Wikipedia Accidental Sexism?
The New York Times on Jan 31, 2011 had an article on page 1 about Wikipedia, saying that only 15% of the articles in the collection have been written by women. Is this because it grew from computer science, a field with a low number of women and rife with resistance to making their procedures more comfortable for women? Or maybe because of women's aversion to confident assertions? To post on Wikipedia, it must be necessary to feel one is an expert on something, certainly. The leaders of the Op-Ed project, trying to address the low percentage of Opinion-Editorial comments by women, believe that women can learn to do this well, but it will take practice.
I'm struck by the recent discussions in blogspace of women bloggers in science and why they use pseudonyms. My favorite three are Female Science Professor, Isis, and Zuska. I've quoted them here before. One of our savvy student bloggers alerted me to this discussion, which was even mentioned in Wired recently. If the women are young and don't have tenure or full professorship, then they may reasonably assume some of their male colleagues would hold their thoughts against them. That's especially true because of an aspect of their blogs I really enjoy: their colorful language. I am way behind them on this axis. I am not at risk in the same way that some of them are; I am tenured, a full professor holding an endowed chair, and near retirement. Men can get upset with me and I can answer them, but I have no career damage in prospect. Also, the Nature forum seems to be quite a civil space in the blogsphere compared to, let's say, the comments on articles in Physics Today. I assume that's generally true and not just because comments can be removed by the staff if considered out of line.
So, there are real consequences for women who, as suggested in the first paragraph, step out of line to write an Op/Ed piece on problems in academia, or who laud the wrong person with a Wikipedia article. I think this risk factor probably also exists for men, just at a much lower level. I hate for women to be muzzled, and I think blogging under a pseudonym is a great way to escape the duct tape over their mouths.
cheers,
Laura
What do you think? Take the poll below to respond and do add a comment to tell us why you think so.
Dear friends,
I am very pleased to see the poll percentages indicate that few of you think women never will get parity and we should forget focusing on this issue. I think Wikipedia needs to examine its behind-the-scenes methodology. I've seen here and on other sites a lot of women complaining about the hostile responses to their postings and the need for constant vigilance lest their contributions be messed up or removed.
cheers,
Laura
I see what you mean, Melissa. It might come from a different cause within a woman. The one who does not want to write a Wikipedia article might not have the urge to blog either. I tend to agree. The voices of Zuska and Isis imply to me they are boiling over with comments they need to make. I don't think that's an average female response.
I see, you think it is all part of the same phenomenon. I guess it could be true. If you don't want to put yourself out there to post on Wikipedia, you might want to blog with a false name as protection.
I think there is some difference, though. Not posing as an expert is one thing, and having an urge to say freely what would be punished if you revealed your name, on a blog under a false name, is something else, although the root causes could be similar or the same.
MKS
I like Isis and Zuska because they blow off steam in a way I couldn't do on a blog or really, anywhere. I am sure they would not feel as free to do that (puking on his shoes? and that's mild!) if they used their real names. And Female Science Professor has talked occasionally about why she uses a pseudonym, to protect her relationships with colleagues and collaborators whom she discusses in her postings, so it all seems right to me to go under cover. On this forum, we can use anonymous posting and I'm sure wouldn't talk so freely if we couldn't so it's somewhat similar, although you're sometimes pretty frank, Laura.
Ah, Livi, but have you ever tried to post on Wikipedia? You get all kinds of stuff from them, your posting is marked "provisional", they challenge your expertise and ask for many more references although you've used the amount most articles have, etc. I can't prove the management harasses women, but I'll never try posting there again.
Hi Laura,
I think women just lack practice in asserting themselves. I loved Ellen Daniell's book Every Other Thursday, where a group of accomplished women scientists (and a few men sometimes) worked on confidence and career issues at meetings on Thurs nights. They did get better at being assertive, and I think any woman can. After all, several said they NEVER apologize, right?
I wish people wouldn't try to make women into more graceful men. I don't WANT to be assertive and abrasive, and no amount of brow beating is likely to change my mind. I think it's just fine for men to write all the Wikipedia articles AS LONG AS women who want to can write articles.
