Feminist SF Wiki:Wikipedia

The feministSF wiki is not wikipedia and it's not an attempt to replace it or to ghettoize feminist SF. Instead, we are using the MediaWiki software tool to develop a new and detailed reference resource, and to experiment with the community and process-oriented approach of wikipedia. And we have a secret feminist conspiracy.

So what's the relationship between Wikipedia and the feministSF wiki (fsfwiki)?

1. The feministSF wiki uses the mediawiki software which was developed by and for and in conjunction with Wikipedia, but we use it for our own ends.
2. Wikipedia encourages spin-off projects, and has developed a standard for interwiki references. So, when we feel it's appropriate and we're ready to do so, we can add the interwiki language protocols, and reference directly to Wikipedia. (In the meantime, it is perfectly appropriate to do so using URLs.) For more info, see Meta-Wiki.
3. FeministSF is one of many spin-off projects of Wikipedia. In SF/F, for example, there are wiki projects for science fiction generally, the Harry Potter, "Star Trek", and at least one for Tolkien.

What are the differences between Wikipedia & the fsfwiki?

1. The feministSF is not written from a "neutral POV". While the definition of what this means does vary, Wikipedia or (in general) a reference encyclopedia will take the assumption that articles should be written from a neutral point of view. At feministSF wiki, the assumption is that articles will be written from a feminist point of view. We want to understand and accurately describe other perspectives but as feminists we also want to critique and deconstruct hierarchies of oppression, stereotyped thinking, problems that skew along axes of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, class, age, marital status or relational affiliation, language and other forms of privilege or hierarchy.
2. Being specialized, feministSF wiki can dig a lot deeper into feminist SF than a general encyclopedia like WikiPedia might. The feministSF wiki is a reference resource like Wikipedia, but it can delve into the field of feminist science fiction much more thoroughly than a general encyclopedia (even the world's best) would intend. For instance, while Wikipedia purports to include entries only about people or events of general significance, the feministSF wiki will include things of general significance to feminist SF, which is already a good deal more specific and detailed than a general encyclopedia could be.
3. Because of this focus, feministSF wiki can also be an archival resource and community document. Moreover, we can also include information which might never make it into most encyclopedias or even the feminist SF website. This is because while every single fan and writer might not be of interest or relevance in an encyclopedia or bibliography, they may indeed be of interest and relevance to a project striving to capture, document and archive a feminist SF community. With tagging, categories and search we can structure information in such a way as to make it easy to find book authors, new authors, fans, wanna-be filmmakers and so on. Meanwhile, we don't need to mandate and create a separation which can be, in the feminist SF community, rather artificial. We all know that our writers are also fans, that fans are creators and that creativity includes writing along with jewelry-making, beading, software coding, graphic design, feminist processes and organizing perfectly organized pocket programs for conferences (to name only a few examples).
4. The feministSF wiki is also an experiment in feminist process & community-building. Could it become a 24/7 feminist think tank? an online version of WisCon, or a workshop, in which everyone works madly together -- but not just for 75 minutes, but at any moment ... coming together asynchronously through the discussion pages and other community aspects of the mediaWiki software? What kinds of connections can we document thru the wiki, which wouldn't be relevant or appropriate in a general encyclopedia? References, homages, influences, connections (family sexual affectional and otherwise)? How can we create that "web" of connections? Were particular stories inspired by experiences at WisCon or reactions to a fannish event of some sort? How can we connect the online community with real-world, offline, in-person, meat communities?

Is there a feminist conspiracy behind the fsfwiki?

Yes. We have three goals, and we will achieve them by any means necessary.

1. We will use the feministSF wiki to deconstruct our social programming in a "a wiki of our own". Wikis have the convention of creating sandboxes which are places for individuals to play with formatting to see if they can get it right. In a sense, they're safe places so people can learn to do things without fear of being castigated for screwing up, or fear of actually screwing things up for someone else or hurting the wiki. (You really couldn't anyway because someone else will catch it and fix it! That's the beauty of the wiki....) So in one sense the feministSF is a sandbox for social processes. It's a place for anyone to deconstruct their social programming -- particularly women who have been socialized NOT to correct others, to be polite, to not claim a lot of space in public places, to not argue or engage in flame wars, to not in some senses engage in robust public discussion. And people who have not had a lot of experience with technology, who may feel shy or inexperienced with wiki software, have another space place to learn it and to get comfortable with "geeking out". So the feministSF wiki is a place for all those folk to explore and experiment with the technology, get proficient with it, then take their skills out in the world to use with their own collaborative software, engaging in wikipedia editing & processes, and bringing more feminist presences and perspectives to wikis, and ultimately other tech-based communities, everywhere.
2. We will explore & push the technology options offered by the mediawiki software as a collaborative medium in the way that only feminists dedicated to process can do.
3. And of course we will take over WikiPedia. (See below.)

Is this a critique of wikipedia?

No, and yes.

The people who installed this wiki & made it available for you and thought about this FAQ LOVE wikipedia. We also love the kinds of open collaborations that the software makes possible, and the potential for doing things that wikipedia doesn't do.

BUT we've sometimes been frustrated with the wikipedia experience.

1. For instance, a couple of years ago in 2004, there was a great article on feminist science fiction; and the beginnings of an article on women in science fiction. By 2006, the wiki contributors had merged them, and redirected searches for "feminist science fiction" to "women in science fiction". These are really distinct ideas and concepts. One person could get involved with the wiki community and make comments, or get rid of the redirect & explain formally what's going on. But if it became a "discussion" or a controversial page, then the lone feminist might be quite outnumbered.
2. We see, ALL THE TIME, instances of sexist or biased language in wikipedia, which we dutifully correct and neutralize.
3. Wiki process allows for great things like open public debate on the significance of, say, feminist online community theoriest danah boyd. And it allows simultaneously the possibility for really great geeking out obsessively on issues that are of interest to any of the participants. But in a culture which is fundamentally sexist, and dominated by boys who maybe haven't all had their consciousness raising moments, this can create things like a debate about the relevance of danah boyd, and NO DEBATE about the relevance of a detailed entry for each and every single Playmate of the Month or Playmate of the Year. One or two people could get involved in these issues, but it would be MUCH BETTER to have an entire flotilla of feminists infiltrating and subverting the dominant paradigms .... etc. (This is not to say that Wikipedia should remove the Playmates. There might be any number of analyses, not incongruent with feminism, in which it would be appropriate to include them: influence on numbers of people, representatives of sex work industry, sex positive feminism, etc. Rather, it seems clear that there is a gender-based dynamic going on, when popular objects of male desire are obsessively catalogued in Wikipedia with nary a comment or question as to their arguable social significance.)

Any one of us as individuals could take on those issues in wikipedia. But it would be MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE if there were lots of women contributing their perspectives. So feministSF wiki is in part a recruiting tool to train and give feminists skills to go and contribute their perspectives to wiki, and ultimately to be louder & more active voices in online communities. This will make Wikipedia better, because more people contributing will only improve it. And of course, because objectively speaking, we're right.