# Per Helen Faulkner's request, I am making myself the submitter of this bug, # and cloning it into discrete reports that can be independently resolved. submitter 263084 Branden Robinson <branden@debian.org> clone 263084 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 retitle 263084 www.debian.org: please fix gender-biased language in devel/join/nm-advocate # > From: Matt Kraai <kraai@ftbfs.org> # > I've removed the gender-specific terminology from this page. # This one can therefore be closed. close 263084 # > http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/developers-reference/ch-resources.en.html retitle -1 developers-reference: please fix gender-biased language in ch-resources.en.html reassign -1 developers-reference # This page has been recently edited (2005-01-10); I can only find one # remaining occurrence of "he", "him", or "his": # > On the other hand, a CD-ROM vendor could easily check the individual # > package licenses of the packages in <em>non-free</em> and include as many # > on the CD-ROMs as he's allowed to. (Since this varies greatly from vendor # > to vendor, this job can't be done by the Debian developers.) # > http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/developers-reference/ch-pkgs.en.html retitle -2 developers-reference: please fix gender-biased language in ch-pkgs.en.html reassign -2 developers-reference # There is only one occurrence of he/him/his on this page: # > <p> # > There are a few ways a developer can learn of a security problem: # > <ul> # > <li> # > he notices it on a public forum (mailing list, web site, etc.) # > http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/developers-reference/ch-beyond-pkging.en.html retitle -3 developers-reference: please fix gender-biased language in ch-beyond-pkging.en.html reassign -3 developers-reference # This page seems to have been stripped of its gender biased-language. close -3 # > http://www.debian.org/security/faq retitle -4 www.debian.org: please fix gender-biased language in security/faq # This page seems to have been stripped of its gender biased-language. close -4 # > http://www.debian.org/doc/user-manuals retitle -5 www.debian.org: please fix gender-biased language in doc/user-manuals # This page still has some occurrences of gender-biased language. # 1: # > <h2><a name="meta" id="meta">Debian META Manual</a></h2> # > <blockquote> # > This manual tells the user where to look for the document that covers # > his questions. # 2: # > <h2><a name="tutorial" id="tutorial">Debian Tutorial</a></h2> # > <blockquote> # > This manual is for a new Linux user, to help such a user get acquainted # > with Linux once he has installed it, or for a new Linux user on a system # > which someone else is administering. # 3: # > <h2><a name="userref" id="userref">Debian User Reference Manual</a></h2> # > <blockquote> # > This manual provides at least an overview of everything a user should know # > about his Debian GNU/Linux system (i.e. setting up X, how to configure # > network, accessing floppy disks, etc.). It is intended to bridge the gap # > between the Debian Tutorial and the detailed manual and info pages # > supplied with each package. # > http://people.debian.org/~mpalmer/debian-mentors_FAQ.html # The above is not within Debian's jursidiction or under its control. # In any event, it seems to have been modified already, judging by the # absence of the string "him" and heavy use of the "singular they". # > http://www.internatif.org/bortzmeyer/debian/sponsor/ # > (I wonder if I were to fill out the form would it come up with "he's # > looking for a sponsor", like the others?) # The above is not within Debian's jursidiction or under its control. # Moreover, I checked out the link today, and it says it has been # "DISCONTINUED". I see no remaining gender-biased language there in any # event. thanks Relevant parts of Helen's report are reproduced below. On Mon, Jan 10, 2005 at 03:03:32PM -0800, Debian Bug Tracking System wrote: > Debian Bug report logs - #263084 > Please change sexist language in debian (English) webpages > > Package: www.debian.org; Reported by: Helen Faulkner > <helen_ml_faulkner@yahoo.co.uk>; Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2004 22:48:06 UTC; > Maintainer for www.debian.org is James Treacy and others > <debian-www@lists.debian.org>. > Package: www.debian.org > > This bug reports a problem with content on the website. It was > suggested that I file it against www.debian.org, but if there is an > actual different package name for the website (I couldn't find one), > please file this bug against that. > > I have noticed some examples of sexist language on the debian website, > looking at the English-language pages. Most examples take the form of > assuming that a developer will always be male, a project leader will be > always male, etc. This can be offputting and potentially offensive to > women like myself who wish to become debian developers, and encourages > people make the assumption that all developers etc are male. > > Note that most of the pages I have looked at on the website are fine in > this regard. The most common strategy seems to be avoidance of gendered > pronouns (ie writing to avoid use of he or she), and use of he/she where > it's too awkward to avoid the pronoun altogether. Some pages use "they" > as a gender-neutral pronoun. [...] > Other examples of similar problematic wording are at the following > pages. I doubt this is an exhaustive list. In most cases, the change > would be a case of substituting "she/he" for "he" in a small number of > places. I wonder if it is possible to automate the process of > searching webpages for "he" and "his" and subsitituting "he/she" and > "her/him", as a way of ensuring that there aren't any other pages on > www.debian.org with similarly sexist language. Presumably other such > things could be done for the pages in languages other than English, if > the problem arises in those languages. [...] > > Thank you, > > Helen Faulkner. -- G. Branden Robinson | Never attribute to malice that Debian GNU/Linux | which can be adequately explained branden@debian.org | by stupidity. http://people.debian.org/~branden/ | -- Hanlon's Razor
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