No, clearly not.  Paul Sheehan in The Sydney Morning Herald summarized the reasons why in three succinct paragraphs, that I have Wikified here if you want to learn more about some of the things he mentions.

When it was all over, police did not just recover grenades, AK-47 rifles, pistols and mobile phones but, according to Indian reports, two bags of RDX high explosives, enough to do to the Taj hotel what had been done to another landmark hotel, the Marriott, in Pakistan’s capital, just three months ago.

And this is important to remember. This latest Mumbai massacre was not a de facto act of war by Pakistan against India. Pakistan has suffered more death and mayhem than India at the hands of the psychotics and sexual perverts who call themselves Islamic jihadists.

The attack on the Taj had many similarities to the bombing of the Marriott in Islamabad on September 20, when a truck filled with explosives and driven by a suicide bomber detonated in front of the hotel. The bomb killed 54, injured at least 266, and left a gaping hole in the front of the most prestigious hotel in the capital. Most of those murdered were locals, that is, Muslims.

Yet another proposal to limit explicit content on Wikipedia was met with a resounding consensual “No means No!” to its proposer, Wikipedia’s perennial scab-picker with a smile–you guessed it–Privatemusings!  I believe he holds the title for Most ArbComs.

Originally I learned about it from Durova’s blog.

This is an eloquent summation of the strong consensus view of explicit imagery on Wikipedia:

“Sexual” or otherwise “immoral” content is relative to the culture in which the label is applied. A picture of a woman in public without a burka may be perceived very differently across different cultures. Similarly, uncovered female breasts, while viewed as lewd in one culture, may be perfectly normal for other ones. An encyclopedia is a tome of knowledge, and knowledge transcends cultural boundaries. Therefore, censoring or otherwise segregating knowledge due to one culture’s tastes over another’s can only serve to proliferate systemic bias and cultural absolutism. –slakr^{\ talk /} 01:58, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

I really am not about doing some pompous endorsement thing, and there are quite a few good candidates this go round.  But Cool Hand Luke stands out.  For almost all of our history, we had a contentious relationship born out of the ole’ THF ArbCom (seems like ancient history now).  I was mainly in the wrong in how I treated CHL, and we’ve become friends on the site.  I gave him a barnstar, because no matter what I did to annoy him, he kept his cool.  He is very fair.  He has a forgiving nature.  He does not over-reach.   He is a very smart man who is about to embark on a bright legal future.  I know him the best out of all the candidates, and I can not imagine anyone caring more about Wikipedia than CHL, and who will invest the time into ArbCom that it needs.   I hope you will consider including him amongst your Supports.

It never flatters the typist to write “Muah!” when trying to express a kiss.  It’s the phonetic equivalent of nails on a chalk board.

Even in consensus time this is unattractive.  Just use “xoxo” or something.

There are only three entities that I feel justified in thanking on behalf of the international Wikimedia community.  I previously thanked the Brooklyn Book Festival, which gives us literally unfettered access to photograph authors who are without doubt some of the most celebrated writing today.  For example, Joan Didion.  She is regarded as one of America’s greatest prose writers, and she rarely makes public appearances.  It was a real coup for the BBF, which has become one of the most important literary events in the country.  And because of the festival, the Wikimedia community (and everyone else) owns a rarity:  a current and flattering portrait of Didion.

Tribeca Film Festival Helps Solve Wikipedia’s Image Problem

It’s hard to eclipse the BBF, but one organization does:  the Tribeca Film Festival.  I can’t speak highly enough of their egalitarian vision and how they helped us build the site.  Many editors were upset back in 2006/2007 when strict creative commons requirements caused so many graphics to be taken off the site.  What was left gave Wikipedia a major image problem: most of our photographs were of dreadful quality and color, taken haphazardly, often with low-quality camera phones.  Or they were just way outdated.  To give an example, at right is the former lead photo on “Drew Barrymore“.  In 2007, Wikipedia only had a cropped side-shot photo of Barrymore from 1989 (in which Corey Feldman was cropped out).  (note: that image is by a photographer I admire, Alan Light, and I mean no disrespect).

