Poll: Male or Female - Aquarist not the Fish!

[DSC reef]

I have had female profile names, avatars that screamed female and still it's always assumed I am male. ;Bored Honestly I can not think of a reason for the disproportion in males vs females, I have no clue.

Wait, your female! This changes everything. Lol.

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

Another female here. And here's another question for you, why are there so few younger reefers? I personally only know of 3 reefers around my age (early 20s), actually one of those left the hobby so 2. I have yet to come across a female reefer my age. Kind of lonely .

Young folks most of the time spend their money on something that they can showing off to others at same age range (Fashion, Makeup...etc), I do know some young woman reefers and they are actually work part time in a saltwater shop so they can get stuff at the base/whole sale cost, other than that none of women that I meet in the past 40 years interested in keeping aquarium at home, some of them even aggressively said it's a waste of money and of course we don't last long with the relationship

 

[olivia]

Another female here. And here's another question for you, why are there so few younger reefers? I personally only know of 3 reefers around my age (early 20s), actually one of those left the hobby so 2. I have yet to come across a female reefer my age. Kind of lonely .

Hey, make it 3 again! (I am 22.) I think time and money do play some part. Between working, classes, studying, volunteering, student organizations, living in a smaller apartment, and cost to some extent, these are a few factors that can make it a bit more tricky but not impossible to do a reef tank!

 

[Sandroni]

Another female here. And here's another question for you, why are there so few younger reefers? I personally only know of 3 reefers around my age (early 20s), actually one of those left the hobby so 2. I have yet to come across a female reefer my age. Kind of lonely .

I am 16, a young reefer indeed.

 

[Sandroni]

Young folks most of the time spend their money on something that they can showing off to others at same age range (Fashion, Makeup...etc), I do know some young woman reefers and they are actually work part time in a saltwater shop so they can get stuff at the base/whole sale cost, other than that none of women that I meet in the past 40 years interested in keeping aquarium at home, some of them even aggressively said it's a waste of money and of course we don't last long with the relationship

I spend my money on this hehe.

 

[SDReefer]

I'm a young reefer too!! I'm really interested in science and that explains why I love aquariums so much. It is challenging at times without a constant funding source, but let's say that 99.99% of birthday money has gone to fish and corals. I also teach piano on the side whenever I want that really expensive fish/frag.

As far as the difference between males and females, there is a lot of documented evidence concerning how different males and females are. One gender isn't better than the other, they're just different. Check out this link: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hope-relationships/201402/brain-differences-between-genders

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

Another female here. And here's another question for you, why are there so few younger reefers? I personally only know of 3 reefers around my age (early 20s), actually one of those left the hobby so 2. I have yet to come across a female reefer my age. Kind of lonely .

17 here (and male). I actually work for my grandparents who own our LFS, so I have a good amount of experience with fish keepers in general. Most young people that end up getting fish tanks overwhelmingly go to freshwater. This is likely due to the care necessary for new reefs as well as the initial price tag. I commonly see college students come in and buy a set up <15 gallon tanks

 

[penguin_free]

Nobody getting all microagressed by there being only 2 sexes to pick from in the poll? /flamesuit on

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

Nobody getting all microagressed by there being only 2 sexes to pick from in the poll? /flamesuit on

I'm already saw this coming but I was try not to say anything lol

 

[Greybeard]

Generalizing individuals by race, education level, sex, or whatever... is almost never a good idea... but.

Being your average, mid-western, old, fat, greybearded white guy, I'll give it my $0.02. Just for reference, I was lucky enough to be the father of 4 beautiful daughters, the youngest of which will be 22 in a few weeks.

Reefkeeping is a complex, expensive hobby, with a steep learning curve, and a very high failure rate. It is a fairly solitary activity... sure we've got groups such as this one, perhaps even a local reefing club, if you're lucky, though these seem to be going away rapidly these days. Pick a hundred of your co-workers, relatives, friends (those _not_ made through a reef club!) whatever... what are the chances of _any_ of them, male or female, being involved in the hobby? It's a low participation hobby, regardless of sex. Take any expensive, complex, low participation hobby, and you'll find the same, it's overwhelmingly male. Why? Here we go with the generalizations... I don't think it's biological, but social. Males are expected to be mechanics, engineers, scientists... What is reefkeeping, if not science? Women are traditionally expected to be teachers, secretaries, home makers, that sort of thing. Sexist? Sure... but it's not _me_ saying these things, it's society. Don't believe me? Turn on prime time network TV for a few hours.

