This is an archive of past discussions about Woman. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.
Latest comment: 3 years ago132 comments40 people in discussion
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.A summary of the conclusions reached follows.
The consensus is that the article should have a lead image, especially in light of MOS:LEADIMAGE, the consensus for which is much broader than this particular RfC unless there is "no easy representation of the topic." Because the choice over which image to use has many implications beyond the mere concept of "woman" (including race, age, occupation, pregnancy, clothing, etc.) any choice is, editors have agreed, going to be contentious. The efforts to tabulate the various responses is duly noted and appreciated! Representing a woman, however, is easy-- my sense of the discussion is that Version C has at least as much support as any of the other proposals, and should therefore become the article's lead image, even if it is in some ways less than perfect-- perfection is not the goal. C was consistently a high-preference choice among discussants, though No image might have been an outcome with greater consensus if not for MOS:LEADIMAGE. Note: although I am closing this discussion, and although an administrator was specifically requested for closure, I am not an admin. I am closing this discussion because I have some experience with discussion closures, and I carefully reviewed the discussion and relevant policies to arrive at a conclusion. If there is any serious disagreement with my closure, I will rescind my claim of consensus and the discussion can continue. What this discussion seems to need most of all, however, is for someone to look it over and close it with an acceptable justification/ conclusion. I hope the participants will agree that I have done this, and can now move on. A loose necktie (talk) 00:25, 26 May 2021 (UTC)
I am opposed to the current image which represents a "mechanic" more than just a "woman". I think we should use the same reasoning as in Talk:Human/FAQ. My ranked choices:
D, Average looking woman. I like that she looks like a statue and that more of her body is shown.
C, Very simple and real, but less of her body is showing.
B (no image) for now - None of the presented choices "give readers visual confirmation that they've arrived at the right page (WP:LEADIMAGE) because they don't show enough dimensions which would, at-a-glance, communicate the topic of the page as "woman", and don't show enough differentiation from "man". For example, a number of physical features typical of women (as different from men) are not represented clearly - such as lack of defined breast or hip shape - a fully nude image would accomplish this. Other indications of typical societal role aren't apparent either - for example, as the only population which carries children, a picture of a pregnant woman would be far more valuable. The current image "A" exemplifies what I'm saying as it offers few visual clues about the actual topic and doesn't immediately read as a "woman". The photo "G" is particularly low-quality (the pink and black areas don't show much definition, becoming two solid blocks of color which visually "blow out" the overall image) and badly-posed. The most important thing when considering images for this is to imagine you cannot read the text of the page, the caption, or the filename of the image. If you saw any of these images on a Wikipedia page from a language you can't read, would you be reasonably be sure you are on the "Woman" page vs something else? Because, for a basic concept article like this, its quite likely a lot of readers coming here are English learners. -- Netoholic@03:37, 23 April 2021 (UTC)
That or something like it is fine. It instantly communicates the topic of the page in line with WP:LEADIMAGE. I stand by my linked comment as to the reasons why. -- Netoholic@15:41, 25 April 2021 (UTC)
C, an average representative woman. Nationality seems hard to pin down, so not overtly any one type. Average age, average weight. A blend of the world's women to represent all women, at least my two cents worth of viewpoint (although I still like her in the original red blouse, it pops the page more). Randy Kryn (talk) 03:47, 23 April 2021 (UTC)
B - I'll clarify that by this I don't mean simply "none of these" but oppose any single lead image. A series of past RfCs determined that we should not have galleries of images in the lead of "topics about large human populations". Some cite the reason for this as the amount of conflict selection of such images generates on our article talk pages. But more importantly, it's about the difficulty of choosing just a small set of images to represent a large group of people. Those issues are exacerbated, not assuaged, by reducing the number of lead images to just one, so the past RfCs should stand. Consensus should change, but this should be broadcast widely if that's the goal. — Rhododendritestalk \\ 04:06, 23 April 2021 (UTC)
As I said, I think we should follow the example at Talk:Human/FAQ, which states in part: "... no article on Wikipedia tries to visually encapsulate every permutation of its subject matter. This is a good thing. If our goal in choosing an image is not to illustrate every major 'type' of humans, but simply to depict any old random human, there is vastly less potential for our biases to infect our selection." Kolya Butternut (talk) 04:46, 23 April 2021 (UTC)
Also, "No image" doesn't work. From a 2019 discussion: "The first image is the default lead image (the one that is pushed to previews such as mouseover and search engine results). ... Deleting the lead image and going back to the way it was in October 2018–January 2019, with an image of the female reproductive system as the lead image, is not an option." Kolya Butternut (talk) 05:06, 23 April 2021 (UTC)
The consensus of the WP:NOETHNICGALLERIES RfC does not say not to use single images - this seems very much like a spirit/letter distinction. the arguments there would apply to a single image more than a gallery, for the most part. As for the issue of needing a lead image, I do recall now that you or someone else mentioned this previously and I forgot. So I went and tested it with some mouse-over pop-ups. The pop-up for links for African Americans to not just pull up the top image; it doesn't include any image. I don't know what the technical reasons/limitations/quirks are, but that would seem to indicate there's a way to avoid having an image. — Rhododendritestalk \\ 13:56, 23 April 2021 (UTC)
From most to least preferred: D, C, E, A, G, F, B. I honestly wanted to rank G higher, but her hand being behind her back for no reason is really distratcing. I don't see a reason to go without an image. One representative is different than fighting over galleries. Crossroads-talk-06:50, 23 April 2021 (UTC)