A nearly 20 year-old photo was the best that we could do, even though Drew had a major comeback.  But because of Tribeca, we got a new lead image on Drew Barrymore (below, left).  It has been used by numerous websites, newspapers, broadcast news organizations and, most importantly, by the creative commons and public news media sites that can’t afford Getty or Wire.  So well-liked was our new Barrymore image that her fan magazine, The Butterfly Net, used it on their Winter 2007 cover.

To be frank, I do not know if I have ever seen Drew Barrymore more beautiful than she was at the premiere of Lucky You.  I mean, look at how amazing her dress, make-up and personality are in that photo.  She is someone for whom I am always happy when I hear good news.  Breath-taking.  That night, she was breath-taking.  I’ve had a few ethereal moments at Tribeca, and that night was one, to be able to behold her in person  how she looked that night, it really did make me feel Lucky.  I had a handful of moments like that throughout the festival.  I think the photograph below captures how I felt very well.  Minimal photoshopping.

Tammie Rosen, Tribeca’s Director of Communications, opened the door to let us in.  It was a risk.  It is difficult for the outside world to discern who they can trust on Web 2.0 sites.  This may come as a surprise to a few on Wikipedia, but many event press coordinators (e.g. the Tony Awards) are either too confused, too old, too myopic, too clueless or too uncertain to let us take part.  Not Tammie.  She clearly “gets” the Internet, “gets” Web 2.0 and “gets” that trying new things is the way to stay at the top of your game.  Tammie and I had a lot of e-mail communication (I was probably a pain, but I was unproven and wanted to induce trust)  She said yes.  And now Tammie Rosen is arguably the reason Wikipedia is a visually more professional and interesting website than it was just a few years ago.  At least in terms of biographies.

Rubenstein Communications Takes Wikipedia Even Further

Tammie isn’t the only one the community should thank.  She opened the door and let us in.  But the real host of the festival is Rubenstein Communications, among New York City’s most elite PR firms.  The Wikimedia community is myopic in its distrust of PR firms, but it’s not the community’s fault.  Most editors of Wikipedia simply have no idea how the media machine operates. Me neither, until I started my photography and interviews.  There is also the false idea that all PR firms are out to do is lie for, whitewash or propagandize their clients.  Simply not true.  And if you think everyone is dying to work with Wikipedia, then keep reading.

Get Lost: The Tony Awards Tell Wikimedia That There is No Room at the Inn

Every awards show, festival, movie premiere and media event is managed by a PR firm.  Who is responsible for the Tony Awards?  If you answered the American Theatre Wing, you would be wrong.  The ATW chooses the Tony Awards, but they are not responsible for the “Tony Awards“, the gala television special.  PR mega-firm PMK/HBH handles the communications and press for it.  And they also shut me out this year, my first attempt to cover the Tony’s red carpet.

No matter how many press articles about my photography; no matter how many links to galleries with my portraits of Madonna, Mariah Carey, President Shimon Peres; and no matter how much I pleaded with PMK and the ATW, I was simply given the pathetic “we don’t have any room” excuse reserved for small-time blogs and stalkers.  Even when I appealed to the ATW, I was told that the Tony Award people had no say:

Dear Mr. Shankbone -

The Wing, nor I, have no control over the press coverage for the Tony Awards.  It is handled through PMK/HBH.  If you have any further concerns you’ll need to take that up with PMK/HBH.  They have the final say on all press coverage for the Tony Awards and I can’t override their decision.

All the best-
Chris

No wonder the theater is called “irrelevant to most of the population” and Broadway legends like 42nd Street co-writer Mark Bramble call the awards a “boring evening.”  If the show is going to shut out the most influential new media website in the world, that reaches untold millions of young people in virtually every language, then expect the theater crowd to become even more geriatric, and the art form to become even less relevant.  Maybe the ATW should hand the show over to Rubenstein.

