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Is this a guys only forum?

8K views 102 replies 37 participants last post by  uncskainch 
#1 ·
I'm just checking.....
 
#27 ·
Buck said:
There are more ladies here at the forum then many of you know which is why I am always harping on the language and sometimes the "bar room " descriptions of situations that I read... :icon_redf

There are also quite a few younger folks in here then most know as well. Thats what makes it such a special place, Its because we have men , women , young people , old people... (like Rex :wink: ) and they are from all over the world.

Thats why if we (or I :icon_lol: ) seem harsh at times it is for a good reason.
:proud: Aww. That's sweet. And I sincerely appreciate it, Buck. Keep up the good work.
 
#28 ·
Cord said:
I've often wondered why it seems that there are so many males on this site...
I think there are a lot more women here than we all realize. People usually seem to make the assumption that posters are men -- I've been called "dude" myself enough times, and I've also seen other posters (who I know from previous posts to be women) referred to as men. I'm guilty of this too (not the calling myself "dude", but the assumption about gender).



I'm a female (though by no means a lady :tongue: )
Dude! Me too! :hihi:
 
#29 ·
my 2 cents...so I warned and kept warning my GF to NOT name her fish....so she waits 2 months and then names a couple of them...a really FAT white cloud named "Bruce" and "Buddy 2" the Betta.

She got so attached to her betta she put him in the little plastic cup he was in when we got him and put him in the cup holder for the 14 hour drive from Lubbock Texas to Tuscaloosa Alabama for Christmas break! sheesh. (She also brought his home with about 1/3 of the water in it (2.5 g planted hex). :icon_roll

She's also named my gigantic neon tetra "other Bruce" since he's fat and cranky (shredded fins since he gets in sparring wars with the others so much). :icon_roll

By the ways, she mentioned she'd probably cry if Buddy dies. I told her we should just put it in the freezer...or put him in a box...cremate him and spread his ashes over the tank....
 
#30 ·
'Nother girl here! Lady? Hmm maybe not. I tend to spend my money on my dogs first...agility and dog shows cost a lot!....and then my fish. Right now all the tanks are full, so not much outgoing in the fish department. Tuition and books...that is paid with teh left over. LOL!

I too, find it hard to tell if the poster is male or female, but generally it doesnt' matter. Sometimes, when I think someone is one or the otehr then they post something that tells me otherwise and it takes a bit to get my head wrapped around it! I have to come here and talk fish because none of my friends understand my wierd fish obsession...I have dog boards that I go to to talk dogs, but I also have friends in teh "dog world" so that helps too!

Georgiadawgger...I have a few named fish. My two oscars, and my betta, who came with his name. and yep, I think if you name them, you get much more attached. It will be a very sad day in 11 years or so when I lose Marlin and Coral (the O's)...I have only had them less than a year adn I love those silly fools! I really enjoy the other fish, but they are just fish...they don't have the personalities of the others.
 
#32 ·
Well, there is the fat green barb, the one iwth teh orange nose, and the other three. The red tailed shark that lives under that section of the log, and the one that lives under the other section. White cloud minnows 1-5, neons 1-7, the male angel, the female angel, oh, I did name my weather loach...Stanley. Stanley gets into all kinds of trouble, so I had give him a name so I could give him heck a little more effectively. Then there are the plecos, the bristlenose, the clown and the albino. I can id all my fish at least as far as species, and can break them down to nearly each fish..the neons and tetras can be hard to tell apart sometimes.

Marlin got his name because he was such a chicken poop when I got him, and Coral just seemed like a natural choice for teh lutino! Even still, Marlin is smaller than Coral and she beats him up whenever she feels like it.
 
#33 ·
I wonder if it would be possible or if folks would care to have our gender (and age?) listed below our name, join date, location, etc. with the messages. You know, I mean where it can be seen as we read posts.
I think that would be kinda good for grins. I dunno.
 
#34 ·
I dunno Barbels. It could be amusing, but I kind of enjoy the lack of cultural baggage this carries. Everywhere I go, people respond to me in a way that is appropriate to my age and gender. And I them.

Here I think its kind of nice to approach everyone as a peer. And being responded to as a peer. I find it wonderfully refreshing. I'd kind of hate to loose that.
 
