Feminist SF Wiki:Wikipedia

The feministSF wiki is not wikipedia and it's not an attempt to replace it or to ghettoize feminist SF.

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.)

What are the differences between Wikipedia & the fsfwiki?

1. The feministSF is not written from a "neutral POV". At Wikipedia, and in a general reference encyclopedia, the assumption is that the 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. The feministSF wiki is a reference resource, like Wikipedia, but it can be much deeper and much broader than a general encyclopedia (even the world's best) encyclopedia is intended to be. For instance, while Wikipedia only wants to include entires on people or events of general significance, the feministSF wiki will include things of general significance to feminist SF — and that is already a good deal more specific than a general encyclopedia could be.
3. But the feministSF wiki can also include things that would never be in any encyclopedia, because they are not of "general interest" in an encyclopedia sense--not even of "general interest" to the "feminist SF". For instance, while every single fan and writer might not be of interest or relevance in an encyclopedia, they ARE of interest and relevance to a project that strives to capture and document a feminist SF community in an archival sense as well. With tagging and categories and search, we can still structure information in such a way to make it easy to find book authors, new authors, fans, wanna-be filmmakers, and so on, but we don't need to mandate and create a separation that is, in the feminist SF community, rather artificial. We all know that our writers are also fans and that fans are creators and that creators includes writing and jewelry-making and beading and software coding and graphic design and feminist processes and organizing perfectly organized pocket programs for conferences.
4. The feministSF wiki is therefore 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?

Is there a feminist conspiracy behind the fsfwiki?

1. The feministSF wiki is also "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. exploring & pushing the technology options offered by the mediawiki software as a collaborative medium in the way that only feminists dedicated to process can do.

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, if they could figure out what they think about it, but it would be MUCH BETTER to have an entire flotilla of feminists infiltrating and subverting the dominant paradigms .... etc.

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 feminist perspectives to wiki and other similar perspectives.