Uncategorised – The Other Sociologist

I was interviewed by LiveScience about how sexism on Wikipedia connects with broader issues of sexism in science and technology.

Less than 10% of Wikipedia’s editors are women and yet Wikipedia is the world’s sixth most-frequently visited website. Here’s the part featuring what I said:

“Men want to shape the type of discussions that we want to have about technology, and then women’s concerns become drowned out by the idea that it’s not important,” said Zuleyka Zevallos, a sociologist and head of Social Science Insights in Australia, who has written about Wikipedia and gender in the past.

Zevallos pointed to a current online controversy called Gamergate, which began when the ex-boyfriend of a video game developer claimed that she had a romantic relationship with a video game journalist. On Twitter and other sites, the conflict quickly turned complicated and ugly, with death and rape threats leveled at female game developers and journalists…

“There is an overly aggressive editing of women’s pages,” Zevallos said, referring to pages that deal with issues of interest to women. Even the Wikipedia page for the word “woman” itself has a history of controversial edits and far more conflict on its “talk” page, where editors discuss changes, than the Wikipedia article on the word “man.” Debates range from arguments over bias and feminism to the appropriate weight for women pictured as representative illustrations in the article.

“Women just get tired,” Zevallos said.

Read the rest: http://www.livescience.com/48985-wikipedia-editing-gender-gap.html

Hegemonic masculinity is a term that describes a dominant model of masculinity. It represents domination over other people, especially through physical displays. It is exemplified by groups that receive special cultural power such as in sport. During a recent match, the Australian rugby team, the Junior Kangaroos, disrespected the New Zealand Team, the Junior Kiwis by advancing towards them with linked arms as the Kiwis performed the haka. This is a dance performed by Maori men as an expression of cultural identity. The New Zealand Rugby League president Howie Tamati explained that the haka is “not a situation where you’re looking to fight,” which is how the Aussie team treated it. The International Rugby Board rules state that the opposing team must stand at least 10 metres from the halfway line while the haka is performed.