I agree Mary, all clubs have a character, and poetry forums are no different.
But the Sphere has a deserved reputation for tough criticism and a lot of women are put off by that approach. There are many poetry forums dominated by women, Neopoet is one. These are self-congratulatory forums with little serious criticism.
There are also many forums that have a graduated approach; the Sphere does not, the three sections are critiqued with equal harshness.
Myspace used to be very popular with female poets who wanted 'appreciation' rather than criticism.
Some were good poets who found being publicly critiqued very distressing although they were often interested in private emailed critique.
Women have very different approaches in many areas of life. Vive la différence.
|