[hackerspaces] hackerspace demographics

[Michel Gallant]

"Hi, I'm a man and here's why your complaint is not legitimate"


On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 11:10 PM, Matt Joyce <matt at nycresistor.com> wrote:

> I don't see a knitting groups lack of jive with a hackerspace
> community as being a gender bias.
>
> For instance, at Noisebridge a continued point of protest I've heard
> before is the people who come in solely to use the kitchen.
>
> If a sub group within the community is not really jiving with the
> greater community it's really not necessarily a bias built upon
> gender.  it sounds like ( from my reading ) that it was more of a lack
> of shared interests.
>
> And that can be problematic in either direction.  If I were to show up
> with 3 of my good friends ( male or female ) at a knitting circle and
> starting soldering arduinos into the scarves / sweaters / awesome
> socks / I was knitting there's a good chance that over time I would
> wear out my welcome with the rest of the knitting circle.
>
> While I am all for identifying areas where people can be made to feel
> more comfortable, I am also all for not trying to fit square blocks
> into round holes.  If two communities don't share common interests,
> they will likely not share space well.  Trying to change that seems a
> futile effort to me.
>
> And, while there are those that do transcend multiple groups, that
> does not mean that those groups will be able to jive.
>
> Curious why you thought it was related to the gender of the knitting
> group members over the potential lack of shared interests?
>
> On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 10:55 PM, Lisha Sterling <lishevita at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 9:27 PM, Nathaniel Bezanson <myself at telcodata.us
> >
> > wrote:
> >>
> >> on paper our membership is about 80% male, but if you look at the people
> >> who actually show up and participate, it's a lot more even -- roughly
> 60/40
> >> most of the time.
> >
> >
> > It sounds like you have a great space there!
> >
> > Last year at SpaceCamp, an unconference for hacker and maker spaces run
> by
> > School Factory, we had an informal poll of the founders and facilitators
> > there to see what the gender makeup was. Despite the fact that there were
> > about 30% women at the conference, it turned out that the membership of
> > hackerspaces tended to run closer to 90/10 with a few notable
> exceptions. A
> > couple of the women there spoke directly to the fact that they were made
> to
> > feel unwelcome at some hackerspaces even as the hackerspace *said* that
> they
> > were being gender-blind.
> >
> > An example that I can think of off the top of my head is how at one
> mid-west
> > hackerspace, a woman started a knitting group that brought in a lot of
> other
> > women. Some of those women became involved in other areas of the hacker
> > space, but not all of them did. However, *some* of the men in the
> > hackerspace continually berated and badmouthed the knitting group,
> > complaining that it was taking up space that should have been used for
> > "real" hacking like woodwork, metalwork, programming and electronics. The
> > knitting group wasn't forced to stop, but the discomfort from the way
> that
> > they were treated meant that fewer women wanted to come, not only to the
> > knitting group, but to other functions as well. The knitting group died,
> and
> > the hackerspace was left with only a couple of female members (one of
> which
> > went on to become a facilitator at another hackerspace).
> >
> > I agree that the way to get future women into the hackerspaces is to get
> > their parents in today. We all need role models. Are parents are our
> first
> > role models. The other adults in the spaces we frequent as a child
> (school,
> > scouts, daycare, hackerspace, etc) are very important as well.
> >
> > There is another issue that needs to be addressed, and that is making
> sure
> > that your hackerspace is an open and welcoming place to all: women, gays,
> > transgendered people, people of different faiths, or colors, or shapes,
> or
> > sizes...
> >
> > There is a lot of work going on in this area at a lot of hackerspaces and
> > that is really fantastic. Be aware, though, that you might not be aware
> of
> > the issues facing any minority in your space. Sometimes you can find out
> by
> > asking. Sometimes you can't. An of course, if you don't know that there
> is a
> > problem, it's pretty much impossible to fix it. But when someone does
> speak
> > up, hear them out and see what can be done.
> >
> > As for women not wanting to talk to the press about being a woman in a
> > hackerspace, there may be several reasons for that. 1) It's really
> awesome
> > at your space and they don't see a point. In which case you should maybe
> > encourage them to speak to the press and say exactly that, since it will
> > help women who feel timid about joining *any* hackerspace more likely to
> > show up. 2) They are sick of saying the same things over and over to the
> > press, being misrepresented and painted as either a victim or a hero or
> some
> > other archetype rather than as a person who hangs out at a hackerspace.
> 3)
> > They really don't like anything that smacks of personal advertising.
> "Get my
> > name in the paper? Ick! No thank you!!" 4-infinity) I can't possibly know
> > all the other reasons...
> >
> > - Lisha
> >
> > --
> > http://www.alwayssababa.com/
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
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> >
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