Lack of Female Representation

I’ve been spending a disproportionate amount of my income on audio hi-fi equipment for about 25 years and I can only speak from my own observations. All of the women I’ve ever known, dated or friends, thought I was crazy to spend that much to listen to music, and all in their own homes were content with smallish Best-Buy type “systems,” if they even had those. No opinions, just my observations. 

Of course there are lots of women audiophiles!  I run into them all the time at flea markets and music stores.  I spoke with my nieces, both audiophiles, and they spend their time listening to music (and living life).  They don’t particularly care to be mansplained to about things so they avoid forums populated by middle-aged white guys.  

Well if anonymity is such a concern, perhaps we should all use our actual names. 

Did you ever consider that some of the of the problems experienced by these female enthusiasts were issues with perception and not reality? To assume that these members speak for all women and that their shared experiences are universal is very dangerous. The kinder and gentler among use readily accept this as fact because it fits very neatly into the narrative and world view.

If you really want issues of race and gender to disappear, then quit calling attention to it and expect no special accommodation when you start to participate in a staid hobby like audio. The best way to affect change is to get over the feelings of discomfort and show these old farts that you have something to offer. Yes I did suggest that some of us step out of our comfort zones for just a moment. Some things in life arent easy as much as current trends would like to suggest that they should be.

jjss49 I love the way you equate social and political opinions with notions of worth.  

This has always puzzled me as well; it's not like women can't tell the difference in sound quality of various gear, and I'd think most of those would prefer something that sounds better than something else. So I don't know why this seems to approach 100% male audiophiles; I wish more women were into it.

'Half the 'Goners are women'? Maybe so, but I'd like to see how that statistic was arrived at. Half the people at audio shows and in hi-fi shops sure are not women; more like 5% from my observations. And explaining is explaining, I don't care if it's a man or a woman - never could understand this 'mansplaining' stuff... 

I tend to listen to sounds. My wife tends to listen to lyrics. Together we make a pretty good team.

Kindest Regards,
Mike