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Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals/WikiProject Men's rights

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The following discussion is an archived proposal of the WikiProject below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the project's talk page (if created) or the WikiProject Council). No further edits should be made to this page.

The proposed WikiProject was Created as WP:WikiProject Men's Issues. Housekeeping. See also: Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals/Men. (non-admin closure) –MJL ‐Talk‐☖ 14:24, 7 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Description

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A project for monitoring things associated with men's rights and Portal:Men's rights. Various wikiprojects exist that deal with it in passing (listed as important to feminism and gender studies) but none that focus on the topic and treating it fairly and neutrally with a priority and focus. Ranze (talk) 04:09, 15 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

List of important pages and categories for this proposed group
List of WikiProjects currently on the talk pages of those articles
Please invite these and any other similar groups to join the discussion about this proposal. See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Council/Directory to find similar WikiProjects.


Why do you want to start a new group, instead of joining one of these existing groups?
I don't believe that these groups, while related, focus adequately on the issue in particular. It is something that is overlooked as a bit of a side issue or a joke among proponents of other circles. This isn't something I can also see as existing as a clear task force under any of the existing projects (except possibly human rights) and I think, like feminism, it deserves its own unique gender focus group, since men and women are about equal in population. Ranze (talk) 04:21, 15 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Support

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Also, specify whether or not you would join the project.

  1. Ranze (talk) 04:09, 15 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  2. I support and would contribute. However, I recommend that the article be titled "Men's rights and issues" in that some concerns are not specifically related to "rights," per se (but expectations, social roles, etc.). Memills (talk) 23:15, 16 April 2013
    Being that rights are arguably an issue, perhaps it should just be "men's issues" rather than 'rights and issues'. If this were the case, 'rights' should certainly be a specific taskforce. That said, men's issues seems like it might already be under the 'gender studies' wikiproject. Sometimes a 2-tier system (projects, task forces) aren't enough as there can be a lot of gradual regression and specificity... i'm not sure whether 2 specific wikiprojects (issues and rights) or just rights being a task force of issues. I think the gender studies wikiproject is too broad to do these issues any service with a mere taskforce though. Ranze (talk) 22:37, 24 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Wikipedia:WikiProject Human rights Already exist. I support if we make Wikipedia:WikiProject Masculism --Cycloane (talk) 11:19, 27 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    I guess the title choice isn't utterly important. Masculism would be easier to work with in terms of spelling and match 'Feminism'. I guess my only concern is a lack of understanding if MR and Mascul have same meanings. I'll ask Memills' feedback about this, I'm neutral on the matter, it's moreso the project existing that matters than what it calls at this point. I'm thinking yours would be easier for doing page templates as well. What should be done about Portal:Men's rights though? Should it be retitled or be left and we construct a new Portal:Masculism? Ranze (talk) 21:47, 14 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    Hi, I am responding to your message on the Masculism talkpage. I'd recommend against this term based on the reliable sources I saw at the weekend. It seems that the term masculism is used in two very different ways -one is pretty much synonymous with men's rights, and the other refers to male domination of something at the expense of women. See [1][2][3] for examples of the latter. If any of you read French there is a scholarly article on the topic that you can see here [4]. If you don't, the abstract gives some info: "In English, the word usually refers to patriarchal ideology or an androcentric male perspective". I think it would be better to use a term other than one that even our article says has two very different meanings!Slp1 (talk) 23:10, 14 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    Support the initiation of the proposed Wikiproject. Oppose the name "Masculism" as an obvious neologism with no supporting body of sources. Federales (talk) 18:01, 28 June 2013 (UTC) Rm blocked sockpuppet, thanks Cailil. KillerChihuahua 15:23, 2 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    Please note the above user is a blocked sockpuppet--Cailil talk 14:22, 2 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Support. I'd also wish to join the project (in fact, the reason I found this proposal was because I was looking to see if there were such a WikiProject, and if not, I was going to get to work creating one). However, I strongly prefer that it be a "Men's Issues" Wikiproject, rather than a "Men's Rights" or "Masculism" Wikiproject. Men's Rights is too narrow a term, as it would be focused only on legal or ethical issues, whereas Men's Issues would be focused on broader issues related to men. As for Masculism, the term is seldom used in discussion. It seems to suggest a viewpoint of male supremacy or of a male counterpart to feminism, neither of which adequately captures the braoder meaning. Ummonk (talk) 00:31, 10 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Support I would join but I don't know if I would be an active edditor. Mieciu K (talk) 20:06, 10 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  6. I give my support, but I'm not sure I can contribute much do to personal time constraints. The Morphix (talk) 01:17, 11 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  7. Not into joining any WikiProjects, but this seems to be a matter of sufficient interest to justify having a single area for a dedicated group of editors to focus on the subject.--The Devil's Advocate tlk. cntrb. 21:43, 15 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

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I just want to ask a few questions:

  1. Is there a reasoning why this isn't already covered by existing wikiprojects like Human rights and/or Gender studies beyond the proposer's opinion - i.e is there a proposed mission statement that clearly stes out this proposed project's differences form the existing ones (particularly the 2 I mention above)?
  2. Does the proposed project have a clear goal or it just an opposite to WikiProject Feminism? I'm asking becuase the existence of WikiProject Feminism is cited by Ranze as a raison d'être for this proposed project above:

    I think, like feminism, it deserves its own unique gender focus group, since men and women are about equal in population.

