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Re: A sort of council of elders for the internet

2013-11-10 17:01:32
On Nov 10, 2013, at 5:22 PM, John Levine <johnl(_at_)taugh(_dot_)com> wrote:
I think that if you are going to talk about the consensus problem,
then all you have to do is point to the lack of parity, which is
visible at every IETF, and then someone who claims it isn't a problem
is automatically in the rough.

That strikes me as the welcome mat in front of a rathole.  How does
the gender balance in the IETF (or whatever subgroup of the IETF)
compare to the balance in the population from which the IETF or the
subgroup is drawn?  What population is that, exactly?  etc etc blah
blah

If indeed the gender imbalance in the IETF is a symptom of a larger problem, 
which I agree is probably true, then we are still a part of that problem, and 
also potentially a part of the solution.   We can lead, or we can follow (in 
whatever direction the rest of the world goes).

There are lots of reasons we don't see more women in the IETF.  Some
are things we can fix ourselves, some are things we can't, but you'd
have to be wilfully blind not to see ways that the IETF can be
uncomfortable for women, particularly young women.

_That_ sounds more like a welcome mat for a rathole to me, and I think it's one 
of the reasons why we picked a design team to look at this problem rather than 
continuing to discuss it on the IETF mailing list.   If you have input to offer 
them, I think you know how to be in touch. :)


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