The Ada Initiative takes a different approach

Posted Feb 17, 2011 18:18 UTC (Thu) by tetromino (guest, #33846)
In reply to: The Ada Initiative takes a different approach by zander76
Parent article: The Ada Initiative takes a different approach

> When you join an open source project do you need to answer questions like:
> Are you male, female or transgender?

In effect, yes. Many serious open source projects ask that contributors use their real-life names (some projects even require that account names be based on full, real-life names), and real-life names are usually gender-specific.

The Ada Initiative takes a different approach

Posted Feb 17, 2011 21:55 UTC (Thu) by maco (guest, #53641) [Link] (4 responses)

KDE has the same requirement for its accounts.

In a similar vein: whether you are asked your gender identity or not, you can still be made to feel unwelcome for it. If some people just assume that *everyone* else is a dude and so feel free to be a bit boys-locker-room about things (sexist jokes, stereotyping, linking to pictures of women they find attractive wearing very little, etc), that can make some women very uncomfortable. Generally, discomfort leads to something changing to get rid of it. Leaving is a lot easier than fixing the discomfort-inducing behaviours.

The Ada Initiative takes a different approach

Posted Feb 18, 2011 13:14 UTC (Fri) by jondkent (guest, #19595) [Link]

Agree with your point, but that doesn't appear to be what Ada is about. It would appear to be a hand holding initiative. Taking your point, Ada would appear not address them at all.

From looking at their web page it is very hard to see exactly what is it Ada is providing here. There is very little firm details on how they propose to implement the ideals.

If it was my money, I'd put it to use elsewhere.

The Ada Initiative takes a different approach

Posted Feb 21, 2011 1:02 UTC (Mon) by Baylink (guest, #755) [Link] (1 responses)

> that can make some women very uncomfortable.

I know, because I've met them, that it can make many *men* uncomfortable, as well. No one's sticking up for them, yet they arguably have it worse.

But, no one's holding a gun to any developer's head saying "you must work on this specific project", last time I checked.

The Ada Initiative takes a different approach

Posted Feb 21, 2011 8:33 UTC (Mon) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]

Yes, it can make men uncomfortable. The solution here is not to say 'bugger off, you lot, the people here who are making you uncomfortable have right of way, oh, and if they come into your *own* project and do the same there, you can sod off then too'. It's to *stop* these people doing things that make people feel uncomfortable. It's not as if locker-room talk is technically necessary or even mildly beneficial to the project, and it's not as if avoiding locker-room talk is going to freeze the social atmosphere into a hell of formality, either. It's just going to make it a more pleasant environment for everyone who isn't a boor.

Crudeness is never appropriate; it's a matter of the heart

Posted Feb 27, 2011 8:33 UTC (Sun) by blujay (guest, #39961) [Link]

If behaviors are making women uncomfortable, those behaviors ought to make men uncomfortable as well. Such behaviors aren't appropriate for public venues, regardless of the sex of the audience.

So the issue, then, is not one of changing behaviors to accommodate women, but changing behaviors to eliminate crudeness, period.

Good luck.

Besides, anyone who is coerced to restrict his crude behavior for the sake of females will likely resent said females, thereby having the opposite effect than was intended. Fail.

The things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. So the real issue, then, is one of changing people's hearts. And there is only one true solution to that.