Why The Male Domination in Forums?

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As I have spent much of the last eight years belonging to, contributing to and reviling my foolishness within the hallowed halls of these cyber kingdoms, I wonder why the majority of forums on the internet which seek to discuss relevant societal topics seem to be male oriented and for want of a better word: dominated.

I haven't necessarily sought out gender when looking for a place to roost for a spell, but look for thought out discourse, interesting topics, a minimum of hysteria, four-letter invectives, and often seek out humor - well done humor.

In sum - 90% of these are male owned, operated, moderated, contributed to by a male group, and while I have met some extremely interesting and vital women on these forums, we seem to be in the minority - not only in numbers but in consideration of our opinions and our offers of debate.

I am not a feminazi by any means - I adore men and adore their company on a forum, but it seems with exception of a very few truly wonderful women I have met, many females barter for attention with strange behavior, stranger messages, whining, and complaining.

Puhleese...is this my insular and uneducated opinion only or do other people find this to be almost fact (nothing in the internet world is real fact is it?)..?

I caveat there are many female forums on child rearing, education, self-help groups, that kind of topic - but for a general forum based on social, governmental, political issues of each day.... men seem to be the ruling authority, and strangely enough god-like in the eyes of a few trusting slaves.

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@Skye cv,

What do you like in a man ?

1 Reply

@scooby-doo cv,

I know women who pose as men on message boards for that very reason.

I know one woman in particular who did an interesting study on the sociology of gender and the internet. She was treated much better when people believed she was a man AND she received a lot more attention from first other men looking to talk about people and second women who were, well, cruising.

I go to two political sites run by women and both places are accused of being headed by "bitches", "ballbusters", or "dykes" when they run their sites like men.

What you are talking about is societal and it carries over into cyberspace.

3 Replies

@Emiliana,

Emiliana

Thank you for your post confirming what I have begun to believe is the fashion - I thought it was a quirk of my own.

I can think of two or three forums where the women are treated as if neurotic and the males no matter what is written are given more credibility. I have always tried to keep myself from being drawn in but when I post issues of what I see as worthy of interest, they are often ignored by the males.

Even worse the topic is replicated elsewhere and populated by the males..... or even more worse - my topic is followed up with nonsense as if to divert my message.

I posted a published study on the psychology of internet behavior and typology and many of the membership thought they were being personally described, rather than understanding it was published research having nothing to do with them - but thought it was posted as a critique of them personally.

I myself have fawned over administrators, holding back what I would normally say in real life to either gender of my friends - and then realizing I have fallen into this imaginary mental style - which I do not believe is perpetuated by males either - but it is a cyber 'dance' in which we all participate. Like an old fashion minuet.

Why do you think this occurs?

I am not confusing being pleasant or respectful to other posters of either gender - I am talking about a nasty feeling of subservience seems to occur with most women - who then adopt either seductive roles, combative roles, or subservient ones which I seem to favor.

Gonna go eat a worm now....:p

1 Reply

@Skye cv,

Skye;49864 wrote:

Emiliana

Why do you think this occurs?

Because we are conditioned from infancy to be this way.

I don't have much time now but this is a great topic. I'll be back. Smile

1 Reply

@Emiliana,

Emiliana

Great - look forward to what you have to write.

Of course women are taught behaviors but they are gradually becoming less
gender specific in terms of thought and choices - but it is an evolutionary process I think. Still I hope they retain the beauty of being female while allowing confidence in themselves to flourish.

0 Replies

@Skye cv,

as a person who runs many websites, you're absolutely right.

I think it's this way for a couple reasons based on stereotypes:

guys research stuff, girls impulse buy
girls watch more tv than guys (when was the last time you heard a guy say OMG THAT'S MY SHOW!)
the IT field is dominated by guys (at least 90-95%) and thus, guys start stuff they are interested in. you won't see my running a purse forum (but i can recomend you one that a buddy runs for his g/f)
Guys are into more 'techy' hobbies, like cars, computers, home theatre, which requires product research, part help, etc, where as girls are into clothes, fashion, shopping, and scrap-booking....

So, again, totally stereotypical, but thats the reason why there's more guys on forums than girls I think

2 Replies

@Skye cv,

WOmen need to be seen and not heard... and only seen the 15 minutes of adult time, and when she brings me my dinner and beer.

YAY COMMUNISM

0 Replies

@briansol,

briansol;49884 wrote:

as a person who runs many websites, you're absolutely right.

I think it's this way for a couple reasons based on stereotypes:

guys research stuff, girls impulse buy
girls watch more tv than guys (when was the last time you heard a guy say OMG THAT'S MY SHOW!)
the IT field is dominated by guys (at least 90-95%) and thus, guys start stuff they are interested in. you won't see my running a purse forum (but i can recomend you one that a buddy runs for his g/f)
Guys are into more 'techy' hobbies, like cars, computers, home theatre, which requires product research, part help, etc, where as girls are into clothes, fashion, shopping, and scrap-booking....

So, again, totally stereotypical, but thats the reason why there's more guys on forums than girls I think

Methinks you've opened a can of worms here, Brian. We all know Skye and Red well and know their opinions are carefully considered based on facts and experience, not emotion. Ms. Emi seems a great fit, I would not take any of them for granted.

