Re: <nettime> "call for blogging code of conduct"

[lotu5 <lotu5@resist.ca>]

Geert Lovink wrote:
> Dear nettimers,
> 
> I wonder how many of you follow the 'Kathy Sierra' case and what you
> make of it. 


I wrote this reply to her, but apparently she didn't see my comment
on her blog or doesn't care about autonomous community initiatives to
try to create change in techno culture. Maybe since our event wasn't
making any headlines, since the main sites like boingboing.net and
slashdot refused to acknowledge it, it wasn't worth kathy's time
either.

///

my response is here, as well as in the comments of her blog:
http://deletetheborder.org/node/2077

Wow. I'm so, so sorry that this has happened to you and it just
fuels me even more to continue fighting sexism and misogyny in
techno culture. You've probably never heard of me, but this past
weekend I helped organize freEtech in San Diego, in response to the
exclusivity, sexism and racism inherent in Etech and in the fact
that it costs $1500. At freEtech we talked a lot about how sexism
and racism function in techno culture and what can be done about it.
Cory Doctorow, who's an editor of boingboing.net and is on the etech
board, refused to post freEtech because it was too critical of Oreilly
and he basically denied that there is a problem with sexism in techno
culture, callimg our claims "baseless".

You can read about freEtech, read my emails to cory and read his replies
here:
http://deletetheborder.org/node/2053
http://deletetheborder.org/node/2057
http://deletetheborder.org/node/2065

Hopefully we can all work together to make this culture more what we
want to see, with less sexism, racism and homophobia. I hope that you
can eventually find the strength and courage to continue engaging
with this community, especially now that you've seen its problems.
No wonder we have a huge problem with sexism in techno culture when
the most famous people in that culture refuse to admit that there's
a problem. Maybe next year you can come to freEtech and give a talk
there.


///

Basically, it seems that all the problems of celebrity and
centralization are on display in "blogger culture" and the
marginalization of community efforts at change and dissenting voices
is a clear example of that problem, just as the targeting of "well
known bloggers" for sick misogynist fantasies is another example of
that problem operating in concert with the patriarchical tendencies
of United States. What we're seeing here is meatspace structuring
cyberspace and taking away its utopian or liberatory potential.



-- 

blog: http://deletetheborder.org/lotu5

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