#35 ·
observant_imp said:
You mean guys don't name their fish? How do you keep track of them then?
I named all my fish... they all answer to "Lucky"... (lucky they aint in that stinkin LFS tank anymore. :wink: )

Cord said:
just happen to be studying feminist theory
Is that the theory of Revolution ? Cuz my whole life revolves around my wife, at least that is what she tells me. :icon_frow

Almost 22 years I have been listening to feminist theory, do i get a degree now ? :icon_bigg
 
#37 ·
scolley said:
I dunno Barbels. It could be amusing, but I kind of enjoy the lack of cultural baggage this carries. Everywhere I go, people respond to me in a way that is appropriate to my age and gender. And I them.

Here I think its kind of nice to approach everyone as a peer. And being responded to as a peer. I find it wonderfully refreshing. I'd kind of hate to loose that.
Very interesting, eh? When we have the opportunity to "drop the baggage" what is it each of us tosses away??? age, gender, marital status, economic statues, titles or degrees? Can you guess who has multiple tatoos, who is a millionaire, who is a pre-teen or a grandmother?

For a real treat, attend an AGA convention... you will meet the faces and personalities attached to the screen names and it is so cool to have such instant friendships with persons who are not what you had pictured in your mind!
 
#40 ·
Well I guess you guys (and gals) figured out from my post I am not a male. I am very much feminine. It was interesting though reading all the posts and here is where I fit into the hobby/gender comparison....and some more thoughts on the subject.....

I've always suspected that I'm somewhat a tomboy...(drives some men nuts)now I am sure of it...
- I do not name my fish, I don't care what they think, I like fishing, camping etc, and I am into tech gadgets, toys and hardware, drive a sports car, make my own money...but it stops there -very much feminine otherwise...

I have learned over the years - after 10 years in the Air Force and 10 in IT, I commuicate differently with men that I do women. Actually it's almost like two different languages.

Sometimes I think guys respond differently to technical or hardware posts when they know they are female...not all but some take them less seriously or don't respond at all...

In the end I guess I am just really here to figure out - how can I build the best planted tank possible - keep my fish alive and the algae gone!!!!!
 
#41 ·
Momo said:
I always think how disappointed a member would be if they got to meet me in person!
You lost me there man... how could that be ? I always enjoy meeting people I have talked with for so long on the web.
I used to be involved quite heavily in "on-line motocross racing" (Motocross Madness was the game) and we had teams and tourny's and had a blast but the best memories of those years were actually meeting the people in person that I shared the same fun with.
My wife and I two years in a row, flew out and met 3 other couples out in Las Vegas for a 4 day weekend and attended the East/West Shootout Motocross Races.
We stay in contact with them all the time now and have become good friends.

As a matter of fact just yesterday I met a great guy (bastalker) here on the forum and spent a couple hours at his house. Mark is a great guy and we share a lot more interests then just the tanks... hes a fisherman, a golfer and just has a love for the outdoors as I do.
If we never made the attempt to meet, I never would have known this... we allready got plans to go golfing in the spring :proud:

Life is too short to be "anonymous" :wink:
 
#42 ·
Although now that I think of it... my wife might have a problem with me say "Meeting up with a lady hobbyist" on the forum at her house or vice versa. :icon_roll
And most likely you ladies husbands would not be so comfortable with me over either. Even though that makes no sense it is actually gender biased in that respect.

Hmmm, we humans sure are a funny creature aint we? :hihi:
 
#43 ·
Well this thread has developed quite interestingly! You've all made excellent points, and now I'm not going to be able to stop myself from looking for some of these corallaries in male/female posters, haha.
One thing I consider when trying to understand why men post here more often is simply boldness. Men, being the testosterone-crazed beings we are, are far more likely to voice our opinions (whether they are worthwhile or not, haha). Like Ann said, though, "but not always". I know plenty of men who are more timid than the average woman. But I don't believe I am stepping over any boundaries and being sexist when I make that observation in general.
As for Planted Tanks, specifically, a great deal of men are more comfortable with the complexity involved in caring for a planted tank as opposed to simply keeping a community fish tank. I work for a consumer appliance manufacturer as a design engineer, and this is something we need to consider every day. If the appliance will be used primarily by women, we don't have as much freedom with adding what I consider "cool features" because the product will not be as well-received.
 
