the pie may be rotten, but its the only one we've got i.e. silicon valley does not work very well; it reflects the values of a technocratic elite, with a lot of privilege and bias.
as we continue culture change going forward, there will be a critical mass of diversity, where organisations will become more productive. http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/article/teams-critical-mass-women-let-them-%E2%80%98lean what are now niche orgs will outperform; larger orgs will see the advantage of more well rounded workers, and diversity in their teams. we will have to improve the pie one slice at a time. jim hayes On Fri, Dec 18, 2015 at 1:30 PM, Daniel and Elizabeth Case < danc...@frontiernet.net> wrote: > >I like a few of the ideas, such as geeky nerds may become more misogynist > than non-geeky non-nerdy men because of the bullying >they underwent as > schoolkids. I would say that fits with studies of perpetrators who end up > in prison. That could also be the reason >for >the weirdly harsh language > used in some of the Gamergate battlegrounds. > > You think? > > Sorry for the sarcasm, but as this insight has been percolating around the > feminist Internet lately I’ve been surprised it took this long (I suppose > it’s an example that shows that women can be just as oblivious to a male > perspective as the other way around). It was obvious to me that was part of > what was in play during Gamergate. > > In fact, having been at one time (not my whole teenage years) part of that > geek/nerd culture, I could have predicted Gamergate years ago. When I was > 14 or so, about 1982, I recall reading an article in *Dragon* magazine by > a male (of course) writer calling on fellow gamers to be more accommodating > to the women involved in D&D and RPG more (ahem) broadly at the time. He > pointed specifically to a woman he knew who, in a major tournament at a > convention, more or less singlehandedly saved her entire party, only to > passed over for the “best female player” award or something like that in > favor of what he described as a “silent, dumb-blond type woman.” But what > has really stuck in my mind over the years was his account of a fellow DM > showing him a list of NPCs that populated a city he’d created for one of > his campaigns. The guy noted that he’d given all the women high charisma > and low strength, “so they’ll be easier to rape when their city gets > conquered.” The writer anticipated the likely response (which I’m sure he’d > heard in real life) that that was “realistic” by asking “Does your fantasy > world also have high unemployment, runaway inflation and pollution just > like our world does? I didn’t think so.” > > Perhaps I was so aware of this that I thought, during Gamergate, that > everyone else opposed to it was, too, and that their remarks were taking > this into account. I began to suspect after a while that they weren’t, and > now I know, unfortunately, that I was right. > > To bring this back to the Wikipedia gender gap issue, it is useful to > remember that rhetoric treating the nerds as one and the same as the frat > guys (so to speak) is likely to backfire in constructively resolving issues > where that is possible (IOW, males who don’t feel they’ve been allowed to > share a great deal, if at all, in this male-privilege thing are likely to > deeply resent being accused of doing so). > > I would write more, but I have to get ready to go out and see “Star Wars: > The Force Awakens.” > > With my wife. > > Daniel Case > (currently wearing a black T-shirt I bought at Wal-Mart depicting an > exasperated stormtrooper at the Mos Eisley cantina bar framed by the > meme-style words “Those *were* the droids / I was looking for!” > > _______________________________________________ > Gendergap mailing list > Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org > To manage your subscription preferences, including unsubscribing, please > visit: > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap >
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