[clug] Being polite on the list - or: Geek Feminism 101

[Neill Cox]

You all realized you need 5 in a row to win at bingo?

I'm not sure it was ever "politically correct" to call a room full of  
men a "bunch of d1cks", but I could care less.  I'm also not sure  
where the humiliation  or initimidation have been used in this  
discussion.

I don't care about being politically correct, I care that women are  
under represented on this list. We have 2 or 3 regular contributors  
and another 2 or 3 irregular contributors. If they ( or most of them )  
say that part of the problem is the language we use then I think we  
should listen and consider their views.

I've worked in IT for 30 years now and I have never seen the same  
level of gender imbalance as we have in the FOSS community generally  
and CLUG seems a particular example.

Some of this may be self interest - I have four daughters who I would  
love to see more involved in FOSS. I also have two sons I'd like to  
see more involved, but the daughters are the ones with few or no peers  
to speak to.

I am glad Kristy, Lana and Jacinta are part of our community, but I'd  
like to see more female voices.

I can't (and don't want to) dictate how people should speak on the  
list, but we have a problem and suggesting that those of us who are  
concerned about it are just being politically correct will not solve it.

Regards,
Neill Cox

On 21/07/2009, at 3:14 PM, "Kristy A. Bennett" <kristy at kristy.id.au>  
wrote:

> Um...
>
> Extract from Linux Digest wrote:
>
> ****
> Message: 12
> Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:39:12 +1000
> From: Brendan Jurd <direvus at gmail.com>
> To: Alex Satrapa <alexsatrapa at mac.com>
> Cc: CLUG List <linux at lists.samba.org>
> Subject: Re: [clug] Being polite on the list - or: Geek Feminism 101
> Message-ID:
>    <37ed240d0907202139w45a0908r35ef72f822e7fcdd at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> 2009/7/21 Alex Satrapa <alexsatrapa at mac.com>:
>
>> > On 21/07/2009, at 10:25 , Lana Brindley wrote:
>>
>>> >> Bingo!
>>> >> (For those who don't get *that* joke, see here:
>>> >> http://viv.id.au/blog/20070414.431/anti-feminist-bingo-a-master-class-in-sexual-entitlement/? 
>>> )
>>>
>> >
>> > Yup, I must be anti-feminist! I should just take myself out the  
>> back and
>> > shoot him right now.
>> >
>>
>
> Yeah, me too.
> ****
>
> Um, me three - and dang it I am a chick too!
>
> Seriously, I am of the view that some people take terms of reference  
> far too seriously.  I have three sisters, no brothers, and I use all  
> sorts of untoward terms for them.  Yes, if I say the guys are  
> kicking the ball on the oval it may well be my mother and/or sisters.
>
> I am also known for referring to my sisters as 'the clan' distinct  
> from the African American hating variety.  They are also known as  
> 'the gang' as distinct from the street crime varieties.  All  
> politically incorrect but terms used to inclusively refer to the  
> females that make up my family.
>
> Back in high school I was the only 'chick' to infiltrate an all-male  
> friendship group known as the 'fellas' (aka a self-proclaimed group  
> of blokes).  Being one of the 'fellas' was a badge worn with pride  
> because it said far more about my personality and interests than  
> anything else that could have been interpreted by outsiders.  And  
> seriously, I miss the days of 'shielas' because they were the days  
> when it was not politically incorrect to call a room full of men a  
> 'bunch of d1cks'.  No offence intended at all (to any men who may  
> also be into political correctness).
>
> People, even the execs that I consult to, often make a reference to  
> staff as 'guys' without any gender bias intent whatsoever and there  
> are three potential ways to deal with it that I see regularly.  The  
> first is to jump up and down and scream about the political  
> incorrectness and how they can be sued for it, the second is to jump  
> on board with illustrating their shortfalls using cartoons and blogs  
> posts illustrating a point that could be made perfectly well via a  
> third method which is to simply state that perhaps 'term x' (eg  
> team, engineers, administration, certified professionals) is a term  
> which you would use to be more inclusive, use that term yourself and  
> move on.
>
> Seriously, this thread has spanned too many digests already.  I  
> suggest that those with the time sit down and watch 'Remember the  
> Titans' just to understand how the word 'them' has been used as a  
> discriminatory term.  And then, make the choice to be proactive in  
> your own voice rather than using humiliation or intimidation as a  
> tactic to get blokes to understand the feminist cause or anyone to  
> understand any other plight of discrimination for that matter.
>
> My 2 cents,
>
> -- 
> Kristy A. Bennett
> "You make the meal.  I'll bring the perspective." Ego - Ratatouille
> *****
> E kristy at kristy.id.au
> U http://www.kristy.id.au
> *****
>
>
>
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