It has been concerning me for a while reading this discussion that the accusations rest heavily on an expectation that everyone can and should master English (and even American English) as well as write the language in an acceptable tone. This is a huge ask. Getting the tone right demands a very high level of skill along with a deep knowledge of a culture. Regardless of what you think of Beria's points, it is very unfair to demand anyone from a non-English-speaking background to "learn English" and it is certainly counterproductive in a global project. I admire her for continuing to contribute but I watch with some trepidation as non-English speakers are encouraged to "unsubscribe". Arnaud's voice was different too and it has now apparently gone.
You might be amused by an example of how difficult getting the tone right can be - at Wikimania, someone on stage cheerily encouraged the audience to go out and "kick ass". Hearing this, I thought of the poor donkeys, which, of course, is what asses are - *Equus africanus asinus - *as Wikipedia helpfully explains. I was taken aback. Why are we being encouraged to brutalise these poor animals? It's not only cruel, it's senseless and inappropriate. However, being a VERY experienced English speaker, and cross-referencing the body language against the phrase, I twigged. Aha! It's slang for something. :) But heaven help the non-English speakers in the audience. My point is that here you don't have the body-language to help and we do need other voices. "Girls" is one of the least of our problems. Similarly, women who don't want to be "feminists" are okay too. In the first wave, some women campaigned against getting the vote and in the second wave, we had to cope with "Women who want to be Women". (It was a political party). We are a contrary bunch and the issues remain difficult. Gillian On 2 October 2011 16:26, Sarah <slimvir...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Sat, Oct 1, 2011 at 21:27, Nathan <nawr...@gmail.com> wrote: > > ... (On the other hand, people on > > this list have a habit of using "males" to refer to men and "women" to > > refer to women. Flip side of the same coin, perhaps?). > > > Interesting point, Nathan, that I hadn't noticed. But I have noticed > the opposite on Wikipedia -- that women are often referred to as > "females," rather than women. It reads to my eyes as though a man is > regarded as the default human position, and a "female" is another > version. > > Sarah > > _______________________________________________ > Gendergap mailing list > Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap >
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