1 Reply

@socalgolfguy,

Thanks SoCal!

It's great - I worried much after I posted my topic if any guys would take part - and I hoped so.

There are forums I would not bother writing anything resembling the post as it would be taken negatively but the group here so far seem to be ok with it.

I think...

2 Replies

@Skye cv,

rugonnacry

Yup my dad tried that with all his seven daughters. It didn't work.

2 Replies

@Skye cv,

Again, i stated it was entirely sterotypical.

Surely the women HERE obviously don't fall into that. But in general, I think that's the case.

I've worked at several IT firms in my day, and I've NEVER had a woman programmer on my team.... just weren't any.

Women tend to be social where as guys tend to be more analytical, and thus you'll find a lot of women in marketing and PR more than you will writing recursive SQL functions

1 Reply

@briansol,

briansol;49913 wrote:

Again, i stated it was entirely sterotypical.

Surely the women HERE obviously don't fall into that. But in general, I think that's the case.

I've worked at several IT firms in my day, and I've NEVER had a woman programmer on my team.... just weren't any.

Women tend to be social where as guys tend to be more analytical, and thus you'll find a lot of women in marketing and PR more than you will writing recursive SQL functions

Love ya, kid, but in your effort to get out, you just step deeper in the mire.

0 Replies

@Skye cv,

why male domination?

simple

Men crave the exchange of logic via conversation, women crave the exchange of emotion

you cannot type emotion

1 Reply

@Silverchild79,

Silverchild79;49916 wrote:

why male domination?

simple

Men crave the exchange of logic via conversation, women crave the exchange of emotion

you cannot type emotion

Silverchild79

Sweeping generalizations excepted for administrators? A defensive posit.

Your responses regarding lack of technical expertise in most females from BrianSol or yours proclaiming women function through emotion indicate you
believe women have less ability to present validity in forum style, ie: you cannot type emotion. That was an interesting tell.

Or perhaps emotion lessens the ability to walk through a sequence of steps toward problem solving?

I do agree with you both however regarding women and emotion. It is what fires most females - this emotional viewpoint - but if a rational answer is reached to a problem through channels of emotion, is it less well-grounded than one formed through logic?

Emotion relies on intuit through experience also the godmother of logic.

Thank you both for your thoughts. I appreciate your well run forum too.

0 Replies

@Skye cv,

Skye;49857 wrote:

As I have spent much of the last eight years belonging to, contributing to and reviling my foolishness within the hallowed halls of these cyber kingdoms, I wonder why the majority of forums on the internet which seek to discuss relevant societal topics seem to be male oriented and for want of a better word: dominated.

I haven't necessarily sought out gender when looking for a place to roost for a spell, but look for thought out discourse, interesting topics, a minimum of hysteria, four-letter invectives, and often seek out humor - well done humor.

In sum - 90% of these are male owned, operated, moderated, contributed to by a male group, and while I have met some extremely interesting and vital women on these forums, we seem to be in the minority - not only in numbers but in consideration of our opinions and our offers of debate.

I am not a feminazi by any means - I adore men and adore their company on a forum, but it seems with exception of a very few truly wonderful women I have met, many females barter for attention with strange behavior, stranger messages, whining, and complaining.

Puhleese...is this my insular and uneducated opinion only or do other people find this to be almost fact (nothing in the internet world is real fact is it?)..?

I caveat there are many female forums on child rearing, education, self-help groups, that kind of topic - but for a general forum based on social, governmental, political issues of each day.... men seem to be the ruling authority, and strangely enough god-like in the eyes of a few trusting slaves.

Boy do i have an opinion on this, but it'll have to wait till after work. Great topic.

0 Replies

@Skye cv,

Skye;49894 wrote:

rugonnacry

Yup my dad tried that with all his seven daughters. It didn't work.

He did not try very hard... HEIL HITLER

0 Replies

@Skye cv,

Skye Did you really say Emotion stems from logic?

1 Reply

@rugonnacry,

rugonnacry;49928 wrote:

Skye Did you really say Emotion stems from logic?

Seig Heil Rug

Actually I believe they are distinct paths people use to arrive at decision-making.
So my answer to your question would be 'no'.

Often another feature is involved that of 'past influence'. Things we have already learned which bring both emotion and logic to the process, often in conflict with each other.

Men will resort to the most reasoned and cool whereas women seem to bubble with feeling and empathy (or the opposite - dislike).

It is an interesting experiment when you read something on a forum - an opinion or article - which commands your attention, and the succeeding process you go through - either through a re-read employing logical steps or a reactive one employing emotional steps.

It's all wound up in what we call life experience. Something we may not be aware of if it is too painful or unimportant at the time of the earlier experience.

It's early - forgive the attempt.

How about this?

If you read the following opinion from me: All men think women are inferior.

Go through the steps you take - the first usually is personalizing it.
It is a flamer of a statement and that is what makes forums live (unfortunately) - those opinions with which we disagree or are confused by.

Otherwise we would all be sharing recipies for great garden mulch or muffins.
Being bored.

Anyway I hope we can all appreciate the differences in gender thought.

2 Replies

@Skye cv,

Skye;49894 wrote:

rugonnacry

Yup my dad tried that with all his seven daughters. It didn't work.

Seven daughters Very Happy

0 Replies

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