B, no image as one image is not going to be representative of the subject. I feel the same way about the article on men as well. —Locke Cole • t • c12:04, 23 April 2021 (UTC)
C or D are best, J and M are okay, most others I don't think are very good bar some more marginal cases (like e.g. F). D/C to me seem like a cut above the rest for reasons already laid about above. C is easier to see because it's more zoomed in, but you can see more of her body in D, so I don't have a preference between the two – actually, I think C is best. I think also that it makes little sense to say we should use no image at all because no one specific person can represent "woman" – this is the case for almost everything! There's no one representative cake, or one representative sport, or one representative example of science. Nevertheless this doesn't impede us, we chose a layered pound cake, soccer, and the timeline of expansion in the universe to illustrate those subjects, and those articles benefited from it. I don't see why the same can't be true of this article. Edit: all of which is to say, I oppose B. ‑‑Volteer1 (talk) 12:49, 23 April 2021 (UTC)
Far too much subjectivity involved in this topic, and definitely not for a primary image for a topic like this. I wouldn't be opposed to a gallery of high quality photos of different professions/races/ages being available deeper in the article, but this is for a "lead image", which simply is not necessary for something with so many variations (and again, I feel the same way about "men"). —Locke Cole • t • c16:11, 23 April 2021 (UTC)
I feel like a gallery of different of groups would be worse, because then it seems like we are implicitly making a statement about the groups we chose to leave out. We're obviously not going to be able represent everyone, but what does that say about the e.g. ethnicities/cultures/etc we choose to leave in or choose to leave out? I think the previous RfC on the matter is sensible: "articles about ethnic groups or similarly large human populations should not be illustrated by a gallery of images of group members". Picking a fairly normal run-of-the mill woman at almost random (that is, grab a couple images and pick a good one like in this RfC) avoids this problem, and doesn't seem to me to cause any significant issues; while the illustration does provide a boon for the article. ‑‑Volteer1 (talk) 18:25, 23 April 2021 (UTC)
C feels the most basic and representative. No distinct age or ethnicity and no identifiable background or clothing. Question: is there a possibility of a collage of 3-6 woman of multiple ages and ethnicities being used as the lede image? KieranStanley (talk) 16:14, 23 April 2021 (UTC)
C or D are the best images out of the lineup imo (high quality, one human woman, no headgear, facing the camera, shows more of the upper body, not a headshot, not artwork). No preference between the two. Oppose having no lead image and oppose a gallery/collage; a gallery/collage is needless per WP:NOETHNICGALLERIES, and Talk:Human/FAQ already addresses the "represent a large group of people" concerns. Some1 (talk) 02:47, 25 April 2021 (UTC)
B, C, or J because they are high-quality photographs with neutral expressions. No photo might be ideal but if the article uses one at the top then C or J. < Atom (Anomalies) 06:03, 27 April 2021 (UTC)
Prefer M, J, I, E, which are high-quality and reasonably representative of at least one aspect of one culture's understanding of women (with the obvious caveat that it's not really possible to be representative of a population of this size) - I can definitely understand the argument that E is too glamorous / stylized or that more "day-to-day" looks are better, but I would argue that the cultural image of women is also something we want the lead image to represent. Second choices would be C, G, H, O, D which are also representative in that manner but not quite as high-quality. Oppose F because its quality is low enough to be distracting - at least on my screen it looks visibly pixelated even in its smaller view, which should be immediately disqualifying. Oppose A for the reasons mentioned - too much going on in it, which dilutes the focus. Same for N; the fact that it's a well-known work of art makes it unsuitable because that distracts from what it's supposed to represent. Oppose the ones with multiple people (K, L) for somewhat similar reasons; having a bunch of people makes it less clear what it represents, not more, and makes it harder to identify at-a-glance the way lead images are supposed to (I oppose galleries for lead images for similar reasons - by necessity that makes each individual image tiny, which ruins at-a-glance recognizability.) K also confuses things by showing a child. Strenuously oppose P because a naked figure here (where it wouldn't reasonably be expected) violates MOS:SHOCKVALUE. Strenuously oppose B because it's nonsense to go with no image when we have so many perfectly usable ones; yes, no image can perfectly represent all women, but several of these are sufficiently representative to serve the article's purposes, and we have repeatedly used images on comparable articles (Man, Girl, Boy as mentioned above.) --Aquillion (talk) 17:48, 27 April 2021 (UTC)
Oh, I didn't realise N was a well known work of art..I don't think I've seen it before. I still think it would be fine, though - it's not quite so well known that using it would be ridiculous, like putting the Mona Lisa as the lede image for Woman. Firejuggler86 (talk) 17:56, 1 May 2021 (UTC)
B no image. There are already some of these pictures in the article so no need to specifically add one in the lead. At best an anatomical image would serve best if anything at all. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.2.69.77 (talk) 2021-05-01T12:18:34 (UTC)
N I like the idea of using a painting rather than a photograph for articles such as this ("man", "woman", "human", "lady", "bawd" etc). They're less contentious and less personal than photographs of real people; I also think this painting in particular is well rounded (no pun intended), it strikes a good balance between glamorous and average, mundane and unconventional. Firejuggler86 (talk) 17:51, 1 May 2021 (UTC)
C, A, H, G, E, L, J, M, O I, high quality photographs with neutral or friendly expressions, showing either one woman or multiple adult women, with preference towards photos that include more of the subject's body. I'd be more open to supporting the paintings or nudes if this were a project-level RfC to decide analogous pages such as Man, etc. but don't think that we should make the change to this article alone. signed, Rosguilltalk19:24, 1 May 2021 (UTC)
