Make project name gender neutral
xuv opened this issue · 4 comments
Great idea to make a virtual assistant platform as an open source project. No question about that.
But since the project is still in an early stage, there is a design decision that needs to be addressed as soon as possible: the name of the project.
Here is some articles that explain in detail the issue:
- Digital sexism: Why are all virtual assistants women?
- Why Do So Many Digital Assistants Have Feminine Names?
- Stop Giving Digital Assistants Female Voices
The name should be gender neutral, and so to make it easy to transition the project, I'm suggesting to shorten it to "Steph" or "Stef". (This is usually the way french speakers shorten the first names like Stephanie or Stephane)
Maybe, it would also be nice if the user could choose which name to give the assistant. So that some of us can call it "HAL" or "Computer". But at this point, I think renaming the project is the first necessary step.
Since the issue isn't technical, I would advise you to take it to the https://www.reddit.com/r/StephanieAssistant/ for any further discussion on this matter.
Thx for the reply @SlapBot. I don't have a reddit account. Please forward and open this issue then on reddit. Thank you.
hello ... I've been attracted by the project but indeed, I agree with Xuv, the name is not adequate and could be far better,
for the reason xuv highlight, and for the reason it has not a meaningful name now.
also setting this issue aside on the support forums is not taking this problem without serious,
although it is the front image of the project and gender issue is a real and important question both in society and among the coding people.
please consider solving this easily by using a simple and fun accronym where anyone could choose the name of it's own assistant inside... (I know people named like that, it's not respectfull to have the assistant named the same f.ex.)
This is core issue for the project, not a chit-chat thing you put on a social forum.
I think the project name is a personal choice of the project creator. Perhaps it is a tribute to his grandmother, or his ex.
It would be hurting his sentiments to ask him to change something with deep emotional value to him.