Real reasons why there is scant female presence on Anandtech

[irishScott]

Irish, I am disappoint.

We could have had a major Internet blockbustanut. Now I'll have to be web porn star all on my own :awe:.

Hey I told you we should have gone for the hidden mics, telephoto lens and save the roman candles for the finish but noooo you had to have that close up HD didn't you? Screw this I'm going back to basics.

*drills two holes in Mak's shower*
Giggity.

 

[rh71]

Agree with the post that said they have other interests like shopping, celebrities, gossip, etc. If you ever go on tv sites / forums, they are almost all female talking about what happened and the psychology or romance of it all. If you go on forums dealing with parenting they are almost all female too.

Short answer, they don't care about a tech-oriented forum.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Plus this

Oh man, that article is great.

It's easy to mistakenly be flattered by requests like "pix plz" or "show us your boobs." While you envision men sitting at their keyboard, desperately drooling over the possibility of seeing your pictures, they used to the very next keystroke to go back to surfing a gallery of anal porn.

 

[Locut0s]

I think there are several reasons. One is that while ATOT itself is off topic the site itself is very tech oriented and computer hardware specifically which is still a very male oriented interest by and large. Another is that these types of sites tend to draw out the geek and nerds so there's a higher percentage of those people here. Nerd and geeks don't tend to have the best social skills and tend to like to either nerd rage or show off their e-peen none of which is going to be very interesting to your average woman. As IB mentions social networking is much more a female thing on average and that where you find most of the women on the net.

 

[MAKENITO]

IB& Irish - Nasty!

The real reason that there are not many AT is because its not easy to just stumble across here.. and it's a tech forum. Had I known this before I became addicted, I probably wouldnt have stayed around either.

 

[gaidensensei]

Ladies, what would you do if you could or wanted to change AT/OT?

 

[LordMorpheus]

It's because most women are smart enough to not use computers

I think that's probably more accurate.

 

[0roo0roo]

I've never watched activity at a female-dominated forum but that last bit from Terzo, I can't picture playgirl and underwear men photos around in threads, that would be really awkward to see around here.

Kinda like a bizzarro world eh? Like Bizarro Superman. Superman's exact opposite, who lives in the backwards bizarro world. "Up is down", and down is up. He says "Hello" when he leaves, "Good bye" when he arrives.

what you get instead is group think, they have a different type of vulgarity, forming of cliques and enforced opinion as displays of social power.

I think there are several reasons. One is that while ATOT itself is off topic the site itself is very tech oriented and computer hardware specifically which is still a very male oriented interest by and large. Another is that these types of sites tend to draw out the geek and nerds so there's a higher percentage of those people here. Nerd and geeks don't tend to have the best social skills and tend to like to either nerd rage or show off their e-peen none of which is going to be very interesting to your average woman. As IB mentions social networking is much more a female thing on average and that where you find most of the women on the net.

which is also bull, you find the worst comments on social systems like youtube or political websites like huffington post, where tech knowledge required is zero and where gender balance is even.

 

[0roo0roo]

The major reason has been already covered being that most females aren't interested in the computer/tech focus that AT has.
The secondary reasons(that have also been covered) are the constant attacks on new members, troll attempts, etc. Those intermittent patterns aren't as important to why women don't post on here because one can find trolls all over the web in every forum. The demographic here may be different but the pattern is still the same.
The problem I see, though, somewhat related to the thread topic, is the people that do post repeatedly either attack other posters or just try to make a joke out of every post, either theirs or those of others. The lack of respect is evident and probably impossible to fix since this is the internet we're talking about here, even with moderation.
You may think I'm taking this too seriously, but the 'verbal diarrhea' that constitutes 70-80% of ATOT posts becomes annoying and just tedious after a certain period.

pop culture diarrhea is pretty popular with females. so quality is hardly the deciding factor. constant attacks? please, you paint the sexist image of woman as delicate flower, symbol of purity and innocence, on the verge of fainting at the slightest embarrassment or conflict being mean is entirely part of womens blog culture, whether its fashion, or celeb, the claws are out and well used. whether its go fugyourself or jezebel, constant harshing on other females is pretty standard. its simply other sites like taboid/facebook types are far more popular with different segments of the population, and those are hardly at a higher level of discourse than atot. the assumption that mens entertainment is always considered a lower form is another form of sexism. why not flip it around and ask why more of you aren't going to X womens site

 

[gaidensensei]

If it were balanced here, I have to admit it would probably be a little more interesting. Opinions in threads would greatly differ as both sexes might have a reply thus covering many different perspectives.

