On Wed, May 8, 2013 at 10:15 AM, Sarah Stierch <sarah.stie...@gmail.com>wrote:
> Andreas - when you say "until the Foundation does something," what are you > looking for them to do? > > You can always directly write the legal team and ask them for input on > what "they" could do regarding your concerns. That's what I would do if I > was you. > > As you very well know, grantmaking and technical aren't able to do much of > anything, due to our new focus. However, community members are welcome to > develop Individual Engagement Grants and chapters are able to acquire > funding for programs and projects, and the gender gap is something everyone > loves to talk about over and over and over again but no one seems to be > willing to step up as individuals or as chapters to make large scale > changes outside of outreach activities. (And I am grateful for all people > do on this list, but..I'm just sayin...it seems to be the same people over > and over again bringing this up, however, all people seem to do to about it > is complain and talk about it, and take no action, and it's really tiring > and depressing to watch and puts the burden on those of us who have limited > time and are already burnt out). > > -Sarah > > Andreas is one of the few editors who does a lot to try to counter these things, but a group of volunteers can't turn this around on our own. And until the atmosphere changes, we're unlikely to attract good new editors, especially women, so we're in a chicken-and-egg situation. The argument is that the Foundation is the only structure in a position to change things in the kind of radical way that's needed. For example, the Foundation did a lot of good by backing the need for good BLP policies, even though their statement didn't say anything new. http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Biographies_of_living_peopleBut it offered moral support to the editors who were trying to change attitudes toward BLP, and that did make a difference on the ground. We still have BLP problems, but they're better than they used to be, and easier to change when we find them. A similar statement from the Foundation about the need to reject racism, sexism and homophobia among editors -- and to remember that this is an educational project -- might go a long way to adjusting attitudes. Sarah
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