Recently, the subjects of feminism, International Women's Day, Witnesses and voting for them has been making the rounds. @beanz brought to our attention, and reinvigorated, a discussion about Feminism, and International Women's Day. @ancapbarbie reminded me and I suspect many others, of the issue around voting for Witnesses.
For me, something has been rattling around my pea brain and I need to suss it out here.
We had a discussion on the Steemit Ramble Discord about the lack of voting for Witnesses. A recent post struck a cord, and out of that, a popup podcast came with 50 or so attendee's, and by show's end, some 18 or so Witnesses, at one time or another, with most being present for the entire day, stopping by to join in.
For those of you who are not sure, or simply do not know, Witnesses play an important part in the Steemit ecosphere, by validating every move on the blockchain. Each Comment, Post, Edit, upvote, and transaction on the blockchain doesn't truly exist or happen, until a witness validates it. I won't go into the back end of the how's and why's, as so many others have said it much better than I have. Suffice to say, we all need to go, check out https://steemian.info/witnesses (rather than embed, I've included the link, so people can see, it truly does take you to steemian.info and not phishing), understand that there are quite a few who are inactive (AND slowing Steemit down) and vote for more witnesses. Like an election in your own country, it is important to participate, and to be part of choosing the ones who help guide Steemit.
As we discuss Witnesses, we also need to remember our discussion of Feminism, too.
Do they sound related? Maybe not on first blush, but consider this:
If we truly want a Steemit where all of us are treated fairly, where all of us are treated with respect, I believe we need more female Witnesses.
Currently, There are only TWO Female Witnesses known of the 400 or so on the list.
Sure, a few of the Witnesses joining the discussion on Steemit Ramble mentioned that women were a part of their Witness Projects, but, still, only 2 known? Only 2 out of 400 or so?
... and why is it important?
Steemit Witnesses are more than simply admins for a Linux server, running in some icy cold data center somewhere at the end of some fiber optics. Witnesses are the ones who vote for the direction of Steemit. they particiapte in proposals, they vote for the hardforks that happen. In essence, they are the Congress that provides a check and balance on the senior leadership team at Steemit.
Lacking a viewpoint of half the population is obscene. No other way around it.
Now, there's no denying that women are a diverse group: No one woman speaks for all others.
But it's also true, that men are not even remotely capable of knowing, of understanding what it is to be a women, to grow up in the perceived role society paints them with. To experience the prejudices, the harassment, to be overlooked, or to be dismissed, like women have been for most of history.
Again, why does it matter?
How can we know what policies are inbred, are in place within Steemit, that subconsciously or overtly, make it harder, or more for women? Maybe it exists, maybe not.
I don't know.
But I do know, with women being roughly equal to men, why isn't leadership within Steemit roughly equal to men?
I will ask this, as a final note:
The women I know on here are smart, confident, and preeminently qualified to be witnesses.
They are tech goddesses, such as @techslut and @sykochica
They are strong, vocal leaders, such as @beanz and @shadowspub
There are dozens more I interact with daily, and hundreds more I connect with at some point during a week, online here.
I am sure I've made assumptions that are wrong, and for that I apologize. I am also sure, I ahve included some who prefer to be left nameless, or to not be named, and am definitely sure I have forgotten to mention many women in my steemit world who have guided me, kicking and screaming, on here. I'm not sure whether to kill you? or kiss you @thekittygirl?
Asked, and answered:
Maybe they're smarter than the rest, and know, being a Witness is a thankless job, requiring an investment not just in time, and money, but in the game of politics, and who knows, maybe NOT being the Witness is the right move after all?
Vote for the two known female witnesses: @crimsonclad who votes as a witness as part of @followbtcnews and @patrice by going here to Witness Voting On Steemit
