Did this really just happen? Did we really just read someone suggesting that women are not participating as much in the mailing list -- with the more-than-subtle suggestion of the cause being that they didn't feel this group is completely woman-friendly -- and your response was to "remind us" what the point of this group is about? Did I misunderstand your email?
We're all here for the same goal, but some of us experience this problem differently than others, and some appear to have gone frustrated and annoyed and are not participating as much as they used to. That's a problem. That's not something we should ignore. And we should figure out why it happens (because it seemed to have happened to more than just two arguing women) and how to make sure it is getting better. Here's my (shocking) suggestion, as a starting point, at least in this mailing list, to make things a tad better for women to participate in: In a group about the gender gap, men should attempt to take a step back. That is *not* to say they shouldn't participate: they absolutely should. But they should understand that the dynamic between the genders is so unbalanced, that at least in a group dedicated to the issue, they should take extra care to listen, not be confrontational, and overall to not sound like they are overtaking the conversation, making assumptions or generalizations. The discussions would be a lot more productive, and women may feel a lot less frustrated -- and choose to share more of their experiences with the rest of the group which might actually bring us to consider solutions. And who knows, maybe we'll even have *one* space where women don't feel like they need to constantly defend the "reasons" for their experiences and feelings or be worried of the harassment that is otherwise a pretty usual experience. Moriel On Mon, Jun 23, 2014 at 9:57 AM, Derric Atzrott < datzr...@alizeepathology.com> wrote: > >> Carol Moore dc, 23/06/2014 06:34: > >> A lot of women used to be outspoken about all this here when this email > >> list started, but that stopped after a bunch of guys joined and started > >> hassling them about it. > >> SURPRISE!! > > > > By looking at this directory, I can tell that I mostly stopped reading > > this list in January 2012, one week after a fight between two vocal > women. > > > > Nemo > > Nemo and Carol both, I really don't like the direction that this > discussion is > going. Can we please steer it back on topic and remember why we are all > here? > > From the Mailing list signup page: > "Addressing gender equity and exploring ways to increase the participation > of > women within Wikimedia projects. > > Wikimedia Foundation surveys show that the participation of women in > Wikipedia > and related projects are between 9 and 13 percent. This mailing list is > provided by the Wikimedia Foundation as a communication tool to > collectively > address the realities of the gender gap within our projects. We are focused > on discussing solutions and exploring opportunities that may serve as a > starting point to improve gender equity, increase the participation of > women > and trans women, and reduce the impact of the gender gap within Wikipedia, > Wikimedia Commons, and the 'free knowledge movement'. We want to encourage > you > to engage with others in this effort. Your thoughts and opinions in this > regard matter to us and to the community." > > Thank you, > Derric Atzrott > > > _______________________________________________ > Gendergap mailing list > Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap > -- No trees were harmed in the creation of this post. But billions of electrons, photons, and electromagnetic waves were terribly inconvenienced during its transmission!
_______________________________________________ Gendergap mailing list Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
