discuss: Review needed of 'Encourage Women in Linux' HOWTO
Subject:
Re: Review needed of 'Encourage Women in Linux' HOWTO
From:
Val Henson ####@####.####
Date:
6 Dec 2003 08:34:17 -0000
Message-Id: <20031206083416.GF334@speare5-1-14>
Quoting Raymond ####@####.####
> It may be just my opinion, but it seems to me that the 'Encourage
> Women in Linux' HOWTO is a lot less about getting men to encourage
> women to use Linux and more about male bashing.
Howdy,
I've joined the discuss list for the duration of this particular
subject. I'm currently working on a revision of HOWTO Encourage Women
in Linux and I'm always interested in feedback.
As has been pointed out in the past, this particular HOWTO has been
through quite extensive review, both inside LinuxChix and outside. I
regularly receive feedback on it through email, in addition to
discussing it with co-workers, friends, and family. Being a naturally
vain and self-centered person, I regularly Google for it and even
auto-translate the things people have written about it in other
languages (usually consisting of, and I joke not, "I wonder if I can
get a date with one of those LinuxChix, hubba hubba!").
All this is not to say that this HOWTO is perfect and should be
encased in amber. It's not, and that's why I'm working (somewhat
desultorily) on a revision. But one piece of feedback I have never
received is, "I am a woman in Linux and I have never encountered any
of these things you are describing." I get, "I am a woman in Linux
and I think women should just shut up and deal with sexism," or "I am
a woman in Linux and I'm worried that the HOWTO is too mean and you'll
scare away the 'good guys,'" or "I am a woman in Linux and you left
out this one thing that really pisses me off." As far as I can tell,
the content of the HOWTO is factually true when it comes to describing
how most women in Linux would like to be treated.
Raymond, reading your email, I get the sense that you are in the camp
of "Act like sexism doesn't exist and it will go away." While I
applaud your sentiments, I disagree with your methods. Until sexism
is gone, I need to make sweeping generalizations (which are clearly
marked as such by phrases as "tends to" or "are socialized to") in
order to communicate to people which behaviors are encouraging women
in Linux and which are discouraging us. This HOWTO is a direct
response (as it says in the introduction) to men asking for concrete
advice on what to do differently - because they didn't know what was
sexist. I realize this is insulting to men who _do_ know what to do -
but I don't need to write a HOWTO for people who already know how-to.
The male-bashing charge is a difficult one to address. I strive to
always say "men tend to" or "women are socialized to" or something
similar. But in the end, I'm stuck with basically the same problem as
telling someone, politely, that a booger is hanging out of her nose.
People asked me to tell them what they are doing wrong, and some
people are angered by being told what they are doing wrong. This
HOWTO will always make a certain subset of people angry, as long as it
actually an agent for social change.
That all being said, here's my current revision:
http://www.nmt.edu/~val/howto/
I appreciate everyone's feedback and comments - especially when they
are accompanied by specific examples. "You're male-bashing," is much
less useful than "In Section 2.5, you said "Men are pigs," and I
thought that might be better phrased as 'Men tend to be
hygiene-challenged.'"
Thanks!
-VAL
