With more people joining Lemmy and other decentralised networks there is a growing shift to the common misogyny and sexism we find on other social media networks (YouTube, Reddit, etc.).
I think it’s pretty obvious that the reason is that there are even less women here than other places online. What are your ideas on how to change that? Or do you feel it is a lost cause?
You must log in or register to comment.
Last time I saw a female-centric issue brought up on Lemmy, folks were very openly hostile. It also became a discussion of “well, what about men?? Men also experience this issue!!!” while frothing at the mouth (search up “women-only Lyft” to see the hostility + comments completely missing the point).
Sure, you need to be a bit more tech-saavy to use Lemmy, but the spaces & discussion here meant for women are often invaded by unfriendly folk and people who barge in to joke about/make light of the things that are being discussed.
My personal opinion as a trans girl? We need to stop pretending that social networks are THE solution. We need a balance between social networks and anti-social networks. And by “anti-social networks”, I mean traditional blogs.
Funny thing is, Fediverse is actually very well equipped to deal with Blogosphere. The fact that you can easily ignore the other side is a feature, not a bug.
I agree! Also websites that are just personal (and personalised) internet “homes”. I made a community for Neocities a few days ago just for that reason. To hopefully get some people who feel overwhelmed with finding a hoster etc. to try and make their own little website.
The web has become too commercialised and competitive I think…
It’s because we are in deep tech/programming territory here where you traditionally find less women. I do think it is shifting a lot recently, and find Lemmy fairly mild in terms of misogyny. But then I also actively avoid communities where dudebros tend to flock and be all rational and such.
Of course there’s always more work to do. More women mods, more women led communities, as others have said. Maybe downvoting and reporting instead of blocking sexists. Calling people out on their shit, making women feel protected.
I think in part this topic is also because I try to encourage more women to be active in techy places. I am always motivated to think about ways on how to bring more diverse people into tech hobbies like programming. It’s what I do at university with activities for IT newbies.
And I got the impression that especially women, LGBTQ and minority people feel more safe to try out these stuff when the instructors are women and it seems to have a low barrier. There is a lot of “I am too dumb for this” from internalized stereotypes and I think that’s going on with the Fediverse as well.
I hear you. I have always been doing tech stuff (from DIY to IT) as a hobby, and it has been frustrating to be surrounded by guys only. And I only got into the DIY because I was interested and had male friends who weren’t dismissive. I built my first tiny house with 18. I’ve been flying racing drones. At the same time, falling back into ‘I can’t really’ happens to me really easily, because it’s so very ingrained. That’s why we have to continue struggling, and making a fuss about it, and make spaces where girls and women can experiment with tools and tech, and give them room to get good - because often when boys are present they take the tools and do the thing - maybe even in an attempt to be helpful, but still. I’ve always wanted to organize DIY courses for women, maybe I should go haunt the local school or something.
Nothing is a lost cause if there is interest in improving the situation. Ultimately, content is what makes people join and stay. So existing people need to start new communities and grow them in areas they find interesting.
Mastodon lacks entertainment and politics content because nobody in those areas cared enough about the downsides of centralized platforms to migrate. Lemmy on the other hand is full of entertainment and political content, but everything is tinged with technology aspect.
“Everything is tinged with technology aspect.”
Which is how Reddit was at first, too, no? It took a long time for Reddit to get to its peak (and subsequent fall). I hope Lemmy can get there and I hope I can help!
I haven’t seen anywhere near as much misogyny and sexism here as I have on Reddit. I haven’t really seen any at all, but maybe it’s just the communities that I have been reading.
People need to be aware that Lemmy exists for them to start using it. Tell your friends about it, send them links to communities or posts that they would be interested in, etc… Unfortunately, the most active communities on Lemmy seem to be news and tech related. News can be shared elsewhere and tech is still something that we’re a small minority in. We need to stop lurking and start posting more if we want to make this place more attractive.
It’s not all news and tech! Lemmy hosts the most extensive collection of Star Trek memes I have ever seen on https://startrek.website/c/risa
I don’t want to say it’s a lost cause… But I’m not sure how to address it either. You’re absolutely right that the casual sexism is rampant here, and to my mind it’s about 50% from less moderation overall and 50% the type of personalities that are willing to seek out less popular and less user friendly services. I left reddit for a reason, but lemmy isn’t nearly as polished. That demographic is always going to skew neckbeardy.
How do you know they’re less women here than other places?
Because all communities and topics that have engagement from women on, for example, Reddit are practically dead on Lemmy.
