Humph. Last week, at the Wikimania 2012 Conference (an annual Wikipedia fun-fest), a number of male attendees slammed the Wikipedia entry "Wedding dress of Kate Middleton," denouncing the page as trivial and unworthy of appearing in the online encyclopedia.
One online commentator of the entry had even made this denouncement: "The sheer presence of this article is one of the lowest points ever reached by Wikipedia! What amazes me is that there's acculturated people (since the article was well written) who has such interests, and free time to lose to devoted themselves for such totally irrelevant arguments."
Well, we Anglophiles recognize the importance of that dress--to the fashion world, the wedding industry, and the history of style--as well as recognizing the Duchess's colossal impact on the fashion world at large. And really, with Wikipedia carrying articles such as "Krivokrasov stick incident" (a hockey scandal), "D'oh!" (fictional character Homer Simpson's catchphrase), or the equally trivial "I'll be back" (Arnold Schwarzenegger's catchphrase), I don't think "Wedding dress of Kate Middleton" should be singled out for downgrading the quality of Wikipedia.
The day the dress entry first appeared in Wikipedia, one male editor (and 91 percent of Wikipedia's editors are male) flagged the entry for deletion, and said, "This is frankly trivial, and surely isn't notable enough to be on Wikipedia." Fortunately, the panel of editors decided to keep the article because it was well-written. What I think these complaints about the dress entry do show is gender bias, which, fortunately, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales pointed out to conference attendees. I encourage all my female readers who hold an area of expertise to volunteer as a Wikipedia editor. And I thank Jimmy Wales for pointing out the gender bias regarding complaints about this article!
As homage to the Duchess of Cambridge's grand style (including her singular wedding dress!) I would like to offer readers a Vogue photo gallery of Kate, Duchess of Cambridge.
To view PHOTO GALLERY, click HERE
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One online commentator of the entry had even made this denouncement: "The sheer presence of this article is one of the lowest points ever reached by Wikipedia! What amazes me is that there's acculturated people (since the article was well written) who has such interests, and free time to lose to devoted themselves for such totally irrelevant arguments."
Well, we Anglophiles recognize the importance of that dress--to the fashion world, the wedding industry, and the history of style--as well as recognizing the Duchess's colossal impact on the fashion world at large. And really, with Wikipedia carrying articles such as "Krivokrasov stick incident" (a hockey scandal), "D'oh!" (fictional character Homer Simpson's catchphrase), or the equally trivial "I'll be back" (Arnold Schwarzenegger's catchphrase), I don't think "Wedding dress of Kate Middleton" should be singled out for downgrading the quality of Wikipedia.
The day the dress entry first appeared in Wikipedia, one male editor (and 91 percent of Wikipedia's editors are male) flagged the entry for deletion, and said, "This is frankly trivial, and surely isn't notable enough to be on Wikipedia." Fortunately, the panel of editors decided to keep the article because it was well-written. What I think these complaints about the dress entry do show is gender bias, which, fortunately, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales pointed out to conference attendees. I encourage all my female readers who hold an area of expertise to volunteer as a Wikipedia editor. And I thank Jimmy Wales for pointing out the gender bias regarding complaints about this article!
As homage to the Duchess of Cambridge's grand style (including her singular wedding dress!) I would like to offer readers a Vogue photo gallery of Kate, Duchess of Cambridge.
To view PHOTO GALLERY, click HERE
***********************************************
Go to: BRITISH CLOTHING
Go to: CHAT FORUM
Go to: VISIT BRITAIN
Go to: HOMEPAGE
