[Gendergap] [Commons-l] Fwd: Photo of the Day on Wikimedia Commons + Indigenous + Gender

[Sarah Stierch]

Hi Aaron and everyone,

This is a really painful thing for me to read. As a scholar, my research 
work has been based around the representation of Indigenous peoples of 
North America in media and culture. I sincerely doubt that any of the 
"tribal members" I know would say that this is a valid work that would 
showcase their Indigenous cultures as anything but another stereotype. 
Just as I'm sure some women of Tahiti today would question the relevance 
today of Gauguin's paintings which often showcased nude or partially 
nude Tahitian women - art revered by both genders and the Western art 
world. However, I'm not seeking to speak on behalf of these individuals 
and communities, nor am I hear to discuss the creators goal or context 
with this featured image. It's more of the fact that /this/ is 
considered a choice for the featured front page and the concern that it 
has given me as a female contributor to Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, etc.

You also stated that you do not want to compromise "our core values just 
to try to close a "gap" that some feel is such a big issue, if it even 
exists."

This gap does exist, in fact an entire mailing list (which I have cc'd 
here and I encourage anyone interested in the topic to join) was created 
to work towards bridging this gap. This was triggered by an article 
titled "Define Gender Gap? Look Up Wikipedia's Contributor List" by Noam 
Cohen, published Jan 30 2011 in /The New York Times/:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/business/media/31link.html

A great and interesting conversation took place by NYT to reflect on 
this situation, which you can read here:

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/02/02/where-are-the-women-in-wikipedia

I do hope that perhaps those two articles can show you that there /is /a 
problem, and there are many concerned Wikipedians of all genders, skin 
tones, and identities aiming to change that. That is when images like 
this deter us from our expansive mission to be more inclusive.

And this has nothing to do with me being "sensitive to toplessness" - 
you don't know anything about my lifestyle or character to assume that, 
regardless of where I live or where I was born.

#wikilove,

Sarah


On 5/15/2011 10:53 PM, Aaron Adrignola wrote:
> Commons is not censored.  It's a beautiful scene and it would be 
> expected that the an imaginary tribal member would not have the 
> American sensitivities to toplessness.  Some images may offend.  Some 
> articles may offend.  We're not going to compromise our core values 
> just to try to close a "gap" that some feel is such a big issue, if it 
> even exists.
>
> On Sun, May 15, 2011 at 9:31 PM, CherianTinu Abraham 
> <tinucherian at gmail.com <mailto:tinucherian at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     FYI
>
>     Regards
>     Tinu Cherian
>
>     ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>     From: *Sarah Stierch* <sarah at sarahstierch.com
>     <mailto:sarah at sarahstierch.com>>
>     Date: Mon, May 16, 2011 at 7:33 AM
>     Subject: [Gendergap] Photo of the Day on Wikimedia Commons
>     To: Increasing female participation in Wikimedia projects
>     <gendergap at lists.wikimedia.org <mailto:gendergap at lists.wikimedia.org>>
>
>
>     Surely I'm not the only one who noticed this lovely gem of a photo
>     of the day today. In my work environment - NFWS.
>
>     http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
>
>     Direct link to image:
>     http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:On_the_edge_-_free_world_version.jpg
>
>     I mean really? /facepalm
>
>     This is the kind of imagery I have no desire to see on the front
>     page of Commons. I'm a very liberal person, but, this makes me not
>     want to even allow my MOTHER to use Commons.
>
>     #wikilove,
>
>     Sarah
>
>
>     --
>     Wikipedia Regional Ambassador, D.C. Region
>     Wikipedian-in-Residence, Archives of American Art
>
>     Sarah Stierch Consulting
>     Historical, cultural & artistic research, advising & event planning.
>     ------------------------------------------------------
>     http://www.sarahstierch.com/ <http://www.sarahstierch.com>
>
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>
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>
>


Wikipedia Regional Ambassador, D.C. Region
Wikipedian-in-Residence, Archives of American Art
-- 
Sarah Stierch Consulting
Historical, cultural & artistic research, advising & event planning.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.sarahstierch.com/ <http://www.sarahstierch.com>
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