Lack of Female Representation


So who can explain the near lack of females in our hobby?  There are far more women discussing football than audio, by a long shot.  There are a lot more women into fixing up their cars as well.  I just can’t think of a hobby, other than ours, where representation is so close to zero.
simpletheater
Nonsense! Please dont use the word systemic..anything. And exactly who is parroting the flavor of the day? 

Who’s to say the cause and effect regarding a problem no one really wants to or cares to fix. Anyone who has been to any of the many audio shows pre-covid need not wonder why there aren’t more females interested in the “hobby”. 
A few day work strippers holding cables, a few silly cars usually in a color few should hope to emulate. Attending a show answers alot of questions though, for insatance “who buys these shoes with velcro straps”, “where have all the dad-jeans gone” and “Who is this dude referring to in the song Keith dont go and why”. Seriously though, women enjoy music equally as much as men but they just dont need all the ocd bs and locker room commentary. Nor do many gentlemen for that matter.
In what world does this even make sense:

So you want to attract more women, you got your work cut out for you. A public rebuke of the people who contributed to the rap threads will be a start. 
In order to attract more women to the audio hobby someone needs to string up the contributors to a rap thread on Audiogon? This forum = the hobby as a whole? Women don’t listen to rap? 

On other audio forums, Audiogon is a joke. Women not only consume rap but also make it. 
Goodness what a lot of opinions.

I am a female audiophile. My reasons are the same as men's -- I love music, and a good system makes it so much more enjoyable and engaging.

As for why there are not more female audiophiles -- well, the attitudes expressed here have a lot to do with it. Women are hyper-aware of where they are welcome and where they are not. If they sense that it's a "boy's club" and that they are going to be made to feel uncomfortable, they are going to shy away.

I attended an audio society meeting in my area for the first time a couple of years ago -- it was intimidating. I walked in as a new person, and the person signing me in asked me "who are you with?" It was assumed that I was the wife or girlfriend of someone who was already there.

Most of the people there were very nice. But the "barriers to entry" are huge for most women, who do not want to be the unicorn, regarded as an oddity.

That said, I hope more women do get involved. Some of the comments here, full of stereotypes and assumptions, are an indication that too many audiophiles have not encountered any actual women in the context of their hobby, and it would be a healthy thing if they did!


@towertone - sums up my wife pretty well too.
She'll play background music while she's working on something.

Almost the only time she will sit still are if we are out listening to live music at events, like one we're probably going to this coming week. It is nice to see her dressed up (I often think it's to look good in front of the other ladies).

I must admit that going to listen to live music, especially unmiked, it really calibrates the mind to what music and singing actually sounds like in the flesh.