[UbuntuWomen] UW article for Fullcircle mag

[Elizabeth Bevilacqua]

On 1/12/08, Vid Ayer <svaksha at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jan 12, 2008 6:32 PM, Melissa Draper <melissa at meldraweb.com> wrote:
> > Her point is that we should reserve 'ubuntu-women team' space for stuff
> > about Ubuntu-Women, and not let it be seen as the dunce corner where
> > articles by girls/women are put to be out of the way -- which is how it
> > would end up being seen if it were to become somewhere were girls/women
> > from Ubuntu-Women put tech articles.

Exactly. And it's how we're being perceived now in the community.

> Erm, i think i covered most points in my earlier mail but ....
> For that matter, it will become what it is projected to be, so if one
> keeps harping on the non-existent negative , people will learn to see
> only the negatives.

It's not non-existent. One of the biggest criticisms of the Ubuntu
Women project is that we segregate. This is why we dropped our
separate courses program and joined Ubuntu Classroom.

> Rather I prefer to focus on the positive and hype
> that instead. UW was from the start meant to be technical.

Why do women need a special place to be technical? I'm just as
competent as my male counterparts, I learn the same way, I want to be
treated the same way. I don't NEED a separate space to be technical
in, none of us do.

If we keep saying Ubuntu Women should be technical then the message
we're sending is that we are different and we need special treatment.
I thought this was the attitude we were trying to fight.

I thought we wanted to increase the number of women in the general
Ubuntu community? How does segregating female technical stuff within
Ubuntu Women help that? It doesn't. It hurts us.

> > The point is to keep the tech articles to the mag main (afterall, women
> > don't need tech explained special or anything), and keep the About U-W
> > section reserved for... well, 'About U-W'.
>
> umm.. now i am confused, so what in your opinion does  'About U-W'
> stand for and does that exclude women who wish to be techy here. If
> yes, why ?
> IIRC, the mag (fullcircle) is main , ... did Ronnie mention about
> publishing a seperate magazine for women? What I dont understand is
> the reluctance and brick wall that comes up each time UW tries to go
> the technical route. That is disturbing and counter productive.

I wrote about the dangers of becoming a technical group last year:

http://princessleia.com/journal/?p=1007

Ubuntu Women SHOULD be about offering tips to survive in Ubuntu,
sharing experiences and hardships, encouraging and helping each other
to contribute to Ubuntu in general (via "horn tootin'" posts,
mentoring, and publicizing Classroom), approaching community leaders
when problems crop up, showcasing women within the Ubuntu project who
can be role models, and keeping each informed about upcoming events
that we might be interested in.

Ubuntu Women SHOULD NOT be a girls club where we hide and do technical
stuff rather than joining the broader project.

-- 
Elizabeth Bevilacqua
http://www.princessleia.com