[UbuntuWomen] Ubuntu Women Sessions for Ubuntu Open Week

[Lucy]

2009/11/4 Elizabeth Krumbach <lyz at ubuntu.com>:
> On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 2:14 PM, Elizabeth Krumbach <lyz at ubuntu.com> wrote:
>> I mentioned previously that Mackenzie and I were working on some
>> Ubuntu Women sessions for Ubuntu Open Week:
>> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOpenWeek
>>
>> We'll be hosting two sessions, back to back:
>>
>> Thu 5 Nov @ 20:00 UTC: Ubuntu Women: Women in Open Source - Issues
>> Thu 5 Nov @ 21:00 UTC: Ubuntu Women: Women in Open Source - Encouragement
> <snip>
>
> Just a quick reminder that these are going to be happening in about 22.5 hours.
>
>> but I think it would be great to get some real stories or scenarios
>> within open source where you may have felt uncomfortable because of
>> your gender. Or fellas - do you have stories anywhere in life where
>> your gender made you feel awkward that I could use to draw parallels?
>> Feel free to email me off-list, the examples in my presentation will
>> be handled anonymously.
>
> Anyone have anything else before the session tomorrow? So far my
> examples pretty much center around some of the stories I've been
> exposed to that have made some women feel less welcome (marriage
> proposals from strangers upon learning they use linux, being -or
> feeling like- you're the only woman in a room/project/irc channel/etc,
> being in the audience at an event where the speaker makes remarks
> assuming the audience is all male, assumptions being made that you're
> somewhere as a "girlfriend" and the resulting shock when people learn
> you're actually involved).

Just to add to/expand on this. I've found that often people don't
realise that what is acceptable in some circumstances isn't acceptable
in others; the example being conferences or other situations where
there is a male majority and the speaker discusses something vaguely
sexual, which may not normally make most women uncomfortable, but
because of the inequality of the situation makes the women in the room
feel rather exposed. It's scary being the odd one out in a room of 50+
people!

I think sometimes it's necessary to apply a weighting to an issue,
where inequality gives a higher weighting, meaning that
small/insignificant issues become big as a result. I'm not sure I've
phrased that well, does it make sense?