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10-25-2017, 11:59 AM
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 2,256
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Gender and Eratosphere
Is there a reason there are so few posts by women? The gender imbalance is particularly striking on the workshop boards.
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10-25-2017, 01:21 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Gloucestershire, UK
Posts: 1,790
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Hi Max,
I've wondered about this myself; it's something I've noticed ever since joining the 'sphere.
The only reason I don't post that often is lack of time. Presently I don't have permission to post my own poems on the workshop boards, but I'm trying to offer some useful critique; and I look forward to receiving critique when the time comes :-)
Best wishes,
Fliss
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10-25-2017, 01:30 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Iowa City, IA, USA
Posts: 10,099
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Max, I can't speak for other women, but I have noticed the dramatic decline in postings by women over the time I have been active on the board. For my own part, I can say that the often insulting tone of comments (usually, but not exclusively, from men) has created a toxic atmosphere at times and has sometimes made me take a break from posting here. At other times, my job just keeps me too busy to write, and at those times I post less frequently. I usually return, because I can always find some useful comments even when they are mixed with insulting ones from others, and it is worth putting up with a lot to get an idea of how my poem is coming across to others. However, when I hear only from men, I am getting a skewed view. It would be more helpful to me to hear from both men and women.
Susan
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10-25-2017, 02:21 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: TX
Posts: 6,630
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Interesting thread. I don't have an answer myself, but I think it quite likely that there are more women than men practicing poets in the English-speaking world at large.
Cheers,
John
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10-25-2017, 02:42 PM
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Member
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 3,263
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I posted a huge amount for two or three years after I joined--and I learned a lot. But as with Susan, life got in the way. Also, I've been going to workshops and corresponding individually with poets. But I am glad the Sphere is here, and I pop in now and again. I think the gender thing goes in waves. When I was first posting and critiquing poems, there were quite a few other women around too. I suspect their reasons for not doing as much now are similar to mine.
Charlotte
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10-25-2017, 02:53 PM
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Administrator
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Middle England
Posts: 6,955
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Quote:
Requesting some posts from you and any other women that you interact with. The board is too male right now and at least one recently posting female is a little concerned...
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Hi Max,
Above is a PM I received recently, but I won't identify the member who sent it. (I can't help wondering how many other people he sent it to, of both sexes.)
Aside from the fact that we both have busy lives, administrating Eratosphere leaves little time for posting critiques or our own work. Neither Alex nor I would dream of sending out such a PM and I took a bit of an exception to a member requesting me to post more often!
The simple truth is that we have many more members who are male than female, which is not perceived as a problem. First and foremost we are poets, and whatever gender we are is irrelevant.
It's a community of friends... gay, straight, married, single, of different nationalities and religions (none of which matters one jot!)... who support and advise one another, and get along amicably for the most part ( ...which matters more!).
Jayne
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10-25-2017, 08:27 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 2,942
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I joined the Sphere in 2002, and in those early years this forum, on all of its boards, had a much larger and more active membership. Participation in the Sphere has declined rather drastically during the past years. Reasons for this steady decline are likely varied and numerous. I have no idea why fewer women than men post and contribute. Many more women used to be involved but they, along with many men, have either departed or stop by only occasionally.
Richard
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