[CREATE] Code of Conduct

[ginger coons]

On 01/20/2014 03:24 PM, Gez wrote:
>>> male white human beings are "priviledged" and also monsters that need to be kept at bay.
> Guys, after a few rounds this conversation about "white male privilege"
> starts to sound a little bit patronizing.
>
> I'm not going to deny that white males from first-world countries have a
> privilege, but that statement coming again and again from... white males
> from first-world countries, sounds like showing off the privilege rather
> than an honest concern.
> So please cut the paternalistic attitude. You don't have to protect the
> less fortunate. Just treat them properly :-)
>
> We, the non-white humans (unless being white from the lack of sun
> exposure because you're a basement nerd counts as white, in that case
> count me in) are pretty aware of that privilege, and we are aware that
> most of the people with that privilege don't use it to bully or harass
> others.
>
> Personally, I think a CoC is ok, but as other people pointed out, I'm
> not sure about how effective it could be. I mean, a jerk is a jerk, a
> code of conduct won't keep him/her from abusing others.
> The only real measure that makes a difference is acting immediately when
> somebody abuses others, ejecting that person from the event and banning
> him/her from future editions.
> I'm not sure if a code of conduct will stop an idiot from being an
> idiot. Privileged or not (a girl from the third world can abuse verbally
> or phyisically a white male too, and that wouldn't be nice either).
Though a CoC might not prevent a determined jerk from being one, having 
an set of expectations about what counts as harassing behaviour might 
help people realize that what they're doing might be unwelcome. It's 
possible to perpetrate harassment and make people feel unsafe without 
realizing it. As Dave mentioned up-thread, one of the key things about 
checking our privilege is realizing that things we may find acceptable 
ourselves might be intensely unwelcome to others.

What makes a code of conduct most useful isn't that it makes enforcement 
and punishment easier, but that it lays out some mutual understandings 
about what's considered inappropriate in a community. As we grow and as 
more newcomers join in, having some tangible evidence of our community 
expectations, instead of just a tacit understanding, is going to be more 
and more important.

-ginger

-- 
ginger "all-lower-case" coons
adaptstudio.ca
Phone: 647.865.7757
Skype: gingercoons
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