anna.morris's blog
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Flossie 2012
So, in between some work and some other work, I took 2 days out to attend Flossie 2012.
My relationship with Flossie goes back right to the start of the organization: about a year ago, following some obnoxious free-software man stress, I chatted to a FS woman I knew, and we decided to set up a network for Women in free software. I was, at the time, lonely in the free software community, and did not feel that the emotional trauma of breast-based isolation could really be understood be even the nicest of FS menfolk. Now things are better for me, as a Fellow of this wonderful organization, however, I am still not convinced that the level of distress caused by inappropriate sexual behavior in the wider FS community is easily understood by those who don’t have to deal with it. Perhaps spend a day on the IRC with a female-sounding name, to see if you get treated differently or not.
I am aware that a women only network/event is a subject of controversy (for some women as well as some men) – however, whatever logical or philosophical attack you have, in favor, or against, you can’t deny that it’s an interesting experiment. For whatever reason, women are in a minority in free software, and we can only speculate as to how this is affecting the movement and it’s products. This gave me a little peek into whichever parallel universe finds itself the other way around. The results will take a while to process, however, here are my thoughts so far:
Mostly, I found it stressful. There were so many huge and competing personalities in such a small space. I am aware that when I am around my (mostly male) free software colleges, I “big up” my personality (for fear of not getting heard in the howl of a “meritocracy” situation). In a free software environment, I am more aggressive, louder, ruthless and much less patient. Perhaps I am not alone in this. I found that once the stony wall of a male-dominated environment was removed, and I saw my “free-software self” in the mirror of a more familiar female social group: I didn’t like the view much. I don’t like the person I am in free software. I much prefer the person who I am in the rest of my life… and I don’t think I realized, till Flossie, just how different my behavior has become.
Also, I learned that my “software is to be used” mantra is quite correct. Coding/ers are given such a red carpet treatment sometimes (from women and men) and as a non-coding person, I find it hard to deal with. At Flossie I could see that, for many, from librarians to artists, free software is about so much more than making software. It’s development and use must go hand in hand – without the creativity and dreams of the user, software is just a corpse of code. So coding is NOT the only creative act in free software. I now feel much more confident of my relevance in the free software community. Perhaps I could have learned this in a mixed gender environment. Perhaps not. I suspect, on a personal level, not. The noise of gender isolation in FS is loud – to just take away that issue for a moment, and things seemed so much clearer.
So, on the whole, I would say the event was personal successful. Challenging, but helpful.