[Imc-communication] [IMC-Tech] Barriers Women Face in Tech Communities

[Chuck]

Anna wrote:
> Just found this interesting article:
> Let’s All Evolve Past This: The Barriers Women Face in Tech Communitieshttp://www.devchix.com/2007/06/09/let%e2%80%99s-all-evolve-past-this-the-barriers-women-face-in-tech-communities/
> Generally a subject covered much too little in indymedia communities, onour websites and in communication we are having with each other.
> With the email from Melbourne today that another collective had decidedto shut down, also because they couldn't handle spam on the site, thisseems even more interesting. The article is about gender, and at thesame time about communication, and the anonymity of open publishing.
> greetz
> Anna

Anna:

Thanks for sharing this link. I'm posting a link to this article from 
Infoshop News.

I've run several lists and forums for many years, so I've seen a wide 
range of behavior, including my own range of good and shitty behavior. 
I've been wanting to improve the quality of discussion at the Infoshop 
News forum for many years. For many years I tried to maintain a civil 
forum through moderation, but discovered that anarchist men are more 
dedicated to the idea of absolute free speech than towards being part of 
a community of like-minded people. For my efforts to maintain a civil 
discussion on this forum (other Infoshop forums have looser guidelines), 
I've been branded as a "censor" by a few fanatical jerks, who go so far 
as to spread rumors about me around the anarchist movement.

In March, our editorial collective decided to require mandatory user 
registration in an effort to instill more accountability in the 
discussions. So far this has worked, but there have been the usual 
complaints. As this article indicates, there are some pretty common 
behaviors that drive away women (and lots of men). The obvious lack of 
women participants on Infoshop News has always bothered me, but I hope 
that we are headed in a more women-friendly direction.

People who know me from online discussions know that I can be a 
stubborn, opinionated jerk at times. Most of the time this in in 
*reaction* to something nasty that has been said about me by somebody 
else. I don't like to take things personal and I'm not an "alpha" male 
who seeks to win debates. I may come across as a strong personality who 
shoots from the hip, but I'm almost always interested in simply putting 
forward my opinions. My online persona is much different than how I am 
in real life, where I'm a more shy person. I'm a good meeting cailitor, 
consensus-builder and have good empathy skills.

The lack of women in technology has always bothered me. In my 
professional experience, I've been part of two professions, one which is 
woman-dominated and one that is male dominated. The library profession 
is still very much dominated by women and web development/IT is 
dominated by men. When I decided to become a librarian, my goal was to 
work in public services, preferably at the reference desk. But given my 
job situations at the time and the sudden explosion of office PC 
technology, I found myself pigeonholed into the tech area, which was 
interesting but wasn't something I really wanted to do. The sexism in 
comtemporary professions has its way of forcing guys into traditional 
roles when we conciously don't want to be in those roles.

Chuck
Infoshop.org
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