Where Are All the Women, or: Don't Girls Buy Blu-rays? Seriously! (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

[SOAPBOX]I'm not one for serious or intelligent answers but while understand how it's an issue, I think people should try to ignore people's gender (or race or sexual orientation). Society's goal should be to just think of everyone as a person regardless of what they are. That's not to say that people shouldn't have pride in or celebrate what they are but I think that can also create divisions and thinking of ourselves as one group is a better goal.[/SOAPBOX]

Observing and wondering why things are how the are isn't counter to the notion of being gender/color/age/etc-"blind". I think we're trying to do both in this thread.

Being serious for a minute, this isn't a "perception" issue, there's just a plain lack of interest by most females in technically-oriented subjects like home theater. The same reason that, say, a forum dedicated to Barbie, Hello Kitty, or the Twilight saga, is predominantly female in audience. It's not just because men perceive these topics as being feminine, it's because most guys just aren't interested in them.

Now I'm not saying women shouldn't be interested in discussing home theater and Blu-rays, I'm saying that it's quite clear that most just aren't. I doubt they're being scared away by the big bad men on forums such as this one. Well perhaps the thought of Malcolm in heels is a contributing factor, we can't be sure.

For the sake of discussion, let's stipulate women are hardwired to be uninterested in 'speeds and feeds'. And men are. This doesn't explain the seeming lack of women participating in the Movies and TV forums. They aren't about technical boo-ha. They're about the stories, characters, emotions, feelings, experiences. Why is that?

How do we know there aren't hundreds of female members posting - 98% of posters use gender-neutral aliases

I've wondered this for years. On the internet, no one knows you're a dog

I know I'm being contrary to my previous comment about tedious conversations But it's an interesting issue that I've seen my whole adult life, through engineering college, grad school, and working in an engineering field.

In any case, I'm glad my nieces have my childhood legos to play with

 

[DaveF]

I have never had a female friend who was into A/V equipment. They usually ask me questions when they have an issue, but they are content to have it resolved and do not need to know how or why. I would be happy to explain, but they just are not interested. I personally want to be able to hook everything up and choose equipment myself without relying on anyone. (And I once kicked a guy out of my apartment for fiddling with my cables.)

While my female friends go to see movies, they do not have imdb in their brain like I do. (Funny thing is that I can remember some movie trivia better than things in my own life. Oddly, my other love, UH basketball does not stay in my brain at all -- can't remember stats and the names of long ago players sometimes.)

There are certainly women who are avid about these topics -- I just don't know any personally. Within my circle of female friends, I actually don't know anybody who posts on forums on any topic. A few might post and communicate with others about their day on their facebook page (which I find to be tmi most of the time).

I remember commenting to a friend a long time ago about posting on this forum. While I know more about A/V and movies amongst my friends, I said that much of the technical talk here is above my head. Even in movie talk, I know my knowledge of films pre-1960's is weak. While I may have strong opinions and some movies resonate with me so much, it's not always easy to analyze in writing. I think that the posters here are very articulate and knowledgeable. It can be a bit intimidating for the more casual A/V and entertainment fan.

But I think I enjoy forums like this because it Is a means of discussing topics I'm interested in with people who understand.

Elizabeth, if you don't mind, what are your professional or academic interests? Are you into science/tech/eng/math as well? My experience is that more technically-interested people are more into hardware geekery.

 

[Persianimmortal]

For the sake of discussion, let's stipulate women are hardwired to be uninterested in 'speeds and feeds'. And men are. This doesn't explain the seeming lack of women participating in the Movies and TV forums. They aren't about technical boo-ha. They're about the stories, characters, emotions, feelings, experiences. Why is that?

