Why aren't there more women on audiophile forums?


I've seen this question bandied about on forums frequently. Here's a long analysis of the subject matter.  For those going to the beach and needing a read, the whole dissertation is available for download.

"Masculinity and gear fetishism in audio technology community discourse"
Annetts, Alex (2015)
Doctoral thesis, Anglia Ruskin University.

"This thesis is a study of audio technology community discourse and its historical features. I contend that the audio technology domain is fundamentally exclusive and hierarchically stratified, based on discursively inscribed prerequisites to participation and enunciation, notably a hegemonic masculine performance, gear fetishism and the articulation of technical knowledge.

I show that communities organised around audio technology, socially construct and perpetuate these features as components of their respective discourses. I expose all three elements to be rooted in culturally embedded gender stereotypes, dating back to a nineteenth century dichotomy of public and private space.

I present a deconstruction of the complex discursive performances of masculinity and offer opportunities for privileged masculine recordists to critically reflect upon their dominance and homogeneity within the domain as an original contribution to knowledge. In this endeavour, I investigate the emergence and development of exclusive tropes as components of audio technology culture, and demonstrate how they continue to be perpetuated in the face of both social and technological developments that offer possibilities to destratify the community hierarchy and enunciative function.

My methodology is based on a comparative discourse analysis of industry and academic texts, as well as the communities that surround and influence the construction of modern audio technology discourse. Case studies are conducted of two leading industry publications: Tape Op and Sound On Sound, and supplemented by an exploration of Women's Audio Mission. I combine these sources with interview material gathered from relevant industry professionals. In doing so, I observe how the audio technology community has maintained barriers to participation, often in the face of technological progress that offers supposed opportunities for democratisation. My work presents an argument against this notion, exposing the supposed democratisation as an illusion of accessibility and thus as mere massification."

https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/702044/
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Apart from basic lack of interest most of them may have better things to do.

Things that may be of a far higher priority than discussing cables online.

For example:

Hair
Nails
ClothesChat / Facebook etcKidsShoppingCleaningWorkWatch TV/YouTubeHelp with grandchildren
One possibly unexpected result of the so-called feminist movement has been, despite the introduction of all mod cons, the reduction of free time for many women compared to previous generations.

Ah, such is life in the 21st century...
In fact even as I write this my wife is watching YouTube on her phone and my daughter, taking a break from her studies, is posting on Instagram.
I could suggest posting on this forum to them, err no, on second thoughts, I couldn't!

A more pertinent question might be, why exactly does this matter?

And to whom?

Somebody's lame attempt at an out of touch doctoral thesis is nothing to go on.
Simple answer:  men more about things, women more about people.

Obviously there are exceptions,