Wikipedia:Subjective traits documented in reliable sources are still subjective
![]() | This is an essay on the deletion policy. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
![]() | This page in a nutshell: Subjective traits are frequently documented in reliable sources. This does not make them any less subjective. |
At categories for discussion, there are sometimes discussions that look a little something like this:
Category:Big fooians
- Nominator's rationale: This is a WP:SUBJECTIVECAT. —ObjectivityForAll (talk) 21:41, 27 January 2024 (UTC)
- Delete per WP:SUBJECTIVECAT. NoSubjectivityPlease (talk) 22:24, 27 January 2024 (UTC)
- Keep this is well-defined in these reliable sources: [1][2][3]. ReliableSourcesFan (talk) 22:38, 27 January 2024 (UTC)
ReliableSourcesFan has a very common misconception about WP:SUBJECTIVECAT, which reads:
It does not say:
Subjective descriptions are subjective regardless of how frequently reliable sources describe them that way. Plenty of reliable sources call things "big", "small", "young", "far", "tall", "short", etc., but that does not mean they are objective, defining characteristics.