Adam Isserlis at Rubenstein

At Rubenstein, a special thanks on behalf of the creative commons community, that extends well beyond Wikipedia, to Adam Isserlis, arguably one of the most visionary PR professionals in the business today.  Adam’s Internet knowledge and savvy, along with an ethical code worthy of emulation, exemplifies the kind of person that keeps Rubenstein Communications at the top of PR.  I don’t know what he offers Mr. Isserlis to stay, but Steve Rubenstein sure is smart for keeping him happy.  We’ve had several lunches where Adam has put my Internet cultural knowledge to shame.  He has never asked me for anything, least of all to edit improperly, but he has offered me and Wikipedia a great deal.  He bends over backwards for us, and he is the reason Wikipedia was elevated to A-List status at the festival, which allowed us a space in the highly, highly coveted private A-List photography room (photo, right).  Only the most influential organizations, perhaps ten to twelve, get access to this room.  It makes a big difference in the photographs.  My 2008 shots were my best ever, but the access Adam gave Wikipedia had a lot to do with it.

It’s not just Adam at Rubenstein.  It’s Kimberly Kress, whose organizational, people, knowledge and management skills make her overqualified to be governor of Alaska.  It’s also people like Cheryl Guevara (now with NYU) and Casey Fitzpatrick (who is now with The Karpel Group), who run individual film premieres as if they are old friends you are meeting up with for Thanksgiving.

Added challenges with the photography

Few, if any, photographers cover the festival the way I do.  There can be over 50 premieres in a single day, each with different celebrities.  The big publications and image agencies send upwards of 10 or 20 photographers who can shoot at a rested and peaceful pace.  I, however, spent the entire day from afternoon to evening running all over New York to capture as many shots for Wikipedia as possible.  Some of the hundreds of professional photographers there are nice, but many are catty, rude, belligerent or condescending.  After the last premiere, I go home, photoshop and upload for hours, until I wake up the next day and do it all over again.  As my friend Adam can attest, I have had a few moments where I lost my cool because I was over-tired.  I almost always reach a point at the festival when I wonder why I even do what I do.  It is a tremendous amount of work, and at the end I am exhausted on every level.  The answer is that it is truly satisfying, afterward, to correspond with people who use my stuff in books, or how they are used on the Internet.  It’s gratifying to be able to create something other people want to use.

Just because Wikimedia has over 250 global websites, and we are the 7th most-visited website in the world, does not mean we have instant status.  Status takes time and is built upon productive relationships.  Unfortunately, many of us have witnessed an arrogance on Wikipedia that is undeserved.  It’s easy to be arrogant from a laptop in your bedroom, but not when you create some of the most difficult-to-obtain content like I do.  Re-read Chris Rovente’s e-mail above.  It didn’t matter we are a huge, influential global website; it didn’t matter I have taken over 500 portraits of the notable in their homes, offices, parties and events; nobody cared that I have sat face-to-face interviewing over forty major cultural and political leaders (including a head of state).

This is why the Wikimedia community owes a big, public thank you to Tribeca FF and Rubenstein Comm.  If you ever wondered why the Tribeca Film Festival is the “face” of Wikipedia–or of many of its most famous biography subjects–you now know.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

2008 Tribeca Film Festival

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

2007 Tribeca Film Festival

Here’s her greatest hits (in case you forgot):

.cc_box a:hover .cc_home{background:url(‘http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-over.png’) !important;}.cc_links a{color:#b9b9b9;text-decoration:none;}.cc_show a{color:#707070;text-decoration:none;}.cc_title a{color:#868686;text-decoration:none;}.cc_links a:hover{color:#67bee2;text-decoration:underline;}

I last showed my park photography when I blogged about my shots in Central Park.  I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the quality of my own work, which I usually only think of as average.

The only photography I have ever been interested in for Wikipedia is candid.  I feel candid photography is the most real–the truest to form–and thus comports with the philosophy, policies and guidelines of the site.  For instance, the glamour photography found on Michele Merkin, while attractive and impressive, is also far from real.

Back to my park photography.  I think it surprises people to learn how family-oriented New York City has become.  How safe the city is.  So it was nice to capture junior league football teams at East River Park playing a game on a Saturday.  Right here in Manhattan.  Like anywhere else in America.

It’s scenes like these that make New Yorkers pissed that people think we are so different from the rest of the country.  To paraphrase Jon Stewart, New York City is “just a lot of towns piled on top of each other in one place. “   Stewart’s cause for pointing this out was when Sarah Palin said during the campaign (emphasis added), “We believe…that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation.”

Tell those kids playing football next to the East River they aren’t “real America” or live in the “pro-America” part of the country.

