179 lines
4.2 KiB
HTML
179 lines
4.2 KiB
HTML
<HTML
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>But I don't do that! </TITLE
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TITLE="HOWTO Encourage Women in Linux "
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TITLE="Do's and don't's of encouraging women in Linux"
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>HOWTO Encourage Women in Linux</TH
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NAME="AEN302">4. But I don't do that!</H1
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>This is perhaps a good time for some introspection. At the
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LinuxChix BOF at Ottawa Linux Symposium, we finished listing all the
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reasons why women stayed away from LUGs. A man from the local LUG
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raised his hand and said that no one at his LUG did any of the things
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we complained about, but they were still having difficulty attracting
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women. A woman from the same LUG raised her hand and said, "Yes, they
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do." She went on to say that only a few "bad apples" were doing these
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things, but those few were enough to drive off most women. This is a
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very important point: if your group has nine helpful and polite
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members, and one rude, sexist, loud member, most women are going to
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continue to stay away because of that one member. I realize that this
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isn't fair to the other people in the group, but that's reality. If
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your group is stuck with one bad apple, try a little peer pressure the
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next time he does something that will drive off women. Reply to his
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email, disagree with what he says--establish that you don't share his
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opinions. Just knowing that there is one other person in the group
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who is willing to publicly disagree with the "bad apple" will help
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immensely, and will make women more willing to stay.</P
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><P
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>In my own experience, I have over and over again heard a man say
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that he doesn't do any of these things, and then observed him hours or
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minutes later doing exactly what he claimed he doesn't do. I don't
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think any of those men were lying, just completely unaware. Making
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sexist jokes or comments seems to be the most unconscious behavior -
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many men just don't realize that what they're saying is offensive to
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women.</P
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><P
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>Also, it's definitely possible to have good intentions and still
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drive away women. You may think you're encouraging a woman by
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congratulating her on being brave enough to show up to an event, but
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you're actually pointing out to her that she's weird and unusual,
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rather than making her feel like part of the community. As one woman
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put it, "I know I'm an alien. You don't need to emphasize it." We're
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hoping that this HOWTO will help you realize when you are
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unintentionally driving away women.</P
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><P
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>If you're curious about how your behavior appears to women, my
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best suggestion is to find a woman you know who tends to be blunt and
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outspoken, and ask her if she remembers you saying or doing something
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offensive to women. You might be surprised at her response.
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Remember, most women would rather chew off a leg than be rude to a man
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to his face, so it may be difficult to get an honest
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answer.</P
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>Do's and don't's of encouraging women in Linux</TD
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> </TD
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>LinuxChix</TD
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