A, oppose all others. Nothing so terribly wrong with the current image that we absolutely need to change it and, as is evident from the discussion above, there are no strong contenders. – Finnusertop (talk ⋅ contribs) 17:17, 3 May 2021 (UTC)
A, current image is a fine image of a woman; most of the proposed pictures are lower quality. (I'm surprised C has support from people who think the current image is not womanly enough, when C's features are so manly. And the facial expressions in F and I are distracting, IMO.) G and H would be my second/third choices. (I wouldn't mind P, either, but I see some people above think it'd be too shocking.) I'd like to point out that B / no image (which I'd find an OK last-ditch choice, though we manage to have lead images in Girl, Boy, Man, and Human) doesn't fully solve but just moves the issue: if we don't have a "lead" image, we still face the issue of what the first image will be, which gets displayed as the article's thumbnail when using things like preview popups or when linking to the article from elsewhere on the web. -sche (talk) 19:19, 3 May 2021 (UTC)
Image A is almost certainly 'faked' - ie it is actually a woman modelling as a mechanic, rather than somebody really doing any kind of mechanical work. At the time that this image was adopted, a few years ago, I gave a detailed account of how and why the engine parts, tools and clothes (all of which are brand new and pristinely clear apart from other considerations) make no sense it terms of actually doing any kind of assembly, repair or disassembly work on any kind of engine that I know of. This becomes even more obvious when the uncropped picture is looked at. Nobody seemed to think that important at the time the picture was adopted, and may not do so now. Personally I think it highly relevant and I think sends a message that women are employed for their photogenicity, rather than their skills. Pincrete (talk) 08:41, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
I opposed all alternatives to A not only because there is nothing wrong with A, but also because all alternatives are inferior to it. – Finnusertop (talk ⋅ contribs) 13:34, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
Image A is almost certainly a photo of a model pretending to be doing some kind of mechanical work - though what work and where isn't clear. Nobody 2 years ago was able to offer a remotely plausible account of what task she is supposedly performing on - what appears to be an engine crankcase - however a crankcase containing no moving parts, which would be the case whether she was assembling or disassembling. Nor do the tools she holds make any sense- there are neither nuts nor bolts on the crankcase for her to either tighten or loosen and she would anyway be using much more precise tools were she actually doing work, and hey yes engine crankcases have oil on them - ancient dirty oil if disassembling and clean fresh oil (and many protuding moving parts) if re-assembling. It's a nice picture of someone modelling! Pincrete (talk) 17:45, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
D just shades C for me. I think C is probably most like a photo you'd get on a passport, but I would prefer it if there wasn't anything obscuring the face i.e. head wear, glasses, heavy make-up etc. I also like the idea of a middle-aged woman, it just seems a bit more representative than a 25 year-old model. Betty Logan (talk) 23:34, 3 May 2021 (UTC)
C > D > G > most of the other ones > K/L. IMO, what we're looking for here is a photo of a single individual who is unambiguously a woman at a glance, and who has as few other characteristics that could belong to some other article as possible. The current photo doesn't fit these criteria very well, IMO, because she could be a mechanic and she's not so obviously a woman at a glance. Most of the other photos do fine but many have some feature or other that could mean something other than just "woman": e.g. I'd prefer to avoid O since it could be an example of a woman wearing hijab, I'd prefer to avoid J because it could be an example of a woman wearing a bindi, I'd prefer to avoid N because it could be an example of that painting, and so on. I think the photos that most successfully portray a generic woman are C, D, and G, in that order for mainly aesthetic reasons. Loki (talk) 03:27, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
Oppose B because having any lead image would serve the very useful purpose of representing that this article is about a classification of humans. As to which image should be chosen, meh. Realistically Woman and Man are simple enough concepts for most people to grasp that the choice of image won't matter that much. I am sympathetic to the view that represents a "mechanic" more than just a "woman", especially when the current lead image on Man doesn't represent any particular occupation; though I'd note that File:Outdoors-man-portrait (cropped).jpg has significantly better lighting than many of the options above. In terms of choice I'd say C > G > D > most others. D has somewhat poor lighting compared to C and G. feminist (talk)04:27, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
L is best, P is second best, and I'd strongly oppose B and oppose N. I'd like the main image of the page for both Woman and Man to show a full body, or at least more of the body, if possible. I'm a big fan of having more than one woman in the image too, and if there was a picture with a diverse assortment of women all standing together with different ages and heights and whatnot, that would probably be my first pick. (The current Human main image does an ok job of this). While I don't think there's anything wrong with showing a woman who also happens to be a mechanic, I can see why one might have a preference for a more generic image. Generic is good. Having no image at all would be embarrassingly terrible; what, we can have a main image showing an example of a green tree frog but not a woman? Get out of here with that tosh. Also, a minor note as it relates to image N, while I'm not opposed to using a painting in principal, I do have a slight preference for a photograph of the thing itself. Joe (talk) 06:47, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
M Of the options it is the only one assessed as a featured picture (unless I missed something). As long as the picture shows a women it suffices. If we have to choose lets stick with the one judged as being high quality. Aircorn(talk)01:46, 7 May 2021 (UTC)