Oh, and Guilford County, North Carolina, where Palin gave that speech?  The place she considered “real America”?  Barack Obama won it by a landslide.

At the bottom of every Wikipedia article, the very bottom, exists one of Wikipedia’s most common areas of dispute: the categories.  This is Wikipedia’s primary method of organizing the site.  Every article is categorized in however many informative ways as possible.

Here is how Jesus Christ is categorized (click to see a list of articles with the same categorization):

Prophets in Islam | 0s BC births | 1st century deaths | Jesus | Creator gods | Jewish Messiah claimants | Life-death-rebirth deities | Manifestations of God in the Bahá’í Faith | People executed by crucifixion | People in Messianic Judaism | Roman era Jews | People from Nazareth | People executed by the Roman Empire | Jesus and history | Carpenters | Founders of religions | Christian religious leaders | God in Christianity | Messianism | New Testament people | Prophets in Christianity | Savior gods | New Testament

Whether a category does or does not belong on an article can lead to exhausting debates.  For instance, Larry Craig’s article would never be tagged “LGBT”, although there was a lot of debate sorting out what is the Senator, exactly?

Recently on the Eddie Izzard article the following categories were at the heart of a controversy.

LGBT comedians
LGBT people from England
LGBT television personalities

Izzard is a well-known English television personality who also cross-dresses both on- and offstage; however, he is a hetrosexual male (or a “lesbian trapped in a man’s body” as he puts it).   Does that make him “LGBT” (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender)?

There was a fascinating discussion on the particulars of this issue, and I repeat it below. Three things jumped out at me: first,  the insight and attention that goes into creating Wikipedia; second, the knowledge and congeniality that are prized on the site; and third, the emotional investment the editors have in resolving the issues.  I appreciate people who passionately mull the intellectual intricacies of life.  It is also an informative conversation about who is LGBT, and where cross-dressers and transvestites fit in.

Goodbye, Transgender?

AliceJMarkham:  I’m rather upset to note that User:SatyrTN has apparently decided to start redefining transgender in order to exclude cross-dressers. The tip of the iceberg appears to be a decision on his part to side with the anti-LGBT types who have been attempting to remove the LGBT category from Eddie Izzard for some time. I don’t know whether this is a misunderstanding on SatyrTN’s part or whether he genuinely wants to exclude transgender people from the LGBT community.

To me, this is a very fundamental issue. As a cross-dresser, I have a social life as a female that is entirely separate from my life as a male. I live a significant portion of my life as a female even though I am, by definition, a heterosexual male. If this doesn’t meet the definition of “transgender”, then I don’t know what does.

I’m trying to figure out where we go from here.

The Bookkeeper to AliceJMarkham:  Crossdressing does fall under the scope of tansgender studies, but the act of cross dressing itself, is fundamentally different from gender identity. Children develop a sense of gender identity by age 4. I myself knew my gender identity to be female at that age, despite my genetic sex being male. The core concept here is “identity”. Despite the fact that I have not had sex reassignment surgery, nor hormone therapy, and although my physical appearance is always male, I have viewed myself as female since childhood- I do not view myself as a man in any way, regardless of my genetic sex. Cross-dressing, then, is not necessarily the same as gender identity. Numerous transgender people throughout history and today have lived closeted lives, without outwardly expressing their gender identity even once. In contrast, there are a number of heterosexual men, who view themselves as men, and will dress in female clothing, strictly for sexual gratification or for entertainment value. The act of cross-dressing then, still falls under the scope of transgender study, even though they do not have a female identity. If they do not actually understand themselves to be female with the body of a genetic male, then they are not cross-dressing because they actually identify or understand themselves to be the opposite sex. Gender Identity is a constant/permanent interpretation/perception of one’s self as male or female. If Eddie Izzard views himself as a woman in a man’s body, then his cross-dressing would be an outward expression of his identity as a woman. However, if he views himself as a man, who happens to wear women’s clothing and is comfortable having a male identity or believing himself to be a “man”, then his transgenderism would be a reflection of something else. Either way, he would still fall under the scope of the project, but I think people are trying to resolve whether he actually identifies himself as a man or a woman. Its one of those fine lines. Cross-dressing is an aspect of being transgender, but not all cross-dressers are necessarily transgender. I think the project would only exclude someone who would only cross-dress for entertainment value (ex: Martin Lawrence as “sheneneh jenkins” from Martin (TV series)). I’m rambling cause its almost 4am, but I hope im making sense.

