I wonder why we don't have a lot of women in this hobby

[AudioDoctor]

All of you are over thinking this. It is simply because they don't care.

 

There is no way a woman would put as much thought and effort into this as much as most of you guys do.

[Jud]

Jud, that's exactly why they're doing research: to get data that allows the experiments to be repeatable and verifiable by other scientists :-)

 

In this case (paleoanthropology) it isn't so much repeatable experiments, but rather some (literally) hard evidence, some artifacts or any other data from the period that would give an indication of gender roles.

[hornytoad]

All of you are over thinking this. It is simply because they don't care.

 

There is no way a woman would put as much thought and effort into this as much as most of you guys do.

 

Correct . They think this endless pursuit of great sound is silly .

 

They say , just listen and enjoy .

[Pat Case]

Guys, this is not a nature thing, it's about nurture. Most of us were raised with the assumption that we were the ones that would play with trucks and gadgets. Even today, when you go into toy stores, particularly the garden variety stores, such as Toys-R-Us, most boy things are in blue and most girl things are in pink. These socially determined (not natural) choices establish patterns that we later follow. My daughter was not raised with such restrictions. When it comes to computers and other gadgets, she's a wiz - she sees no barriers. Even though my wife hasn't got a clue about electronic gadgets, because her dad had her around carpentry tools when she was younger, she's a wiz at home repair- me, I'm a klutz.

[bluesman]

They think this endless pursuit of great sound is silly .

If I understand my wife correctly, she and most other women don't think it's silly. They simply don't think that the minor differences they perceive (if they perceive any, which my wife does) are worth the effort and cost we put forth to achieve them. They may think that taking something so seriously that's of much less importance to them is silly, but that starts with things they consider far more fundamental than audio equipment, like food and clothing.

 

Hmmm - maybe they just think we're silly.

[The Computer Audiophile]

All of you are over thinking this. It is simply because they don't care.

 

There is no way a woman would put as much thought and effort into this as much as most of you guys do.

I don't disagree. And there is no way I'd put as much thought and money into some items women are famous for purchasing / persuing.

[blownsi]

For my wife it's more about the experience. She would rather watch a bad concert live than a great recorded one at home. Same goes for the movie theater. In our 4 years of marriage she's watched less than 10 movies with me at home yet will take any chance to go to the local theater and plunk down $35 for bad popcorn, a grainy image and a distorted soundtrack.

[Allan F]

Because ladies are wired differently from guys. Most have no interest in gear. That's why there are so few...female engineers, and so few lady audiophiles.

You are a little out of date regarding engineers, George. In many engineering faculties today, the women students outnumber the men, a huge difference from when I went to school in the 60's and there was a single female student in our class.

[duxservit]

As my wife would say: men are great at hearing, but women are better at listening :-)

[wgscott]

Just to clarify: I didn't post this as a question. There is no question mark in the title. It is a declarative sentence. In other words, I am asserting that this sort of in-your-face public larger-than-life advertisement/decor is off-putting.

[gmgraves]

As my wife would say: men are great at hearing, but women are better at listening :-)

 

 

Well said. Give your wife a kudo for me!

[AudioDoctor]

I don't disagree. And there is no way I'd put as much thought and money into some items women are famous for purchasing / persuing.

 

Exactly.

[Pat Case]

Just to clarify: I didn't post this as a question. There is no question mark in the title. It is a declarative sentence. In other words, I am asserting that this sort of in-your-face public larger-than-life advertisement/decor is off-putting.

 

I completely agree. It's highly off-putting.

[Audio_ELF]

I don't disagree. And there is no way I'd put as much thought and money into some items women are famous for purchasing / persuing.

I bet your wife buys your underwear too Chris!!

 

(And yes women can come up with misandristic statements too!)

 

PS. I like HiFi / Music AND clothes AND heels (though not so much into handbags!)

[mav52]

I don't disagree. And there is no way I'd put as much thought and money into some items women are famous for purchasing / persuing.

 

Turn it around. ' There is no way some women would put as much thought and money into some items male audiophiles are famous for purchasing / persuing'

[The Computer Audiophile]

Turn it around. ' There is no way some women would put as much thought and money into some items male audiophiles are famous for purchasing / persuing'

Agree 100%.

[Priaptor]

I think this needs to be broken down into three categories (possibly a 4th which I will not address except in disclaimer):

 

Single women just don't give a damn and rather spend their money and time on other things.

