Is Wikipedia (and the Internet) biased against women?

[Ellie]

Another debate thread drawn from Tumblr arguments.

A good example of how ‘open’ in theory does not equal ‘open’ in practice:

Computer science researchers at the University of Minnesota say that only 16 percent of new editors joining the site are female, and that these women made only nine percent of edits

Now this is just silly. There’s nobody saying women can’t edit and no restrictions on women editing wikipedia, nor are there any restrictions on registering, they don’t even ask for your gender.

If women want to edit wikipedia they can and are more than welcome to.

This isn’t a case of inequality at all.

And yet there is a profound gender disparity in who is editing Wikipedia. No one is saying that women are being actively barred from participating, but that something about Wikipedia might be to blame for its overwhelmingly male composition, something cultural, maybe — that, just because women are welcome to participate, Wikipedia is not automatically an egalitarian space. My point is that the Internet is not the great equalizer we want it to be; it is not inherently democratic, and does not by virtue of ‘openness’ or ‘meritocracy’ abolish inequality.

There are always going to be statistics in life which do not match because that’s not how equality works.

I get your point, that there are less women editing, however it is not the fault of the website or the Internet in general, I don’t see how it can be.

There is absolutely nothing stopping women editing it, and no way of even telling who edits it.

Which, actually, brings a bigger point: how do they even know?

I never put a gender in when editing. Does that mean they assume me to be male? They’ve never asked me my gender. I’m female, so shouldn’t I be in those statistics?

I’m sorry but I just see this article for one as sensationalism and nothing to do with inequality. Wikipedia is perhaps one of the most equal opportunity places on the Internet as it is anonymous and no questions asked.

There are no way of gathering these statistics.

What do you think?

Is the Internet geared against women?

Are women less likely to participate in community editing sites (wikipedia, tvtropes) than men?

Does it matter?

 

[Jason]

Men are smarter than women and know more so they can make new articles and edits... how did you not know this?

:box:

 

[Venetia]

#1.) it doesnt really matter.

#2.) yes there are less women actively PARTICIPATING/CONTRIBUTING on the internet; there is absolutely no real debate on that.

why?

well there are a lot of reasons. among them:

- girls are frequently discouraged [in various ways] from being interested in science or technology.

- men are wired naturally towards competition, which usually with end up leading them into trying to exert themselves as superior -- which, let's face it, is really the MAIN reason why people devote any real length of time/effort into sites like wikipedia. with things like forums, it's about devoting time/love into an interest. with wikipedia, it's showing off how much you know by writing/editing a whole lot of stuff about random ass things.

- women tend to range more toward the goal-oriented, quick-gratification side of participation. participating with no clear outcome, end, or benefit (other than a boost in self esteem only appreciated by themselves and not appreciated by others in a way that can be attributed to them), seem to generally be less of a draw

- a lot of women are pretty fucking dumb

- i agree that there is no way for that statistic to have been compiled as all users are anonymous and it is highly possible that, in a circumstance wherein a gender is announced, the user is not being truthful about the gender they are stating they are

 

[RavenTDA]

I agree with Ven. It doesn't matter!

Maybe they need to ask the question of how many people state their gender how much of that percent is male and how much is female... just to figure THAT first because that might be a factor in the whole thing, as well as is their something that's on default?

This isn't an equality thing at ALL. That's just silly. No one is saying women or whoever can't edit the site. Seems like making a fight for no reason.

Also there's no women on the Internet.

 

[zeus81]

I agree with Jbrist.

 

[Ellie]

Also there's no women on the Internet.

Well yeah I guess undercover FBI agents don't typically edit Wikipedia.

 

[dadevvtsvre]

For what it's worth, I think the presence of women on the internet has increased significantly in the past decade. Back around 2000 there was the whole "girls don't play video games" stereotype, and girl gamers were a big fucking deal. (for some reason) But that's really been dying out over the past few years and I'd argue that there's a pretty small margin between the online presence of girls and guys.

In regards to the Wikipedia thing,

- men are wired naturally towards competition, which usually with end up leading them into trying to exert themselves as superior -- which, let's face it, is really the MAIN reason why people devote any real length of time/effort into sites like wikipedia. with things like forums, it's about devoting time/love into an interest. with wikipedia, it's showing off how much you know by writing/editing a whole lot of stuff about random ass things.

pretty much this. there are a lot of nerdy guys out there who like to waste ten hours a day proving their superior talents on the internet :specs:

There is a LOT of sexism in modern society - much more than most people are willing to admit. It's a huge issue that millions struggle with, each day. But I really don't think that Wikipedia is one of them.