Same problem exists in my profession... I'm a software engineer, specializing in industrial automation. You know what the percentages of females in my business are? Very nearly zero. I have 1 female friend that is an engineer, and 1 female acquaintance that is a software designer. That's it. Society just doesn't encourage girls to choose these paths.

danged unfortunate, if you ask me. As the father of 4 daughters, I don't believe there is _any_ biological reason that women can't, or shouldn't, do these sorts of things. That opinion is proved by the few successful women who do pursue more technical paths in life. I tried, as my daughters were growing up, to encourage them to do, be, whatever they wanted to be. I tried to encourage them in computers, science, mechanics. My four daughters are... a social worker, a convenience store worker, a cell phone store manager, and an independent muralist. Nothing wrong with any of these, but it leads me to believe that society (particularly popular media) pushes harder than I did.

 

[Antics]

I think @Greybeard touches on one of the more interesting sociological aspects of gender. Is society controlling the careers women pursue passively though media or other subconscious conditioning, or is entry limited due to industry choosing to hire men?

I work for a utility company. There are 0 women linemen or underground employees. On the other hand, 0 women have come into the office and applied for either of those careers.

Sure they exist, but the rarity is closer to a unicorn than uncommon.

 

[KJoFan]

I feel a "what is your job/career" question coming. Mostly for the females, just to see if we've broken away from societal norms or not, but would be interesting for the males as well.

I think there was a thread like this started on my local reef forum, where again it's predominantly male. I am always surprised that so many seem to be in the..software/computer/IT realm. But I wonder if that's somewhat skewed by the majority in the club dwelling in an urban area.

 

[penguin_free]

I feel a "what is your job/career" question coming. Mostly for the females, just to see if we've broken away from societal norms or not, but would be interesting for the males as well.

I think there was a thread like this started on my local reef forum, where again it's predominantly male. I am always surprised that so many seem to be in the..software/computer/IT realm. But I wonder if that's somewhat skewed by the majority in the club dwelling in an urban area.

That one would be pretty interesting. I'd bet it would be heavily weighted toward STEM type professions. Who knows though?

 

[Greybeard]

I work for a utility company. There are 0 women linemen or underground employees. On the other hand, 0 women have come into the office and applied for either of those careers.

Yup, that's it, in a nutshell. The electrical engineering manager at my company is a woman. Fully as capable as any man there. She would _love_ to hire women to work in her department... but she can't find any. Why not? Societal rules push women away from technical career paths.

Back into my obviously sexist work boots for a minute... I believe that most women should avoid career paths that involve pure physical labor. Biologically, the average woman is unlikely to be as effective at unloading heavy cargo, digging ditches, or other purely strong back occupations as the average man.

That said, physically, it's not particularly challenging to pound on a keyboard all day. My profession is strictly intellectual. Unless you believe that women are inherently less intelligent than men are, directing women away from science and engineering careers makes no sense at all. (if you do believe that... I don't want to hear about it.)

 

[dbl]

...I feel a "what is your job/career" question coming...

That one would be pretty interesting. I'd bet it would be heavily weighted toward STEM type professions. Who knows though?

There was a thread of that nature a couple months ago. I'm sure there have been others but this one I remember. Take a look and you'll be surprised by the varied background of the membership, and this is just a small sampling. It's not gender specific but interesting to see what folks do when they're heads aren't in their tank!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/what-i-do-for-a-living.315893/

 

[RamsReef]

Generalizing individuals by race, education level, sex, or whatever... is almost never a good idea... but.

Being your average, mid-western, old, fat, greybearded white guy, I'll give it my $0.02. Just for reference, I was lucky enough to be the father of 4 beautiful daughters, the youngest of which will be 22 in a few weeks.

Reefkeeping is a complex, expensive hobby, with a steep learning curve, and a very high failure rate. It is a fairly solitary activity... sure we've got groups such as this one, perhaps even a local reefing club, if you're lucky, though these seem to be going away rapidly these days. Pick a hundred of your co-workers, relatives, friends (those _not_ made through a reef club!) whatever... what are the chances of _any_ of them, male or female, being involved in the hobby? It's a low participation hobby, regardless of sex. Take any expensive, complex, low participation hobby, and you'll find the same, it's overwhelmingly male. Why? Here we go with the generalizations... I don't think it's biological, but social. Males are expected to be mechanics, engineers, scientists... What is reefkeeping, if not science? Women are traditionally expected to be teachers, secretaries, home makers, that sort of thing. Sexist? Sure... but it's not _me_ saying these things, it's society. Don't believe me? Turn on prime time network TV for a few hours.