D. I generally concur with Kolya Butternutt. And with many of the later criticisms of later-added images. G as second choice, though I agree it looks little like a social-media portrait. That's not necessarily bad; most of these images are posed, not candids. Opposed to the painting because the proportions are stylized not realistic. Opposed to the nude because there's no need for nudity here, and we not using a nude male in the corresponding article (Cf. Male gaze, etc.; there seems to be presumption here that naked ladies are a good thing, but not naked dudes. And it can be seen as tying in with the pregnancy, i.e. a woman as modified by "interaction" with a male, rather than on her own, default terms.) Most of the rest of these seem to be more about traditional dress than about women/a woman. Many are not representative (most women are not just exiting their teens, nor entering their eighties, nor pregnant, nor hardhat-wearers, nor daily wearers of hijabs or other headgear which in an image of this sort is just a distraction and an occlusion). I don't oppose using a collage approach. The fact that one RfC extended "no ethnic galleries" to a more general stance doesn't mean that consensus cannot change. However, the ones I see proposed here (below) are all of relatively light-skinned people, so someone more obviously of Sub-Sarahan African heritage should be in there (probably in place of ancient or medieval art). — SMcCandlish☏¢ 😼 04:58, 7 May 2021 (UTC)
@SMcCandlish: As it seems this RfC will probably go in the direction of either C or D, could you share your reasoning for preferring D to C? It would probably be quite helpful. ‑‑Volteer1 (talk) 06:24, 7 May 2021 (UTC)
That was covered by "generally concur with Kolya". :-) I think it's more helpful to the reader to show more of the whole woman. Women aren't just different on average from men from the ribs upward. :-) Aesthetically, it also has better lighting instead of looking like excessive flash-fill from a cheap phone cam, and the lighting is even on the best side for right-hand placement in the article where the infobox will be.
Oppose P I agree with Emir of Wikipedia. The image is unnecessarily explicit and is not representative of all women Wikignometry (talk) 22:10, 7 May 2021 (UTC)
B, with a collage as a second choice. Any single image we choose might get consensus now, but I wouldn't expect that consensus to be stable. Clayoquot (talk | contribs) 21:37, 10 May 2021 (UTC)
In my opinion one should make a collage consisting of all photos to counteract prejudices and to reflect the diversity of people. If this is not possible, i prefer M because it's the most neutral picture. Otherwise choosing no picture is the worst option because it is very likely that this discussion will be repeated. — HRwatcher (talk) 14:26, 11 May 2021 (UTC)
HRwatcher, can you expand on why you feel that M is the most neutral? It looks to me like an elderly woman with a distracting facial expression like she may have no teeth. Kolya Butternut (talk) 01:05, 12 May 2021 (UTC)
It doesn't look posed but more authentic. The picture doesn't provide direct information about religion or culture and is therefore neutral. — HRwatcher (talk) 13:26, 18 May 2021 (UTC)
Comment I don't really have a horse in this race, but image A is a terrible stock photo that represents neither women nor mechanics. First of all, the person is not working on an engine; there are huge piles of scrap metal (brake lines, door panels) in the background, and you can see that most of the bearing surfaces on the engine block are corroded. Furthermore, mechanics don't wear hard hats to take apart engine blocks. At best, it is being parted out at a junkyard, and at worst, it is just a photoshoot with a stock photo model. Also, in another image in this series (featuring the same woman and the same engine), you can see a wrench being "applied" to a nut that in this image is obviously too small for it to bear on. As far as women doing technical tasks goes, looking in my list of cool pictures, File:Margaret Hamilton - restoration.jpg and File:Y12 Calutron Operators.jpg appear to depict this actually happening (I am sure there's many more but I don't have them immediately at hand). jp×g19:11, 12 May 2021 (UTC)
@Kolya Butternut, if i had to set an order, i would go like this: collage, M, D, G, L, I and O. In order to show the diversity of women a collage would be the most appropiate solution. — Preceding unsigned comment added by HRwatcher (talk • contribs)
B (no image) - The body of the article is already filled with many images of women from all over the world. Furthermore, I think this discussion has shown that no single image will please everyone, and even with the discussion below of putting a collage with images of different women would still cause quite a stir because you're not going to represent "every" women (which obviously is impossible) or people will find some "bias" in the imagery. The fact that users below were debating on how many "white" women/women of European ethnicity should be included and removed speaks for itself. I also personally disagree with some of the comments I'm seeing about taking into account a photo because of the subjects "ambiguous ethnicity/nationality". I've made it known elsewhere that I find all these "racial" and whatever labels ridiculous, and I feel that if only one image has to be chosen, I'm not sure why a persons ethnic background or nationality should be a "determining factor" for the reasons I stated in the second sentence of my post. Clear Looking Glass (talk) 04:03, 18 May 2021 (UTC)
She is a mythological representation of womanhood, well-known to many cultures of the world, regardless of language. Her image accomplishes the goal of artistically depicting the key features of women as different from men or girls. -- Netoholic@01:24, 25 April 2021 (UTC)
Nah, the reasons given at NOETHNICGALLERIES apply and I see no need to IAR. Plus, it's way too much emphasis on nudity to have Venus on there. Crossroads-talk-05:21, 25 April 2021 (UTC)
This image is also painfully unrepresentative. I count, of the 11 people in the image, 7/11 (almost 2 thirds) of the people are white/European (mythological or real). Maybe you think you can fix this and swap the images out and get a more representative gallery of ethnicities, but – why bother? You will be eternally chasing your own tail and it will never feel representative to everyone. There's not an issue here if we just choose an image of one (almost random) person. ‑‑Volteer1 (talk) 06:00, 25 April 2021 (UTC)
I'd say don't let perfect be the enemy of the good, but I suspect it won't convince you. The problems of numerical representation you are so concerned about are only magnified by reliance a single photograph. The quest for ideal representation will always lead to decision paralysis, which is exactly what is being displayed in this RfC and the several discussion threads that led up to it and that will follow it when it closes as no consensus. A gallery at least adheres to WP:LEADIMAGE in that it give readers (especially non-speakers or English learners) visual confirmation that they have reached the right page, especially because it contains famous, recognizable women - particularly women that exemplify womanhood. Even if they recognize only a few of the women, that's enough for them to get the subject of the page. That's the only goal - not complete "representation" of categories that are external to "woman" like ethnicity, etc. Sheeesh! What a monumental task that'd be! How could we -ever- agree on the "perfect" set of images? -- Netoholic@09:34, 25 April 2021 (UTC)