#44 ·
well yesterday i attended the monthly meeting of the DFW APC and looked around at the group with this thread in mind. here is what i noticed:
-there were more men than women, but not by a large number
-there were more non-minority than minority (by a large number)
-there were people i would consider "middle-aged" than not. (these are people i consider my age even though they are older than i by at least 5 years)
-people had a variety of jobs and income levels
-the quieter, more soft spoken people were the leaders while the loud,brash individuals were fun, but not really taken so seriously
-everyone was generous, supportive, well-spoken and welcoming
-there was none of the flirting or gender-influenced communication that tends to happen in gatherings where people don't know each other very well
i can't tell you what all that means, but that is my experience with meeting people face to face that i have enountered on the boards...
 
#45 ·
Regarding anything related to the internet I assume everyone is male so in my world this is a guys only forum.

I would never consider naming a fish.

Quote by GulfCoastAquarian:
As for Planted Tanks, specifically, a great deal of men are more comfortable with the complexity involved in caring for a planted tank as opposed to simply keeping a community fish tank.
This is why planted tanks appeal to me. Once you get everything set up with a regular community tank it can get stale but live plants always make it interesting.

I have only met one member from this forum. A couple of weeks ago Tom Barr invited me over to his house and he was a super nice guy. He spent about an hour giving me all kinds of advice and showing me all these cool diy gadgets he's made. Tom let me borrow a GIANT stack of aqua journals and sold me a brand new UV untit for next to nothing. In fact I had to twist his arm to accept money for the UV, he just wanted me to borrow that as well.
 
#46 ·
My gosh! What an interesting thread (and how it has grown since I last checked the posts, LOL!!)! :icon_bigg
Tho, message boards are not the only place a person you are 'talking' to, but cant actually see, can confuse gender. 100% female here, but on the phone, both my sister and I are called 'SIR' more times than we care to remember :icon_roll . Apparently we have deeper voices than we realize!
Heidi
 
#47 ·
Ahkuma said:
Regarding anything related to the internet I assume everyone is male so in my world this is a guys only forum.
Hmmm.


Ahkuma said:
Quote by GulfCoastAquarian:
As for Planted Tanks, specifically, a great deal of men are more comfortable with the complexity involved in caring for a planted tank as opposed to simply keeping a community fish tank.
This is why planted tanks appeal to me. Once you get everything set up with a regular community tank it can get stale but live plants always make it interesting.
I don't think this is a gender thing at all. I am a chronic tinkerer, and there's only so much you can do in a fish-only tank once you've got it stocked appropriately. Plants, however . . . pruning, moving, replacing. I will cop to less interest in/aptitude for mechanical gadgetry than my husband, although I always appreciate his innovations.

As for naming fish, I've done it, but only when one fish distinguishes itself by some behavior or color or something. It's just easier than saying "look at that big one who's always staring at us like we're TV."
 
#48 ·
fishwife said:
I don't think this is a gender thing at all. I am a chronic tinkerer, and there's only so much you can do in a fish-only tank once you've got it stocked appropriately. Plants, however . . . pruning, moving, replacing. I will cop to less interest in/aptitude for mechanical gadgetry than my husband, although I always appreciate his innovations.
That is exactly it, planted tanks are for tinkerers.
 
#49 ·
Ahkuma, that's so cool that Tom invited you over and was so hospitable! One thing that seems to permeate this hobby almost unequivocally is generosity and the desire to help out fellow hobbyists. I think that is part of what makes this the fastest growing segment in the aquarium industry.

Oh, and I also have to add - I don't name my fish. We have one fish with a name - and that is a Paradise Fish that my wife calls "Butch". Other than that, it is "The Gold Angels", "The Rasboras", "The big male swordtail", etc.
 
#50 · (Edited)
All of my cichlids and catfishes have names. My leopard ctenos have names. The SAEs, otos, and loaches, however, have a collective group of names assigned to any and all of them at any given time. For example, there are 3 yoyo loaches: Dr. Zillar, Dr. Zellar, Dr. Zollar. And any loach can be referred to by any and/or all of the names.
Only fish with real personalities get names. Geez, if I had all tetras I would never name them either :tongue:
 
#51 ·
None of my fish have names. Not even my darter tetra who I've had for almost 10 years and is my absolute favourite fish.

Although I do call all of my female bettas "Betty". But that's very tongue-in-cheek. Oh, and I used to have a khuli loach named "Archie", but he was named by the friend who bought him for me so it doesn't count. :tongue:
 
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