Firstly, let's keep in mind that I never said they were "hardwired" to be uninterested in tech stuff, rather that women are raised in current society to be more interested in other things. If we were to conduct a social experiment whereby a girl was raised from birth in isolation, immersed in and encouraged to take interest in the same thing as men, I suspect they'd turn out with most of the same interests as guys. The desirability of that is, of course, another question altogether.But in answer to your question regarding the lack of women discussing films in general here, well this forum doesn't present itself as a general movie discussion forum. It's called Home Theater Forum, and a cursory glance at the forum index page shows that most categories are more technically-oriented. So I suppose if the site name were to change, to something like Movie Chat Forum, the technical focus was dialed back extensively and the categories completely altered (e.g. instead of Blu-ray, DVD, International etc. we had Romance, Horror, Action, etc.), and a whole range of other aspects made to appeal to general users, along with conversations being steered towards content rather than A/V presentation and technical aspects, then we'd have a shot at attracting more women, and more users in general.But if all of that did happen, we'd also lose a niche on the Internet where genuinely intelligent, interesting home theater-related discussions occur in a relatively unmoderated atmosphere. You'd wind up with the kind of erudite and well-considered comments and debates that occur on such sites as Facebook, YouTube, IMDB, or Blu-ray.com ("OMG this movie rocks!!!", followed by "NO it doesn't, your retarted!!"). The general rule of the Internet is that the broader your audience, the more banal the conversations. It's terribly elitist, totally politically incorrect and completely frowned upon to say it, but there it is.In short, to attract more women, the site would have to transform itself into something with very broad appeal.

 

[Dr Griffin]

Firstly, let's keep in mind that I never said they were "hardwired" to be uninterested in tech stuff, rather that women are raised in current society to be more interested in other things. If we were to conduct a social experiment whereby a girl was raised from birth in isolation, immersed in and encouraged to take interest in the same thing as men, I suspect they'd turn out with most of the same interests as guys. The desirability of that is, of course, another question altogether.But in answer to your question regarding the lack of women discussing films in general here, well this forum doesn't present itself as a general movie discussion forum. It's called Home Theater Forum, and a cursory glance at the forum index page shows that most categories are more technically-oriented. So I suppose if the site name were to change, to something like Movie Chat Forum, the technical focus was dialed back extensively and the categories completely altered (e.g. instead of Blu-ray, DVD, International etc. we had Romance, Horror, Action, etc.), and a whole range of other aspects made to appeal to general users, along with conversations being steered towards content rather than A/V presentation and technical aspects, then we'd have a shot at attracting more women, and more users in general.But if all of that did happen, we'd also lose a niche on the Internet where genuinely intelligent, interesting home theater-related discussions occur in a relatively unmoderated atmosphere. You'd wind up with the kind of erudite and well-considered comments and debates that occur on such sites as Facebook, YouTube, IMDB, or Blu-ray.com ("OMG this movie rocks!!!", followed by "NO it doesn't, your retarted!!"). The general rule of the Internet is that the broader your audience, the more banal the conversations. It's terribly elitist, totally politically incorrect and completely frowned upon to say it, but there it is.In short, to attract more women, the site would have to transform itself into something with very broad appeal.

I think you should have put a winkie after that last line

 

[Adam Gregorich]

We do get a higher percentage of women attending our in person HTF meets than posting on the forum. They always seem to enjoy themselves.

 

[Elizabeth S]

Elizabeth, if you don't mind, what are your professional or academic interests? Are you into science/tech/eng/math as well? My experience is that more technically-interested people are more into hardware geekery.

My job is in the secretarial field in an engineering environment. I've never been very good with science or math. My main subject of interest was always writing/English-related.

But in answer to your question regarding the lack of women discussing films in general here, well this forum doesn't present itself as a general movie discussion forum. It's called Home Theater Forum, and a cursory glance at the forum index page shows that most categories are more technically-oriented. So I suppose if the site name were to change, to something like Movie Chat Forum, the technical focus was dialed back extensively and the categories completely altered (e.g. instead of Blu-ray, DVD, International etc. we had Romance, Horror, Action, etc.), and a whole range of other aspects made to appeal to general users, along with conversations being steered towards content rather than A/V presentation and technical aspects, then we'd have a shot at attracting more women, and more users in general.But if all of that did happen, we'd also lose a niche on the Internet where genuinely intelligent, interesting home theater-related discussions occur in a relatively unmoderated atmosphere. You'd wind up with the kind of erudite and well-considered comments and debates that occur on such sites as Facebook, YouTube, IMDB, or Blu-ray.com ("OMG this movie rocks!!!", followed by "NO it doesn't, your retarted!!"). The general rule of the Internet is that the broader your audience, the more banal the conversations. It's terribly elitist, totally politically incorrect and completely frowned upon to say it, but there it is.In short, to attract more women, the site would have to transform itself into something with very broad appeal.