We couldn't aim for perfection, but we could at least try and avoid displaying Wikipedia's unfortunate racial bias proudly front and center, which it seems to me that this image does. I disagree that using one image (and, by the looks of the discussion above, image C) has this same problem. We aren't saying anything about the women we chose to leave out, we're not implying that for the most part the only women that have mattered throughout history are the white ones. We just chose a random woman. ‑‑Volteer1 (talk) 11:02, 25 April 2021 (UTC)
A collage that is not "perfectly" representative also doesn't say anything about "the women we chose to leave out" - only your sensitivities do that. Its just that by your logic, a single image leaves out even more women. It also does a poorer job of being a good WP:LEADIMAGE because its harder for a reader. A collage helps the reader by making them think "what is the common element between these pictures? Oh, they're all women". -- Netoholic@15:41, 25 April 2021 (UTC)
While I completely oppose any collage, here is a version which crops out the non-human goddess Venus and two other white women. Do you support this Netoholic? Kolya Butternut (talk) 11:24, 25 April 2021 (UTC)
I don't think its am improvement because core to the concept of "woman" are the physical differences that make them distinct from men or girls, and so we should not be censoring ourselves by hiding the nude form. Also, I think its gross to be tallying the number of "white women" and excising what you consider to be too many just for the sake of it. I don't particularly care what ethnicity the images are from or whether they are in the "right" proportions of representation. -- Netoholic@15:41, 25 April 2021 (UTC)
You weren't addressing me, Crossroads, but if I recall, I think you can actually find me advocating for just that on the Man talk. (Heh, man talk, that's a thing you have with your father when you're a boy - 'son, I need to have a Man talk with you!' lel). What was I typing? Oh yes, I just wanted to put in my two cents that I'd be all in favor of some full body nude shots for Human, Man, Woman, etc., anything really. We have a full-body nude Duck and a frankly scandalous full-body nude Ophraella, so why not show the human body too? Others have replied to me, along this line of reasoning, that humans do wear clothes as part of their natural repertoire, and so a clothed image is better, and while I can sort of agree with that - there's no reason we can't have both if we're doing a collage! Hence, I'm all in favor of the collage. Dang the stupid rule about ethnic galleries to heck! Joe (talk) 07:48, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
I explained my rationale for rejecting a collage above, but to repeat: My problem is that the purpose of a lead image is to be instantly recognizable at a glance in a "you're in the right place" manner. A collage, by necessity, makes each individual image tiny, which interferes with that, especially on smaller screens. I also don't really agree that eight or so women, no matter how well-selected, are really going to be that much more representative than one - it's just too broad a topic, so we're going to have to bite the bullet and accept that in order to have an image at all (which I think we should for the other reasons I mentioned.) I'm sure these are all well-selected but at a glance, at the size they'd be in the article, they look like a confusing mess of meaningless squares rather than a collage of women. --Aquillion (talk) 17:50, 27 April 2021 (UTC)
Marilyn, internationally known and even deified, would instantly become the brain's focus of attention in the eight-image composite because of recognizable familiarity. The male gaze also would lock onto Marilyn, at least this male gazer, and because of all these factors she would then become the de facto representative of "Woman". Not that there's anything wrong with that. Just pointing it out. Randy Kryn (talk) 20:02, 27 April 2021 (UTC)
Hey, if other editors are down to ignore the stupid 'no galleries' 'rule,' I'm all for it too. The thinking behind it strikes me as basically boiling down to, "we'll never be able to catch ALL of human diversity without having a picture of every single person, and since that's impossible, we must have only one picture!" - and if you ask old Joe, that's dum-dum-stupid reasoning. We don't apply that flawed reasoning to 'dogs' or 'decapods', so why should we impose it upon poor Man and Woman? The only part of the reasoning given I have any sympathy for is "selecting these people is often very contentious (such as when a famous person's ethnic origin is contested)" but I feel the correct way to avoid that problem is to simply avoid including individuals of contested membership in [INSERT ETHNIC GROUP] in collages, not to avoid collages altogether. I see that this has already and (without much contention) been done for Venus, above, and I'm sure we could scrounge up several uncontested examples of women for this page. There must be at least a billion images that we can all agree depict women! Plus, the two collages proposed are both very fetching and diverse. I'd happily approve of either of them. Joe (talk) 07:34, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
The guideline can't be overturned via a WP:LOCALCONSENSUS. Earlier, you gave the example of how we have pictures for other species, but we don't have a collage of the same species. We don't need a collage of multiple women. Crossroads-talk-22:06, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
Crossroads, you say "but we don't have a collage of the same species", but, we do. Dogs aren't even a species (dogs are a subspecies, arguably) and we've got a collage of dogs. Not all dogs look the same, so a collage with several examples makes sense. Do all humans look the same? Do all women look the same? Others are thinking about this in terms of 'you can't divide groups of humans' but you absolutely can: women aren't a monolith. My ideal collage of women would show examples of: women of several races, young, middle aged, and older women, taller and shorter women, and possibly some notable examples. I maintain that the 'no ethnic galleries' 'rule' is generally dumb and specifically unhelpful when dealing with categories like man, woman, human, etc., that aren't ethnicities.
