
purposes of my own campaining Women4Wikipedia http://women4wikipedia.net



It has been insteresting and informative reading about the experiences 
of various women with Wikipedia both in the media and on this list. 
Given that my prior experience with Wikipedia is adding one article and 
reading it for various purposes almost daily, I was not aware that women
 in general felt they were treated differently on Wikipedia than men or 
that there were cases where certain topics were potentially the subject 
of concerted campaigns. 



However in getting more women involved with Wikipedia I have to wonder 
whether, for the person who simply adds a page or two or makes a few 
edits, whether the image presented in the media is going to represent 
their experience with Wikiepdia? It doesn't reflect mine and I'm not 
trying to be or get women to become heavily involved in Wikipedia 
necessarily but just to 'add their crumb' as the saying goes. I hasten 
to add that I do not wish to invalidate the negative experiences some 
women have had with Wikipedia. I feel for people who have been in the 
position of fighting a battle for what they believe is right and found 
Wikipedia to have failed their rights and expections. I understand that 
they feel violated and burned out. I do not wish to justify or 
invalidate their experience. 



I do wish to say though that this experience might depend on the level 
of controversy of the topic one is editing, not to discount this 
conflict, but to say that in getting women (or men) involved around the edges of 
Wikipedia that this is not necessarily going to be their experience. I 
got in, created my page and got out. I never talked to anyone during 
this process because there was no need to. I expect that if I were to 
continue to edit Wikipedia I'd run the risk of entering into an edit war
 sooner or later. So it is good to see how other people have faired and 
try to create a supportive environment for women who may encounter such 
risks. 



This is one of the things I am trying to create through Women4Wikipedia.
 This is not to suggest women are always going to agree but in a sea of 
men it is nice to find a female face and also (for me) to gain 
confidence through self-reliance rather than relying on the nearest geek
 who is often a male. That's what I'm doing here anyway and the way I 
see my campaign. To me the idea of open source is not much if relatively
 normal people can't come along and play round the edges, if it is all 
for the super geeks then it just becomes another silo. I think Wikipedia
 is fairly unique in this regard in that it is open to everyone and you 
don't have to be a developer or an expert. A lot of open source groups 
seem to be for developers whether they brand themselves that way or not.
 



I see no reason not to also want to help male novices with Wikipedia but
 given the current issue for Wikipedia is its lack of female 
contributors I decided to focus on women given that I am one and 
apparently one of the few. I am currently hosting weekly Twitter chats 
at http://wthastag.com/Women4wikipedia starting
 9am UTC/GMT Monday or 8pm Australian Time (Sydney). Readings & 
transcripts are at http://women4wikipedia.net



regards

Rosie Williams

http://collectiveaction.com.au

@collectiveact



 		 	   		  
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