User:Nyxtingale/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Article: LGBT themes in African diasporic mythologies

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
Why did I choose it?


 * I am of a "complicated" African diaspora
 * I want to better understand cultures I was taught to view as scary
 * Vudu in Haiti is especially one of them (see: The Princess and the Frog)
 * I love learning about different cultures' mythos and how it translates to current day beliefs, whether they are helpful or harmful

Why does this matter?


 * it's important to better understand the positionality of cultures before making a decision on that spectrum
 * better to have the whole picture before rushing to conclusions

What was my preliminary impression?


 * interesting theme
 * missing lots of specific countries/cultures
 * relies heavily on one author's writings from 2004 or earlier

Evaluate the article
Evaluating content


 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
 * Yes everything is relevant.
 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
 * Though mythologies are timeless, the sources used are quite outdated and primarily the perspective of one author
 * Can you identify any notable equity gaps? Does the article underrepresent or misrepresent historically marginalized populations?
 * As far as I can see, little equity gaps. Some stories could be re-examined to see if they are truly as violent as written here (common issue that pre-colonial African peoples are portrayed as violent and cruel).
 * What else could be improved?
 * Could be better divided into different regions of the African diaspora, eg. Greater and Lesser Antilles, Caribbean, different African regions/peoples

Evaluating tone


 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * The tone is pretty neutral. It seems to be reciting stories.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * N/A

Evaluating sources


 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
 * The links work!
 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from?
 * Not enough references
 * Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
 * Neutral enough, I believe.
 * Do the sources come from a diverse array of authors and publications?
 * No, there is primarily one author being sourced on this information.

Checking the talk page


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * People are discussing whether this page should even exist. Personally, I think it's a pretty important piece to exist within the "LGBT themes in mythology" series, albeit a broad article in and of itself.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * The article is rated as Start-class: a preliminary article with plenty of room for improvement.
 * Part of the following WikiProjects: Mythology, Religion, African diaspora, LGBT studies.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
 * This article itself is a lot more nuanced and conjecture-based compared to some other Wikipedia articles, which to me makes sense because it is discussing centuries-old mythologies. Compared to the class environment, the talk page is definitely a lot more polarized and feels a bit angry at the fact that such a page exists. Clearly, more work needs to be done to make this page one worth reading and keeping on Wikipedia.