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If a rule prevents you from improving or maintaining Wikipedia, ignore it.
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I don't expect to see a collage of women any time soon, I don't really think I'm gonna get a consensus here, that's just my two cents. Yours, Joe (talk) 09:53, 5 May 2021 (UTC)
Do we need a picture at all? I dont think so, because it has no real purpose other than orientation. PS: no-image would need though to take away also the image at man. PPS: my vote otherwise is clearly C. Nsae Comp (talk) 07:19, 5 May 2021 (UTC)
Regarding the no-collage rule I wonder why this is such a strict rule? At the woman article in other languages of Wikipedia they use the following collage and seem to be fine with it. I do see the flaws of a collage, but there are important pros, most importantly underlining diversity (which in particular, is secondary), so I wouldnt have a problem with a collage, evident as I got into this by just inserting it last year without consultation (sorry it was a too obvious edit for me, coming from the german Wikipedia). Nsae Comp (talk) 07:34, 5 May 2021 (UTC)
PS: I love the element of collages that they are a space where images can be added and taken out more dynamical and true to the idea of Wikipedia and its conversational and collagorative constant changing nature. It underlines with this dynamic yet again the most suitable purpose for a lead image in this case, namely depicting diversity! Nsae Comp (talk) 07:46, 5 May 2021 (UTC)
A number of those images are of art, at least some of which depict goddesses rather than women per se. The Venus of Willendorf was probably never meant to be a realistic depiction, either, and may depict a goddess or spirit as well. Crossroads-talk-06:59, 6 May 2021 (UTC)
@Crossroads: True, thats why any image/collage should say something like "depiction of a woman"/"depictions of different women". Because any image is a representation, in my opinion not different to a prehistoric figurine of a women. PS: I dont know when a person seases to be a women and becomes something else, as you tried to draw a line to e.g. a goddess. Nsae Comp (talk) 10:37, 6 May 2021 (UTC)
These collages looks good. If a collage is chosen here then maybe Man can be next. I'm a C vote above, but also appreciate M as well as the benefits of the collage. Randy Kryn (talk) 10:38, 5 May 2021 (UTC)
A collage wouldn't be any more representative than a single image of one woman. I agree with another editor's comment above that a gallery/collage would be worse since we are "implicitly making a statement about the groups we chose to leave out." Why were those particular images chosen for the collage? Why doesn't it include a woman with facial disfiguration, a woman with pink hair, a cross-eyed woman, a woman with Down's syndrome, a 400-lb woman, etc.? Talk:Human/FAQ says it best IMO: "The function of a lead image is not to encapsulate the full range of its subject's diversity and variation. Indeed, there is no lead image on all of Wikipedia that even attempts to summarize every aspect of its subject." "Even if it were possible to depict so much in an image, it would be less useful than just showing an example." Some1 (talk) 02:10, 7 May 2021 (UTC)
Just as a matter of fact, a collage is a more representative sample and a single image is less representative sample - ask anyone trying to create a statistical model if they'd prefer ten data points or one data point. If capturing all diversity is what one wants, then a single image doesn't do that. If one is not concerned about capturing all diversity, then there's nothing wrong with a collage. I don't think any reasonable person would demand that a collage (say, of dogs) contain every variant of breed, age, sex, etc. So why should we demand that impossible standard for humans? Are we not animals? Arguments to the effect that "we can have collages for other things but not humans" amount to little more than special pleading. Joe (talk) 05:55, 8 May 2021 (UTC)
I know its not a poll, but if I may give an overview how the above survey stands at the moment: D and C are each six times mentioned as first preference, and B seven times but with several oppositions. All others are less than three times favoured. Nsae Comp (talk) 13:32, 18 May 2021 (UTC)
This RfC is effectively two RfCs in one:
Should we have an image? (Y/N)
Which of these images is best?
If there is no consensus on the first question, the status quo is to have an image. We then move on to the second question which no longer includes B as an option, so I would say there is clearly a consensus for C. Kolya Butternut (talk) 00:43, 23 May 2021 (UTC)
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
Whole number based methodology
This one shouldn't be taken seriously as it has some serious flaws.