 

[0roo0roo]

If it were balanced here, I have to admit it would probably be a little more interesting. Opinions in threads would greatly differ as both sexes might have a reply thus covering many different perspectives.

or the flame wars would be that much worse.

anyways, you might as well worry there aren't enough black people. atots mostly asian and white btw last time i checked.

not sure the value is inherent anyways. instead of threads on caprica and 24 you'd also have threads on ugly betty and gossip girl. its hardly better. it would be like asking why wouldn't anandtech be better off reviewing fashion items as well. it could.... but it would dilute the point of the site and clutter it to the point of uselessness. sometimes theres no good reason to add diversity for the sake of it.

 

[gaidensensei]

You sure bout that one.. I can name like 4 off the top of my head in 10 secs. No names. (the 2 same ones are different people )

Course they might not be around as much in numbers, but I notice they post more frequently than others making them "more of a member" if you get what I mean. Like a local kinda thing.

 

[0roo0roo]

you might consider that those might be indians aka asians

 

[gaidensensei]

Oh damn, yeah then guess I don't really know anyone then now we are talking specific.

 

[ShawnD1]

Kinda false, but I understand what you mean in general. Boardreader.com can show otherwise.
Here's a predominated female one:
(NOTE: color NSFW for men) http://flowerpod.com.sg/forums/

LOL. This is the worst thing ever. You can read through their version of L&R and see exactly why these women are single or will be single very soon.

http://flowerpod.com.sg/forums/Man-Love-Girl-t94764.html

How Do You Know When A Man Really Love A Girl?
willing to spend, always giving in or?

Yeah. Good luck with that! :awe:

http://flowerpod.com.sg/forums/Feel-Bf-t94891.html

I Feel My Bf Is Not Serious With Me
He does not seem serious whenever he is with me. Always laughing and joking and i'm getting quite insecured about this.. What should I do? Maybe this is his personality? How do I know he is serious with me?

He's actually happy when I'm around. His brain must not be working properly!

http://flowerpod.com.sg/forums/Gals-Exceptions-Guy-Bf-Areas-t95070.html

Gals' Exceptions Of A Guy To Be Her Bf In All Areas
Hi,
I am not into relationship but I am curious of find out the following.
I believe that when a gal is looking for a guy to be her boyfriend or to accept a guy to be her boyfriend, there is sure to have some factors.
I will like to hear all your views of these factors:
a) Stable Job: What is your definition? Someone working in a government or MNC job?
b) Monthly income: What is your minimum?

So when talking about a relationship, the first thing you think of is money? Gee I wonder why you're single.

 

[gaidensensei]

Lol, I didn't read the topics but thanks for the chuckle.
I guess I'm starting to see why 0roo mentioned it might not work here.

 

[0roo0roo]

oh my god that forum is so pink...
it burns the retinas...

 

[CRXican]

hopefully they're busy cooking or cleaning

 

[ShawnD1]

That pink forum just keeps getting worse. The real reason women don't post in ATOT is because they would get relentlessly yelled at for posting crazy stuff.

http://flowerpod.com.sg/forums/Kids-Hubby-Not-t92732.html
I Want Kids; Hubby Does Not., so torn; any advice?
Dear podders,

I am sort of new here, and was wondering if any of u have some advice for what I'm going through.

First: some background. I'm 25 (26 in a few months) and just got married late last year. My hubby and I just moved into our new house after living with our in-laws for 4 months (another nightmarish story for another day! sighz!).

We've discussed this till the death but still can't arrive at any agreement....and yet ....we do not use any form of protection or whatever. Plus he smokes and I can't get him to stop, or even to try to stop. It makes me worried. He is constantly going on and on that "now is not the time to have kids", "we still got our HDB mortgage to pay every month" and "let us be more financially stable first"... So the point is I don't understand him. (IMG:http://flowerpod.com.sg/forums/style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

What makes it so much more confusing is--- He loves kids and I want kids badly too. Of course, the practical side of me says now is not the right time too, as I am back in school to continue my education (although this is not the most deciding factor) and we have just moved in (so we have quite a few financial committments)... but something tells me I should stop being so practical and let nature take its course....

Can you imagine someone posting this in ATOT? Dear lord. They haven't worked out the kinks in their relationship, they're financially unstable, they don't use condoms even though they haven't reached a consensus on children, and she's honestly thinking of dropping out of school to have a baby that she likely cannot afford. ATOT would quote her 30 times over and call her names.

http://flowerpod.com.sg/forums/Thinking-Pregnancy-t89546.html
Thinking Too Much During Pregnancy
Ive always came across people saying during pregnancy , the rate of being infected by depression is 80%
Im a young mommy whom think too much during my 9 months of pregnancy, currently am 37 weeks pregnant.
Does any other mommy face the same problem as me ?
Ive phobia of giving birth, thinking what may happen to my baby. Is she healthy in me, will there be any obvious birthmarks? Im so scareddddd. Mommys out there, please help.