I agree with all these points.

 

[zoetmb]

This isn't about being tech or non-tech. I know plenty of women who work in the computer field in roles as varied as coders, sales people, tech support, tech leads, product managers, project managers, etc., but they still generally don't care as much about great sound or picture as guys like us do.

Furthermore, even when they do, they don't need to talk about it. We all seem to need to be able to say, "my picture is better than your picture" or "my amp has more power than yours does" for reasons that should be obvious. Women don't need to do that.

And while women do love movies, they also don't need to come onto forums, discuss every little anal aspect and cry that directors have "ruined their childhood".

Having said that, I will give my ex some credit: She doesn't have a large screen HDTV of her own and she was out in California visiting an ill friend and upon returning she said, "You know how we used to be able to tell the difference between video and a film on TV? On (friend's) TV, all the movies looked like video!" Of course, she was referring to the "soap opera effect" and I have to say that i was quite impressed that she noticed and realized that it wasn't supposed to look that way.

When we were still married, we went to the Ziegfeld in NYC to see Apocalypse Now in 70mm split-surround. When we were waiting for the film to start, she turned to me and said, "I wonder if it's worth all the hassle with parking and everything to see the film here." Just as she finished that statement, the film started and we heard the sound of "The End" by The Doors in glorious 6-track mag. She turned to me and said, "It's worth it!"

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Furthermore, even when they do, they don't need to talk about it. We all seem to need to be able to say, "my picture is better than your picture" or "my amp has more power than yours does" for reasons that should be obvious. Women don't need to do that.

For what it's worth, and I'm obviously a guy, I've never felt the need to brag about having better picture or sound than my friends. Which maybe is unusual for a guy. I care more about picture quality than audio quality so I'll never win an amp power war anyway

For me, my motto in whatever home setups I've had has been "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good". I'm not likely to ever be able to afford the most top of the line everything, and I may never have the right kind of house to have a dedicated home theater room. So what I've always tried to do is set up the system that makes me the happiest out of the limited resources I have at any given time. I suspect that some forum members would enjoy my setups, and others would be horrified.

 

[ROclockCK]

I'm even further down the A/V food chain Josh. As I downsize heading into semi-retirement, I simply don't have room for a dedicated true home theatre anymore. That said, as large screen/compact audio bedrooms go, mine is pretty bitchin'.

So these days, most of my home video investment is in quality 'bucket list' media, specifically on Blu-ray. That's where I don't settle for lazy retreads and shovelware, and rely in no small measure on the opinions of the good folks here to help steer me clear of it.

 

[atfree]

Rock and Josh....I agree 100% with you both. I think everyone should be happy with what they can afford and what meets their needs. My set-up is pretty basic (Panny plasma and Panny home theater) mainly because I don't have the room or budget for a full blown home theater room. But it meets my needs and most of my friends are pretty impressed with it. My biggest investment is in BDs which bring me my greatest pleasure (audio/visually speaking).

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Thanks guys! My biggest investment was in the discs too...getting a projector was an idea born out of "well, I've already spent years collecting these and who knows how much of my paycheck, might as well get something cool to watch them on". My girlfriend and I share a one bedroom apartment, so it's just a simple pull down screen in the living room, and the projector sitting on a shelf against the back wall. The speakers were a nicely reviewed but relatively inexpensive set bought on sale. We use the TV for most non-movie things. But I still think in terms of the movie collection, to me it's like, these are my movies, and that's the stuff I watch them on, rather than it being a "Home Theater" in capital letters. When I go to friends houses the first thing I notice isn't the equipment, it's the movie collection. Most are smaller than mine but they're much better cultivated and I'm a little envious of that. All good titles, no fat in the collections. Me, I get stuck with feeling obligated to grab all the titles in a series, or I'll get and keep stuff I'll only watch once, and just about everyone else I know has a collection with no wasted space. So everything in their collection is automatically a strong recommendation, whereas I can't say anything close to the same about mine. That well cultivated shelf describes my girlfriend's collection pretty well too.