[Gendergap] Introducing myself...

[Sarah]

On Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 13:32, Erin O'Rourke <gwytherinn at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I've been on the gender gap mailing list for a number of months now but have
> yet to introduce myself. While I tend to default to Wikipedia often when I
> want quick information on something, I never considered the possibility of
> editing until reading about the gender gap issue. It was at this point I
> came across the African American Woman Suffrage Movement article and tried
> to clean it up a bit. While rewarding, I didn't have the sources to try and
> expand on it but I hope to do so in the future.
>
> While to some extent I subscribe to the idea that there are many women out
> there who fall into the category of "not having the free time", I fall into
> a much different category that was discussed a few months back (and which I
> only read yesterday - I tend to let the digests pile up and read them all at
> once!!): Women that are technically savvy and do have some free time. At
> times I am an avid blogger and the Wikipedia technology is easy and fun for
> me to learn as I go. I often have a number of things I need to or want to do
> with my time and prioritize accordingly. Wikipedia is low in that list of
> priorities.
>
> I have a hard time articulating why that is. To some degree it is both
> function and attitude. After editing the Suffrage Movement article, I found
> myself wanting to continue contributing. Yet the time I allotted to
> Wikipedia really only allowed me to do things such as suggesting new
> articles or categorizing their class/importance for something like the
> Women's History project. As Sydney (I believe) mentioned a few emails back
> about cleaning up the commons, it felt like such an endless, tedious task
> and eventually I lost interest altogether.
>
> As for attitude, I don't mean to insult when I say this, merely to explain.
> When I was in graduate school I was frustrated with the idea that I should
> be editing Wikipedia - here is a site that seems "a joke" in academic
> circles (the ever so common "Wikipedia is NOT a source!!" from professors,
> exasperated that we should know better), I am steeped in information that
> actually "matters" every day, why in the heck am I going to bother with
> Wikipedia?! Given the sheer amount of use Wikipedia gets not only in
> general, but from me as well illustrates how much it truly matters and why
> it's all the more important to make sure information is portrayed in an
> accurate manner. In addition, the greater interest academics are actually
> taking in Wikipedia proves me wrong as well.
>
> LASTLY, in terms of having a more diverse representation of female bodies -
> one might look up pictures of the World Naked Bike Ride. It was fascinating
> to me to see all different shapes and sizes, as bodies in the US media are
> often airbrushed paragons of "perfection." I don't know anything about
> rights to photos and such though I have a (male) friend who participates
> every year and is quite open with the pictures he appears in. If permission
> is necessary, perhaps the women who have participated would be quite happy
> to oblige.
>
> I am going to Urubamba, Peru at the end of the month for 3 months and I see
> that the article could use some work. I look forward to improving it!! I
> appreciate the care that those of you on this list put into trying to remedy
> the gender gap, as well as examining whether topics on Wikipedia are being
> skewed to reflect a patriarchal bias.
>
> Erin (User Gwytherinn)
>
> --
> Erin O'Rourke
> http://erin-orourke.com
>

Hello Erin, thanks for that introduction, and welcome to the mailing list! :)

Sarah