Same problem exists in my profession... I'm a software engineer, specializing in industrial automation. You know what the percentages of females in my business are? Very nearly zero. I have 1 female friend that is an engineer, and 1 female acquaintance that is a software designer. That's it. Society just doesn't encourage girls to choose these paths.

danged unfortunate, if you ask me. As the father of 4 daughters, I don't believe there is _any_ biological reason that women can't, or shouldn't, do these sorts of things. That opinion is proved by the few successful women who do pursue more technical paths in life. I tried, as my daughters were growing up, to encourage them to do, be, whatever they wanted to be. I tried to encourage them in computers, science, mechanics. My four daughters are... a social worker, a convenience store worker, a cell phone store manager, and an independent muralist. Nothing wrong with any of these, but it leads me to believe that society (particularly popular media) pushes harder than I did.

Wouldn't it be nice if that were simply the case.

Study after study after study has found the opposite.
AS we REMOVE barriers to force people into certain roles (I.E. you must be a farmer or you die) we find that the sexes gravitate towards the extremities of the sexual preferences.

As for we don't encourage women and girls to go into tech, please, common. A simple search will reveal the countless funding, structures, clubs, committees, lobbies all geared into this very specific issue.
You want to know what I see as a father? We don't encourage girls to be women, and that it is great to be a mother and companion.

I say let the individual do as the individual wants to do, and equality of opportunity. By the same token I am against elevating or social engineering outcomes, or as you may have heard it refereed to as EQUITY.

And just to prove my point, this thread has gone from a Man or Women, to women are oppressed in a couple posts, for no reason.

Time to kick the wasp nest.

 

[cmcoker]

Nothing wrong with any of these, but it leads me to believe that society (particularly popular media) pushes harder than I did

Agree, only have to walk down the toy aisle to see the differences in what is directed to each gender, it starts young.
I wanted to take Shop (small engine repair) in 9th grade (1995). I was told no by my advisor/counselor. They would only let a girl in there if there was more than one that wanted to take it, and they had to take the same class period. I wonder how that goes over these days...
I was mad, mom didn't care, so I had to take another elective. I still enjoy fixing things (or at least trying), and my mom calls me, not my brother, when something breaks washer, dryer, A/C, etc.
I greatly enjoy the challenge of reef keeping. My wife is sometimes encouraging, sometimes can't stand it... Usually related to money aspect of it. She will notice if something looks off, and even help research solutions sometimes. She mostly likes the fish, and enjoys feeding them but beyond that they are my responsibility.

 

[KJoFan]

There was a thread of that nature a couple months ago. I'm sure there have been others but this one I remember. Take a look and you'll be surprised by the varied background of the membership, and this is just a small sampling. It's not gender specific but interesting to see what folks do when they're heads aren't in their tank!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/what-i-do-for-a-living.315893/

Oh cool! I must have missed this. Thanks!

 

[Giraffe0621]

Agree, only have to walk down the toy aisle to see the differences in what is directed to each gender, it starts young.
I wanted to take Shop (small engine repair) in 9th grade (1995). I was told no by my advisor/counselor. They would only let a girl in there if there was more than one that wanted to take it, and they had to take the same class period. I wonder how that goes over these days...
I was mad, mom didn't care, so I had to take another elective. I still enjoy fixing things (or at least trying), and my mom calls me, not my brother, when something breaks washer, dryer, A/C, etc.
I greatly enjoy the challenge of reef keeping. My wife is sometimes encouraging, sometimes can't stand it... Usually related to money aspect of it. She will notice if something looks off, and even help research solutions sometimes. She mostly likes the fish, and enjoys feeding them but beyond that they are my responsibility.

see this is fascinating. you have given me advice a few times over the past few weeks...
a) Thank you! and
b) PLEASE don't take offense to this, but I assumed you were male. It's nothing about what you did (or didn't say), but me assuming most people on here are men as it seems like most people I've interacted with in the few months I've been here ARE men... That 93.1% male stat from the poll above certainly gives more weight to that assumption.

but glad I know now -- not that it changes how I'll take your advice just interesting!

 

[Sandroni]

17 here (and male). I actually work for my grandparents who own our LFS, so I have a good amount of experience with fish keepers in general. Most young people that end up getting fish tanks overwhelmingly go to freshwater. This is likely due to the care necessary for new reefs as well as the initial price tag. I commonly see college students come in and buy a set up <15 gallon tanks

Nice, another young reefer.