Queerudite to The Bookkeeper: I mostly agree with you, Bookkeeper, that the act of cross-dressing does not make you transgender. But the practice of cross-dressing and identifying as a transvestite makes Eddie Izzard transgender. Otherwise, we may as well untag cross-dressing & transvestism and rewrite transgender.

SatyrTN to all :  I disagree – being a transvestite does not automatically make you transgender, except under the very loose definition of “gender queer”. Being transgender very much includes a personal statement of belonging to a gender other than the one you were born with, which is stressed in all the literature about transgender studies (including our article). If everyone who put on a dress was considered transgender, we’d have to tag Bob Hope, who would be *very* surprised indeed to be labeled trans. Furthermore, there’s the issue of self-identification. Izzard does not identify as transgender – a cross-dresser, perhaps, but not transgender.

I’m going to briefly state that I’m upset you would imply any sort of bad-faith on my part, Alice. I’m a big believer in transgender rights, am (today) honoring Transgender Rememberance Day, and even occasionally wear dresses, though I prefer the self-identification of “Queer” rather than trans. So please remember a) to assume good faith, and b) requesting clarification on one particular article does not mean I’m out to wipe transgender folks off the map.

The Bookkeeper to SatyrTN: have to disagree with you here too. Transvestitism is clearly within the scope of transgender topics, which automatically includes Izzard, who has 1) self-identified as a transvestite (on stage no less) and has incorporated his transvestitism into his public persona. I know a few trans people both pre-op and post-op who have never used the word “transgender” to describe themselves, but they none the less can be labeled as such. I use the word transgender to describe myself, but I’ve never used the word transsexual, even though by clinical definition the label fits, regardless of my surgical status. Izzard may never identify as transgender, but as a open transvestite, he still falls within the scope. Being a transvestite is an aspect of his personal identity, not just his stage persona. As I pointed out above, people such as Martin Lawrence, who would only put on a dress to portray a comedic character, which has absolutely nothing to do with his personal life, would not be within the scope.

AliceJMarkham to SatyrTN:  I apologise if my comments came across as assuming bad faith. That was not my intention. I was probably too emotional when I posted my initial comment here. Perhaps I should have simply taken the course of action that your comments inclined me towards and simply silently quit wikipedia.

Below are some of the latest portraits of authors and writers uploaded to Wikipedia:

Terry McMillan, author of Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back

Jimmy Breslin, Pulitzer-prize winning columnist and author

Eileen Myles, the “the rock star of modern poetry”

Elizabeth Nunez, novelist

Also, this photograph was uploaded to Sleeveless shirt:

Last night New York comedian Rory Covey and I saw the rock musical Rock of Ages starring American Idol alum Constantine Maroulis (thank you for the tickets, Casey Fitzpatrick).  The show was amazing.  I was chagrined that I felt like I was going to watch a series of musical acts performed to songs that were personal themes in my youth.  Of course, that is what it was.  A few selections with links to YouTube videos:

We’re Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister
I Hate Myself for Loving You by Joan Jett
Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benetar
Sister Christian by Night Ranger
Nothing But a Good Time by Poison
The Final Countdown by Europe
Cum On Feel The Noize (originally Slade; but in the U.S. by Quiet Riot)

And, the obligatory,

Here I Go Again by Whitesnake

The audience was comprised of a variety of ages, but it was mostly people raised in the 1980′s watching and listening to songs that defined moments in their lives.  The story was the standard Broadway tale of finding love, losing it and finding it again in the backdrop of corporate villains trying to tear down rock n’ roll.

A must see show for anyone who still feels attached to Eighties rock.  When I was backstage with the cast, Kevin Cronin, lead singer of REO Speedwagon, came by to mix it up with everyone.

I’m going to do some work on its article; here are a few photos shot backstage last night and where they have been uploaded to Wikipedia:

Rock of Ages (musical)
Rock musical
Constantine Maroulis

Constantine Maroulis

Kevin Cronin

Kevin Cronin (with Constantine Maroulis and Kelli Barrett, the two leads in Rock of Ages)