Feminist groups at several universities recently took part in an effort called “Edit Wikipedia Day,” to address what they perceive as the sexist flaws in the website, according to a post by Leslie Eastman.
In describing the issue, Sarah Stierch, a Wikipedia contributor and researcher for the Wikimedia Foundation, told Daily Dot that the site is “aesthetically very masculine in its design,” adding that “the average Wikipedia editor is a well-educated white male. Well-educated white males have been writing history and the story of the world since ancient times.”
To improve this situation, the annual ‘Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon’ inspired feminists around the country to spend an entire day changing and rewriting the online encyclopedia to make it less masculine, according to Campus Reform.
The event is a follow-up to last year’s similar edit-a-thon, when feminist sympathizers were called upon to edit “feminist thought” into Wikipedia articles.
“It’s not like my life passion to make Wikipedia feminist, but it’s been really surprising, there’s this whole underground world that I wasn’t aware of – people who are dedicated to editing Wikipedia,” said Krystal South, an event organizer, in a statement to B**** Magazine. “The beauty of Wikipedia is it’s a public institution, people have the ability to go change it.”