Considering how it's evidently hard to represent all aspects of a female human being and by taking into account MOS:LEADIMAGE I came to the following conclusion. Based on the data ("votes") presented above I've calculated weights of choices and got the following plots. The methodology is simple:
favoring a choice would count as +1 , e.g. — I like D
opposing the choice would count as -1 , e.g. — I oppose B
final result is counted as , f - favor, o - oppose
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
As you can see the WP:CONSENSUS is leaning toward C. Whether acceptable or not I'm ready to close this RfC as C image to adopt. In my personal the C is chosen as the least worst image here, which has little good weight. But anyway. Anyone got objections if I close this discussion by pointing out to the C as final choice? --AXONOV(talk)⚑19:59, 19 May 2021 (UTC)
Err, no. That's entirely inappropriate for methodology. B is implicitly different from the other options. It is the only option which is, by its nature, going to draw actual opposes whereas most of the rest of the images are simply ranked. It further implies "oppose everything else" rather than simply being "first choice" except where specified, and it would not make sense to require that participants literally write out "oppose A and C and D and ..." in order to fit into this idiosyncratic approach to closing. If this is the approach to closing, it would need to be spelled out from the beginning so people know that they need to perfunctorily write out when they oppose certain options. — Rhododendritestalk \\ 20:17, 19 May 2021 (UTC)
@Rhododendrites: Well the ... oppose B ... counted as 6 can be excluded from counting as -1 weight altogether considering that all 6 opposing B voters elaborated on which Image they would choose. The rest can be counted simply as +1. AXONOV(talk)⚑21:09, 19 May 2021 (UTC)
The "B is different" argument cuts both ways; if we're disregarding ranked choices and opposes, and are looking at numbers rather than arguments (yes, I know, but it at least gives us a vague sense), I think it's reasonable to insist that B should require something akin to an absolute majority rather than just a plurality, since if any vote for B is implicitly a vote against all other unspecified options, then any vote for some image that doesn't specifically mention B is implicitly a vote against B. If B's advocates are still unconvinced that their preference was eliminated, they could run a second "should we have an image yes / no RFC" but I think it's clear at this point that that isn't going to get a consensus for no image. (And, plainly, having an image of some sort is part of the WP:STATUSQUO, so a clear consensus for removing the image, at least, would be necessary.) --Aquillion (talk) 21:22, 19 May 2021 (UTC)
I appreciate the move toward closure. Speaking as someone uninvolved in the RfC, I share Rhododendrites' concerns about the handling of B votes. Separately, I worry that any method counting all in favors as +1 invalidates the ranking that participants were asked to engage in. Would Aquillion, for example, have !voted the same way if they'd known their second tier choices (including C) would be weighted just as heavily as their preferred options? Firefangledfeathers (talk) 20:27, 19 May 2021 (UTC)
When there's more than two options, there's no way of structuring a vote to eliminate tactical voting (there's an actual mathematical proof of this IIRC.) But at least for me in particular, it wouldn't have made a difference, since my entire first tier (M, J, I, E) is plainly below the level where any interpretation could reasonably say they reached consensus, while C was the first among my second tier; obviously I'm fine with it being the selection once M, J, I, E are eliminated, or I wouldn't have ranked things the way I did. Beyond that, RFCs are not simply about numbers; just based on the arguments people made I think C is the clear winner. If supporters of B think that there is a chance that they could have a consensus to remove the image (I think there's absolutely no possibility of that based on these results, but whatever), I would suggest a second, simple yes / no "should we have an image" RFC to decisively settle the issue, but I think it would be a waste of time because to me this RFC makes it reasonably clear that that option was rejected. --Aquillion (talk) 21:22, 19 May 2021 (UTC)
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
For a particular user's sequence of choices (A,C,D..)
favoring votes are assigned a weight in the range of [0.8, 0.66, 0.5, 0.33, 0.2, 0.11, 0.05].
e.g.
opposing votes (oppose A,C,D..) are assigned the same weights but negated
e.g.
every choice's weight of every voter is summed up
the oppose B votes are ignored
the distribution is following:
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
The difference (compared to previous approach) here is due to different ranking of choices made by every user. E.g. in sequence of D,C,G and C,D,G the C will have different weights: 0.66 vs 0.8.
I know you're just trying to help -- and the tally is helpful -- but determinations of consensus are based not just on numbers but on strength of arguments according to established policies/guidelines. Extended examination of raw numbers tends to complicate the task for anyone who takes on the task of closing. — Rhododendritestalk \\ 22:26, 19 May 2021 (UTC)
It is hard to argue over, and I agree there's no perfect image. But the premise of this entire exercise (and a large part of the division between (B) and all other options) is that past RfCs about infobox images for large populations should be irrelevant here. The first thing whoever closes this will need to determine is whether that's actually the case -- whether sufficient arguments have been presented here that separate this case from ethnic galleries, large human populations, and/or whether a single image is somehow less problematic than a gallery. Once you move past that point, numbers become more relevant I suppose, absent clear procedural issues to the contrary. — Rhododendritestalk \\ 22:36, 19 May 2021 (UTC)
@Rhododendrites: Well I presumably can close this as WP:NOCONSENSUS as it's evident from the charts that three top choices nearly overlap each other. And this makes sense because that's what I've concluded while reading the thread. Adopting the B variant would make a weak consensus and will likely cause more disputes later.