Don't worry hun. You're not thinking hard enough.

http://flowerpod.com.sg/forums/Scenario-Real-Do-t94941.html
Let's say you are given this situation:
You are walking behind your SO and you notice someone coming after him with a knife. Whether you are a guy or gal, this person will kill your SO on that spot. Nothing that you or someone else do will prevent that person from killing your SO. Even if you do something, something else will prevent you from stopping that person. That person will keep stabbing your SO repeatedly till he/she is dead.

You only have 2 options:
1) To watch your SO get stabbed by that person and you can do nothing about it while your SO looks at you.

2) To stab your SO fatally one time and that person will not stab your SO repeatedly.

What will you choose? Remember, you can't deviate from the fate that your SO will get stabbed by you or that person.

As the saying goes: the only way to prevent your family from being killed by a maniac is if you kill them yourself :awe:

http://flowerpod.com.sg/forums/Girls-Burn-385-Calories-Shopping-t93961.html
Girls Burn 385 Calories Shopping!
Haha...shocking but true, women on average burn 385 calories while shopping, read here. Provided u don't take a tea break la. So shop till u drop, i meant ur weight!

Thank god. If you didn't burn those calories shopping, you'd need to stab your own husband in the back to burn the same number of calories.

http://flowerpod.com.sg/forums/Molested-MRT-Bus-Anywhere-t22064.html
Ever Been Molested? MRT, Bus or Anywhere?, Topics Merged
Ever Been Molested? While I was a kid. When I came back from school. I was waiting for the lift and a guy cycling towards me and he ask me to go near to him and I follow his instruction. He touch my Private part and cycle off. I was so scared and mad at the person. That was so sudden and in less than a min. The image is still with me.

Ok so there were 2 molestation threads and they had to be merged? I should also point out that the thread about molestation is 23 pages long. I thought ATOT was pretty bad, but this is far worse.

 

[coreyb]

women don't like tech stuff, at least the hot ones don't.

 

[Ancalagon44]

Some of those threads on that women's site are just so awesome. Like how much money does a guy need to earn before you would date him, I mean wow.

I havent actually read it out of fear of vulva-like bright pink blinding my entire office, but I might have a sneaky look.

Still.... I suppose both sexes have their discussions that should generally remain private. Like when we talk about our last bowel movements. Or sport, or cars, or technology, or who we'd most like to shack up with. Girls would probably be equally shocked at reading some of our threads. Well, the bowel movement type ones anyway.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

That pink forum just keeps getting worse. The real reason women don't post in ATOT is because they would get relentlessly yelled at for posting crazy stuff.



Can you imagine someone posting this in ATOT? Dear lord. They haven't worked out the kinks in their relationship, they're financially unstable, they don't use condoms even though they haven't reached a consensus on children, and she's honestly thinking of dropping out of school to have a baby that she likely cannot afford. ATOT would quote her 30 times over and call her names.



Don't worry hun. You're not thinking hard enough.



As the saying goes: the only way to prevent your family from being killed by a maniac is if you kill them yourself :awe:



Thank god. If you didn't burn those calories shopping, you'd need to stab your own husband in the back to burn the same number of calories.


Ok so there were 2 molestation threads and they had to be merged? I should also point out that the thread about molestation is 23 pages long. I thought ATOT was pretty bad, but this is far worse.

OMWTFBBQG....

afjksl;d


pain

 

[ahenkel]

It's actually my fault. I'm sorry.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Like I've said above. I searched for sites with "hot deals" on them and came upon anandtech. Women like to shop online, and like deals. So it's not just the tech part of the site that shows up when you search.

Then you have your answer... Hot deals is not what it was... or so I'm told.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

BF at the time was a member, I was at college with nothing to do (just been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis so I had a hard time getting around) and I was bored so I checked out the site he had mentioned.

Geez, now I feel all stereotypical.

OT is definitely not friendly. I don't recall getting an overlot of abuse when I signed up in 2001 (surprisingly) but it definitely got rougher over the years. The low point was coming home from a crappy day at work in 2004 to find out that a member I'd never heard of started a thread about how ugly I was, complete with pictures, and it descended into a full fledged flamewar before I even saw it. Overall I'm average looking but I don't post pictures anymore.

Harsh