Well, the fact that men dominate at the two Metrical sites doesn't surprise me and probably not anyone else either. Boys talk most and loudest in the classroom, yadda, yadda.
I don't think that a rundown of the Met/TDE statistics necessarily is an
indicator, because bake-offs often attract even members who don't post every seven days. I remember bakeoffs where both Wendy and Maz had marvelous work (and were among the "winners") and at the time we didn't see their participation with items for workshopping. Many members have passed the "need" for workshopping, they are in control of their craft and many then drop out.
Others continue to post routinely and I think in many cases they do so to keep the forums lively and to support the newbies (highly commendable). You can't crit all the time without putting your money where your mouth is and giving the others a chance to have a go at
your stuff.
To take another Wendy-Maz-type example, Jan D. (and I am a big fan of his work as well) doesn't post so often, he too knows what he is doing with his craft, but he was a "winner" here. Based on these three high-profile indicators
, I am guessing that every bake-off has a considerable number of entries from experienced members who aren't necessarily active on a day-to-day basis. And in that category are many gals.
I never really thought about the gender distribution in our other bakeoffs, but it was so striking in this case when all six "winners" were male. I'll put a few doughnuts on there having been submissions from many of our very talented women members—not all of whom post except occasionally.
I repeat, this is in no way a slandering of Wendy (god forbid, I'm her #1 fan) or her choices from the blind material. It is just an idle thought which I perhaps should have left idling.
I wonder too why so few women post at TDE, and it may be that the entries to the bakeoff were equally skewed. I am not begrudging you, heck, I voted for you.
PS. I know very little about poker but have played a few times and almost always won.
Crossposted with Maryann:
PS again. Thanks, Maryann, about a third in other words. Next question is why fewer women post. I have a few ideas, but no facts.