{"id":137387,"date":"2022-03-09T15:42:42","date_gmt":"2022-03-09T14:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=137387"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:10","slug":"fighting-gender-inequality-through-wikipedia-one-edit-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/03\/09\/fighting-gender-inequality-through-wikipedia-one-edit-at-a-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting gender inequality through Wikipedia, one edit at a time"},"content":{"rendered":"

As research shows<\/a>, only 16 percent all of biographies on Wikipedia are dedicated to women, and equally astounding is the gender gap among Wikipedia editors. In Dutch Wikipedia, the ratio is 80 percent male versus 20 percent female. Workshops like the \u2019Edit-a-thon\u2019 \u00a0organised \u00a0on International Women\u2019s Day in the Theil Building help to tackle this issue.<\/p>\n

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Sandra Fauconnier from Wikimedia explained how to be an editor on Wikipedia.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNatalia Khozyainova<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

In room C2-2, around 20 participants congregated to change those numbers. Among them, there was only one male, but he left halfway. First, the participants were instructed on how to create editor profiles on Wikipedia (spoiler: it\u2019s as easy as Instagram or TikTok!). Then \u2013 how to correctly edit, translate or reference text. Finally, the most fun part began: choosing an article of interest and improving it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWrite dry and neutrally, but try creating a written text, not just bullet points\u201d, advised Sandra Fauconnier of Wikimedia Nederland, a workshop\u2019s lead and one of the five Wikipedians<\/em> present at the workshop to help. \u201cRemember: don\u2019t choose topics you are closely associated with, for example, your own professors, as you\u2019ll lose impartiality. The aim of Wikipedia is to be neutral and factual, otherwise, companies or individuals would use the platform for self-promotion, which is not allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only a wife, but a philosopher <\/h2>

Hanna, a Bachelor philosophy student, chose to edit the page of Sophie de Condorcet<\/a>. Hanna picked her profile, because despite having been a philosopher on her own, Sophie de Condorcet is predominantly known as the wife of mathematician and philosopher Nicolas de Condorcet, and a famous French salon hostess. Hanna wanted to contribute more sources and information on Sophie\u2019s philosophical journey to both English and Dutch pages, to help change her outlook.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough we do discuss female philosophers in class, it is a still a heavily male-based curriculum, and female philosophers are often either underrepresented or misrepresented. I wasn\u2019t surprised by this when the classes started \u2013 I learnt about gender inequality and lack of representation from my mum before enrolling into a school. But I still want to do my part in fighting for representation\u201d, Hanna said.<\/p>\n

While it was their first time contributing to Wikipedia editing, Hanna is planning to continue this after the workshop. \u201cAt home, I have a lot of encyclopedias and books about female philosophers, which I couldn\u2019t bring with me today. So I am planning to continue editing on my own, as a hobby.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keeping the memory of the ECWO founder alive <\/h2>
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Kirsten during the Edit-a-thon.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNatalia Khozyainova<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Kirsten, a Governance of Migration and Diversity master student, chose to edit the page of professor Dianne Bevelander<\/a>, who passed away last year. Bevelander was the founder of the Erasmus Centre for Women and Organisations (ECWO), which was one of the organizing parties of this workshop.<\/p>\n

Being a student assistant at ECWO, Kirsten felt that ensuring the sources on Dianne\u2019s page are correct was a good way to pay tribute to her life. \u201cMany colleagues are very fond of Dianne and often think of her. Ensuring her Wikipedia page stays correct is a beautiful way to honour her.\u201d Having used Wikipedia as a crucial knowledge platform during her school years, Kirsten believes editing it is a great initiative: \u201cSince this is a place where we all get knowledge from, women on and behind Wikipedia need to be represented too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raising awareness on sexual consent <\/h2>

Though this year\u2019s Edit-a-thon focused mainly on female academics and philosophers, some participants chose to contribute to larger social issues and bring their own topics of interest, such as sexual consent. Sara (name has been altered for purposes of anonymity), an Erasmus MC graduate in Medicine, felt a call to action as soon as she saw the event\u2019s ad that pointed out Wikipedia\u2019s gender underrepresentation. \u201cWomen\u2019s empowerment lies close to my heart, so when I saw Wikipedia statistics, something clicked inside my brain. I started searching for big topics on Dutch news and cross-checking how they were represented on Wikipedia, and was surprised that Dutch sexual consent<\/a> page could really use more content, sources and female perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most difficult parts of the editing process were trying to write about consent from a not exclusively heterosexual (and not exclusively male) perspective, and working with legal formulations. However, despite challenges, Sara is planning to continue editing in her spare time. \u201cWe cannot expect that porn, or social media, or peers will be providers of sexual education in the first instance. When I was a child, Wikipedia was my first go-to for everything. Having such important information as sexual consent available will not only help in fighting gender-related issues, but will also liberate women from feeling shame while talking about sex.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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