Page 15 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report 2016

Gender gap: heteronormative historyThe results of the abovementioned survey dramatically con rmed something that was suspected: one of the most signi cant biases was the very scant presence of women in Wikipedia. An overwhelming nine out of every ten Wikipedians are men.This fact basically de nes how the encyclopaedia’s subjects are covered and displayed, how nal content is established and reproduced, validated or maximised by the prevailing heteronormativity. Sue Gardner, former executive director of Wikimedia Foundation, took the rst steps towards raising awareness of this situation7 and described it as intolerable.The knowledge environment that underpins it is the paradigm of uncertainty, as it is no longer possible to trust any resource implicitly.The reasons why women do not take partin Wikipedia are usually diverse. One is the harassment and violence that are characteristic not only of this project but of many other Internet initiatives,8 where these situationsare common to women of all ages. Likewise, women are generally busier than men owingto the gender roles traditionally imposed by heteronormativity. Women have to overcome more social hurdles to be able to devote their time freely to volunteer work and to addressing new technology challenges that many people still regard as men’s business.The past year has been decisive in tackling this phenomenon in Mexico. Wikimedia Mexico launched a strategy for reducing the gendergap in Wikimedia projects based essentially on editatonas (from the word editathon, linguistically adapted to create a feminine version): spaces where women can gather, shielded from violence and harassment, to share sessions of writing and rewriting a more inclusive history.At these events women can learn and edit Wikipedia, overcoming as a group the most common restrictions that discourage them. There are now more female experts willing to help, others are learning and, above all, theycan seek support when they are harassed and/ or su er discrimination on the grounds of gender. This is all part of a broader underlying problem which is rife in the technological sector, where men have better jobs and are paid more than women and where sexism9 and sexual harassment are a reality that goes beyond the technology environment and industry.Based on the abovementioned statistics onthe characteristics of the average Wikipedian, incidents of sexism and discrimination against women are common. Initiatives such as Ada Lovelace are designed to combat this reality and help boost women’s involvement in the free and open software sector and other related initiatives.Usage in Mexico and Spanish AmericaFifteen years on, Wikipedia’s usage and editing gures are growing globally and performing di erently compared to the early years. Wikipedia in Spanish (http://es.wikipedia.org) is the most commonly used and edited resource in the Spanish American countries.Wikimedia’s servers recorded 87 million visits in Mexico, a country where 44 million people have an Internet connection, in August 2015.10 Spain, Argentina and Chile are the biggest readersof Wikipedia. Spain is the leading country in number of edits, 23,000 per month.There are known Wikimedia communities in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela.AC/E DIGITAL CULTURE ANNUAL REPORT 201615Smart Culture: Impact of the Internet on Artistic Creation