[Lingtyp] ALT: code of conduct

[Maia Ponsonnet]

Dear all,


I am writing to rectify the gender imbalance on this list, where most conversations including this one seem to be male dominated ;-).


I am a woman and those of you who know me (even just as FB friends for that matter) know that I care and am vocal about gender (im)balance.


This is precisely why myself and my colleague Gwen Hyslop, who I am just discussing the matter with, are voting NO to the code of conduct.


While we agree that there is a need for awareness, the "trend" imposed by such actions can only, in our opinion, be detrimental to interpersonal relationships and to gender balance in particular.

The reasons are multiple and complex, and I am not prepared to discuss them on this list. I will be happy to discuss them in private (and preferably face to face) if appropriate.



With best regards,

Maïa & Gwen




Dr Maïa Ponsonnet
Senior Lecturer in Linguistics
ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Fellow


Social Sciences Building, Room 2.47
Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Education
The University of Western Australia
35 Stirling Hwy, Perth, WA (6009), Australia
P.  +61 (0) 8 6488 2870 - M.  +61 (0) 468 571 030



________________________________
From: Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of David Gil <gil at shh.mpg.de>
Sent: Tuesday, 21 November 2017 8:34 AM
To: lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
Subject: Re: [Lingtyp] ALT: code of conduct

Having said my bit I was hoping not to have to add to the discussion,
but I feel the need to counter two lines of rhetoric that seem to have
emerged.  (I do so without offering actual citations because I think it
is important to maintain a civilized conversation devoid of ad hominem
remarks.)

First, I am uncomfortable with the implication that there is a job to be
done and that this is somehow being "derailed" by too much discussion.
The debate is precisely on what should be done, what is ethical and what
is practical.  If we're to invoke train metaphors, then I would counter
by saying that we must avoid being railroaded into one very specific way
of going about addressing the problem. Which leads into ...

Secondly, and perhaps more cogently, I am very uncomfortable with the
implication that people who support the code of ethics somehow take the
issues more seriously than those who are opposed to it. I suspect most
ALT members would agree that we are in a gender-based conflict involving
multiple levels of aggression, coercion and violence, mostly if not
exclusively waged by men against women. And that we desperately need to
do something about it.  The debate is over the methods, and it is a
legitimate debate.  Just is it is possible to argue over the
justification of the WWII carpet bombing of Dresden without being
accused of harbouring Nazi sympathies, so it should be possible to
criticize the proposed ALT code of ethics without being suspected of
lacking sympathy or understanding for the struggles that are faced by women.

David

--
David Gil

Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany

Email: gil at shh.mpg.de
Office Phone (Germany): +49-3641686834
Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-81281162816

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