  3. Given that this topic is under probation how do its supporters (one of whom has been blocked multiple times for breaching that probation) see this project helping to maintain wikipedia's probation and policies in that area?
  4. Given the level of COI advocacy for the inclusion of links to a blacklisted website in this topic area[5][6][7][8] (some of which was by the proposer of this wikiproject in May 2013[9][10]), can proposer give an undertaking that this project will not be used for such activities?
  5. What tasks will the project have?
  6. What membership criteria will the project have?
  7. Given the history of offsite targeting of individual wikipedians who make edits that might be unpalatable to the Men's rights movement - what steps will this project take to uphold wikipedia's values and its standards for conduct towards others (see Wikipedia:HARASS#Off-wiki_harassment)

--Cailil talk 14:59, 2 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

  • Mieciu K's response
  1. There is a large number of english speaking internet users who identify themselves as "men's rights activists" [11] and there is currently no Wikiproject that specificaly caters to their interests. Mieciu K (talk) 20:40, 10 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Does there need to be a goal other than grouping wikipedians with simmilar interests? That wikiproject would not be in opposition to Wikiproject:Femminism. Mieciu K (talk) 20:40, 10 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  3. We don't know. That is why we want to create a wikiproject where we can discuss what to do. Mieciu K (talk) 20:40, 10 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  4. All wikipedians are expected to follow the guidelines of Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest Mieciu K (talk) 20:40, 10 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Improving and maintaining articles related to the men's rights movement and men's issues. Mieciu K (talk) 20:40, 10 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  6. I see only 2 membership criteria you must agree to follow the rules of Wikipedia and you must have at least a basic understanding of the english language. All english-speaking wikipedians are welcomed to join. Mieciu K (talk) 20:40, 10 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  7. Teaching about wikipedia's rules and civilised methods of conflict resolution. Off-line harrasment should be reported to the local police departament. Mieciu K (talk) 20:40, 10 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Echoing Roscelese, I'm not just asking these questions for form answers. There have been significant issues with editing in this area for years & I'm hoping that Ranze and other more experineced supporters will have taken on board all the advice and community consensus over the years and will be able to communicate with new editors who are coming to wikipedia the seriousness that the community views its rules and processes especially in an area under probation.
    The specific kind of targeted personal abuse on-wiki and off-wiki of editors is a *major* concern (especially on the Reddit you linked too Mieciu K). As is the appearance of this proposal being for "a gathering place for advocates" or activists from Reddit or as an opposite to WikiProject Feminism. In these instances actions speak louder than words: Ranze and others have advocated for the whitelisting of a site banned by WP - this can't happen again. And this proposed project wont survive if it becomes a centralized location for such advocacy. I'm sure Ranze, with the benefit of experience can help others avoid such pitfalls but I'd like to see a proposed preventative measure now, rather than a cure later.
    The core of my questions above is how will the project synergize with rest of the community's efforts to enforce the probation? and how is it different from the existing projects in the area (Human Rights & Gender studies especially)?--Cailil talk 12:21, 11 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
yes but why is that?

As far as I know a gathering place does exist for 'activists from reddit' , it's reddit. I don't see how the publics reaction to wiki admins outside wikipedia have anything to do with this project, that is a different subject entirely. What is the banned site and why is arguing against it something that can't happen again? The project is justified by it's own direction and topics to help produce the quality befitting wikipedia. We can also look to similar articles that you have mentioned to aid the task. For example we could take a leaf out of the feminism page you mentioned.

  • Criticism about feminism is already covered with appropriate weight and sourcing.
  • Edits for other pages may be offered there, not here.
  • Feminism is inherently one-sided
  • This article does not cover what feminism does not cover.
  • Consistency with a particular political message is not this article's purpose.
  • The content of this article meets Wikipedia's Good Article Criteria.

Obviously some points are better than others but it would help address some of your concerns. Pleasetry (talk) 12:52, 17 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

WikiProject Page

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I created a candidate page (as a subpage of my user page) for WikiProject Men's Issues. Make any suggestions you like (I'll check back here and on the talk page for that page). Once enough people sign up on there, I'll move the page to the actual Wikipedia namespace. Ummonk (talk) 04:08, 10 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the project's talk page (if created) or at the WikiProject Council). No further edits should be made to this page.
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