The RfC closure should really be about determining which image gained enough support to replace the current lead image. Judging by the !votes and two graphs above, C is the winner (basically between C and D, some editors voted for both with no preference or ranked one above the other but are fine with either) and should be the image that replaces the current lead image (A aka the status quo doesn't even come close, so a "no consensus, A stays" wouldn't work here). If editors don't want a lead image or want a collage instead, then they should launch a separate RfC (e.g. "Should this article have a lead image? Yes/No" "Should a collage replace the current lead image? Yes/No") and gain consensus that way. Some1 (talk) 23:19, 19 May 2021 (UTC)
@Some1:... about determining which ... Not that really. NoConsensus is a real option here. @Some1:... and two graphs above ... Well the first two graphs (first approach) are flawed because it doesn't take into account precedence of image choices. It counted every choice as equally good meanwhile people made it clear that they range them from most to least preferable. That's what the second approach takes into account. You shouldn't be looking at the first graphs, they are false. @Some1:... they should launch a separate RfC... This is the venue that nom should probably take, I'm sure that.
NoConsensus is the lazy way out. Even if I were to look only at the second graph, C is still the clear frontrunner and gained much more support than any other images, including the status quo. I'm ignoring B because as Aquillion stated above, "if any vote for B is implicitly a vote against all other unspecified options, then any vote for some image that doesn't specifically mention B is implicitly a vote against B." Another editor counted below that while '9 people voted for no image, 26 people voted for an image.' Anyway, the closure for this RfC is better left for an admin to do, see WP:BADNAC point #4; they can read through the past lead-image related discussions to find the criteria and assess the different arguments being made. Some1 (talk) 12:56, 20 May 2021 (UTC)
Yes, any close of this favoring a collage is automatically invalid per WP:LOCALCONSENSUS and MOS:PEOPLEGALLERY (aka NOETHNICGALLERIES), which explicitly rules out galleries for "similarly large human populations", not just for ethnicities. I would challenge any such closure. Crossroads-talk-04:37, 20 May 2021 (UTC)
I think the close should be based on a combination of these votes and the !vote arguments. We should also ping editors whose votes wouldn't end up being counted with this method and ask them to weigh in on B and C. Kolya Butternut (talk) 09:24, 20 May 2021 (UTC) update BristolTreeHouse Kolya Butternut (talk) 17:38, 23 May 2021 (UTC)
But based on the existing votes and !votes, it looks like the result is either option C or no consensus. No consensus would result in the status quo option A, which has little support, so we're back to choosing between option C and option B (no image). I think most of us can agree that option C is an improvement over the status quo. Kolya Butternut (talk) 09:49, 20 May 2021 (UTC)
@Kolya Butternut: There is actually another option exists: to start a new fresh RfC with a new, better image. Option A is inevitable unless the question is "A or Nothing". It was the best first to decide whether parties would like to have no image before voting for a new one. But anyway. I see good job out there. Bilorv btw didn't vote for Collage. I don't see where he did that. AXONOV(talk)⚑10:40, 20 May 2021 (UTC)
@Kolya Butternut: I disagree though that IRV voting is good here. It's majoritarian system and we have huge spread (uncertainty) here, meaning, that we have no good candidate. By choosing the most liked (populism) wouldn't stabilize this political system. But anyway, I will let someone uninvolved to look at analysis and close discussion. AXONOV(talk)⚑10:55, 20 May 2021 (UTC)
The instant-runoff method at least works to get us down to two choices where it will then be easier to evaluate the arguments.
Bilorv voted against a collage.
This RfC has been years in the making, so starting over isn't as easy as it sounds. Picking a "better" image isn't all we need; we're not just deciding on an image, we should be evaluating what the desired criteria are for this image. Most people who discussed image criteria expressed a preference for an average woman. Also note that while 9 people voted no image, 26 people voted for an image. Kolya Butternut (talk) 11:05, 20 May 2021 (UTC)
@Kolya Butternut:... at least works to get us down to two choices ... Mine got us to one, but even then I have serious doubts that it's stable consensus. ... we should be evaluating what the desired criteria are for this image. ... See my post above. It's hard to choose the appropriate one. AXONOV(talk)⚑13:00, 20 May 2021 (UTC)
"C" seems to be the average consensus choice and the woman is average enough in many ways, which seems to deem her a good choice. If C is chosen after of all the back and forth then I would like to call another discussion regarding which color blouse she should appear in, the original red color which I think is going to make some of the naysayers happier, or the pale blue photoshop of the chosen image. Randy Kryn (talk) 02:27, 23 May 2021 (UTC)
Seems to be either C, no picture (which breaks the consistency of having a lead image held in Man, Human, and probably every other page about a major animal), or "no consensus" (which keeps the present staged-model image which, as Kolya has pointed out, has little support). Enough opinions have been rendered to make a close, and by tossing out the babe with the bathwater (Marilyn) C looks to be the consensus choice. Randy Kryn (talk) 10:59, 23 May 2021 (UTC)
... which breaks the consistency of having a lead image held in Man, Human, ... Well if we take this into account, probably we have to go for "C" for now...
... which keeps the present staged-model image ... This doesn't prevent you from voting again or extending the current vote, seriously. AXONOV(talk)⚑14:19, 23 May 2021 (UTC)
As I said above, if there is no consensus on whether to have an image at all, the status quo is to have an image. At that point the division is between D and C, but people seem to like them based on the same arguments, with minor aesthetic preference for C. Kolya Butternut (talk) 14:54, 23 May 2021 (UTC)
As for aesthetics, to me C's original image in her personally chosen red blouse pops a bit more and accents her photographic essence better than the photoshopper's choice of color. Which is why I suggested, if C is left standing after this discussion, a run-off be between red blouse and blue blouse. Randy Kryn (talk) 03:28, 24 May 2021 (UTC)
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
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