Talk:Volunteer jobs

Locally significant person v locally significant woman

Hi Yaris, thanks for your edit on the jobs list. I've left it in, but the reason Roberta suggested writing a biography of a locally significant woman was to help take on the gender gap that exists on Wikipedia. I hpe you can understand the motivation for the original idea. Stevie Benton (WMUK) (talk) 09:40, 3 November 2014 (GMT)

I understand. I think increasing the number of women with biographies is a fine motivation. But I thought the more inclusive wording would encourage people towards this end just as much, but also encourage other biographies. Yaris678 (talk) 10:48, 3 November 2014 (GMT)

Hi Yaris. Thanks for taking the time to add to this list. Unfortunately, sometimes inclusive wording can have the unintentional effect of reinforcing the status quo. If you ask someone to describe a chef (or a judge or an astronaut), most people will paint you a picture of a man; if you ask them to describe a cook (or a secretary or a primary school teacher), you'll get a woman. If we just ask for a biography, without mentioning gender, chances are that Wikipedia's systemic bias will be reinforced. There are likely to be more books on locally significant men available, and so it's easier to write an article on a man. My suggestion of deliberately choosing a woman was meant to shake that up a bit. Roberta Wedge (WMUK) (talk) 12:30, 4 November 2014 (GMT)