Re: DW quotes
On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 12:48:33 +0200, Miriam Ruiz <little_miry@yahoo.es>
wrote:
--- martin f krafft <madduck@debian.org> escribió:
also sprach Herman Robak <herman@skolelinux.no> [2005.06.17.1202 +0200]:
> That's how IRC for the masses devolve, you know. When the
> strings "asl" or "r u horny" appear frequently, the true adults
> will feel awkward.
Uh, I'd say the true grownups should be able to just ignore that.
That's one of the main entry barriers I see for women. We're always
required
to be more mature, more grownups, to be able to ignore everything, to
keep
calm, not to reply. That's something usually boys do not need to have
when
approaching free software world.
This is mostly about perception. The guys need to have these
traits, too. They are just less likely to be told so. Why?
Because the typical situation for being told so is when you
complain about something. With Free Software, the answer to
a complaint will often be "that's not my itch, scratch it
yourself". (translation: Fix it yourself, or fix your attitude)
If your complaint was legitimate, the "it's your problem,
not ours" answer is rather offensive. It is honest and
accurate, but not particulary diplomatic.
Debian Women is a partial fix, or rather a workaround,
to the problem. If Debian Women can act as a back door,
leading more women into other Debian fora, there is hope.
Sheer numbers will help, by making the "omg! a grrrl!!!111"
responses rarer.
That obviously makes far less women want to
join this world, it's quite understandable.
I don't wanna have to constantly be on guard, to be prepared
to ignore trolls, to be able to cope with sexual or sexistattacks and so
on. Boys do not have to cope with all that.
We girls also don't have to cope with that being in D-W,
that's why it is important.
If many women feel the need for a sort of safe haven,
(and judging by this thread, they do) it is absolutely
important.
--
Herman Robak
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