Feminism & Open Source

1. Feminism & Open Source Corey Latislaw @corey_latislaw Pam Selle @pamasaur Slides:

2. Our Goal Challenge old models with new thought patterns.

3. Doing the Dishes (Paying Your Dues) What does it look like? • Writing tests • Writing documentation • Cleaning up bad code

4. Source

5. Agenda • Feminism • Current Model • New Model • What you can do

6. On Feminism "Feminism is the radical notion that women are people.” -Rebecca West

7. What is Feminism? • "the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes"

8. Feminism vs. Feminisms • Different flavors of feminism • Intersectionality • In open source

9. Why aren't women in FOSS? "[Women] are not sure if other community members will treat them respectfully, prefer not to be the only woman in the group, or are uncertain about embarking on the solitary exploration typically needed to get up to speed in open source.” -Zhurakhinskaya

10. Current Model "...hindrances to participation includ[e] a lack of mentors and role models, discriminating language usage, a male–dominated competitive world view, and a lack of women–centered perspectives.” -Reagle

11. Structureless Tyranny "Contrary to what we would like to believe, there is no such thing as a 'structureless' group. Any group of people of whatever nature coming together for any length of time, for any purpose, will inevitably structure itself in some fashion. The structure may be flexible, it may vary over time, it may evenly or unevenly distribute tasks, power and resources over the members of the group. But it will be formed regardless of the abilities, personalities and intentions of the people involved. The very fact that we are individuals with different talents, predispositions and backgrounds makes this inevitable." -Freeman

12. Structureless Tyranny • "Paying your dues” • Traditional devaluation of women's work (teaching, art, etc.) • Bias against empathy

13. Open Source ≠ Feminist [O]pen source culture is not feminist. Feminism is fundamentally about equality for everyone, not just women, and designers of any gender are just as alienated as women programmers, because it’s not an equally welcoming environment. -Trapani

14. What's the outcome? • Low participation diverse populations • Low polish • Low testing • Low documentation • Low engagement of users

15. Red Flags • Abrasive emails • Flamewars • RTFM • Hostile environments • Microaggressions • Apathetic / silent allies

16. New Model How can we make this better? What’s missing?

18. Our Model • Warmth • Mentorship • Stewardship • User/design focus • Open discourse

19. Success Criteria • Encourages traditionally underrepresented groups to participate. • Provides a healthy space for criticism of the work product (not the people). • Pathway for newbies to contribute in ways that interest them (coding, UX, PM, technical writer, etc.).

20. Warmth "Let them know you're happy they're here, show them around the place, help them with their question or problem, and let them know how they can give back to the community.” -Trapani

21. Mentorship • Clear pathways for contribution • Conversion of new contributors to regular contributors • Pair programming

22. Stewardship • Answering questions and being accessible to new and regular contributors. • Managing resources • Identifying strengths and interests

23. Design/User Focus Architecture "Prioritize design and usability upfront, rather than accept a mess of software with plans to slap a pretty veneer on afterwards. This is been the lesson I keep having to learn and re-learn: design and usability cannot be an afterthought." -Trapani

24. Open Discourse • Clear communication • Community-approved standards • Accessible and open forums (lists, IRC, wikis)

25. Healthy (Existing) Communities • Lay out a clear path for contribution • Have resources and tools for new contributors • Keep current contributors engaged • Code of conduct

26. https://django-admin2.readthedocs.org/en/latest/contributing.htmlhttps://django-admin2.readthedocs.org/en/latest/contributing.html

27. What can I do?

28. Utopia Doesn't Exist • Conflict happens • Communities are people Image Source

29. Existing Projects • Contribute requested features • Contribute what’s missing • Engage with community on IRC/lists • Answer questions • Mentor new people • Improve onboarding • Join a core team

30. Found your ownopen source project! You are an expert. You have something valuable to share.

31. Summary • Existing "rules" aren't what they seem • We can do better • You can help us do better • Rock on!

32. Thank you! Pam Selle Corey Latislaw @pamasaur thewebivore.com github.com/pselle @corey_latislaw coreylatislaw.com github.com/colabug

33. Reading List Books • http://tinyurl.com/feministreading Lists • http://bitly.com/bundles/pamasaur/1

34. Bibliography • Trapani, G. “Designers, Women, and Hostility in Open Source.” http://smarterware.org/7550/designers-women-and-hostility-in-open-source • Reagle, J.“Free as in Sexist?”http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/4291/3381 • Freeman, J. “The Tyranny of Structurelessness” http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/hist_texts/structurelessness.html • Zhurakhinskaya, M. “Opening Open Source to Women” http://www.women2.com/opening-open-source-to-women/