 

The woman dating a guy who is into this stuff, will claim how great it is and feign appreciation of this inane hobby, UNTIL,

 

The dating woman becomes a married woman at which point once again she no longer gives a damn UNLESS the music is too loud OR she sees the price tag.

 

Disclaimer: I have purposely not categorized the LGBTQ community as #1 I have no knowledge and #2 in this day and age I would never try to generalize them given the sensitivity.

[wwaldmanfan]

As my wife would say: men are great at hearing, but women are better at listening :-)

 

I would say: men are great at hearing, but women are better at yapping about nothing ;>)

[PeterSt]

As my wife would say: men are great at hearing, but women are better at listening :-)

 

No : men are great at ignoring the poor sound of their stereo, while women need earbuds to survive that.

[lucretius]

Just to clarify: I didn't post this as a question. There is no question mark in the title. It is a declarative sentence. In other words, I am asserting that this sort of in-your-face public larger-than-life advertisement/decor is off-putting.

 

There may not have been a question mark but the statement started with the phrase "I wonder why", which was just begging for a response.

[Jud]

 

PS. I like HiFi / Music AND clothes AND heels (though not so much into handbags!)

 

My wife would not dream of buying shoes unless she had or was buying a handbag that matched. I learned this by foolishly trying to be helpful and suggesting shoes for which she did not have a matching bag, and suffered the scorn due an uninformed male of the species.

[AudioDoctor]

My wife would not dream of buying shoes unless she had or was buying a handbag that matched. I learned this by foolishly trying to be helpful and suggesting shoes for which she did not have a matching bag, and suffered the scorn due an uninformed male of the species.

 

Jud, that's what the benches/seats are for at these stores. Men sit there and contemplate the bill, while the women shop.

[Ajax]

Often wonder why we stereotype people - women are like this and men are like that - maybe its our need to make sense of everything so we simplify things (dumb them down) to help us understand and operate in the real world.

 

My sister is emotional about everything, whereas my wife is as cool as a cucumber. My sister is not interested in fixing anything whereas my wife will stay at a problem until solved. My sister loves music and has it playing all day but will not make the effort to learn how to turn on my stereo, whereas my wife understands nearly all the audio stuff I talk about, and gets my passion and supports it, but chooses not to have music on unless we are out and then she will hound me to dance. She is also a LOT smarter than me but chose to get a job to pay for her love of travelling and didn't go to University.

 

So why aren't there more women? I'm thinking stereotyping at a young age (the pink / blue thing) so I think Pat is onto something, however, that is becoming less so and as Allan points out the number of females studying engineering for example has increased incredibly. When I studied Civil (73-78) there were no girls in my class at Adelaide University. Zilch. Girls are no good at maths was the prevailing wisdom.

 

However, at Monash University in Melbourne they made a massive effort to encourage women into engineering offering scholarships together with a marketing campaign to demonstrate that engineering was not an unfeminine profession and 20% of the engineering students are now women. Monash states "Changing attitudes and stereotypes about traditional gendered occupations are just as important as removing gender inequalities in universities".

 

An example of changing gender work patterns in Australia is given here:

 

THE ENGINEERING PROFESSION: A STATISTICAL OVERVIEW

Eleventh Edition, October 2014

http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/shado/Resources/the_engineering_profession_a_statistical_overview_11th_ed._october_2014.pdf

 

In 2006, the demand for engineers was 194,570 ... demand increased by 30.8% by 2011 to 254,515; equivalent to annual compound growth of 5.5%. Gender proportions of demand were similar to supply in both census years, but this masks comparatively rapid growth in demand for women engineers. Their numbers increased from 20,079 to 29,192, an increase of 45.4%, equivalent to compound annual growth of 7.8% compared to 5.3% for men.

 

So attitudes are changing and I would hazard a guess that it will also change in our hobby as more and more women appreciate that it is not geeky to play around with equipment and good sound is worth making the effort.

 

Of course they will have to stop talking first to hear it!

[Jud]

Often wonder why we stereotype people - women are like this and men are like that - maybe its our need to make sense of everything so we simplify things (dumb them down) to help us understand and operate in the real world.

 

* * *

 

Of course they will have to stop talking first to hear it!

 

Ouch! So near, and yet - so far....

[whoozwah]

Jud, that's what the benches/seats are for at these stores. Men sit there and contemplate the bill, while the women shop.

 

Or we could just let them go shopping without us while we sit at home and listen to music.