Is Reefing Directed More toward Men?

[LeslieS]

One of the questiong JH asked me for MRMagazine was if I thought reefing was directed more toward men. I said no, but now I can think of some instances where it is. What do the rest of you (women especially!) think?

 

[LeslieS]

OK, one of the examples that I can think of is the amount of free time most women have. Many of the women I work with have no free time after work, kids, household, and spouse. I think this would be a major factor in women being interested in reefing.

 

[ming]

Are you asking for more work to do Leslie? :joke:

 

[Josh]

There are a lot of reasons for this.

In my opinion, I think it has to do with the male predilection for engineering. I'm not going to go into why this is so, but based on career choices and how students pick their college majors, it is.

In addition, I think that women have a harder time dealing with the loss of a pet and most of the animals we keep do not have the lifespans of dogs and cats.

Finally, I think it takes a special breed of woman to understand that cutting an animal in half with a scissors is going to actually help it reproduce. I think if people saw aquariums more along the lines of gardening than cleaning up fish crap the hobby would have more women.

So, you asked the question. What is YOUR opinion? Why did you pick up the hobby and what about it appeals to you as a woman?

-Josh

 

[lfsmarineguy]

Drinking in college got too expensive I needed a less expensive hobby :cheers:.

 

[LeslieS]

Are you asking for more work to do Leslie? :joke:

Girlfriend, I don't have kids, don't cook, and don't clean. That's why I have time to have a tank

more along the lines of gardening

lol - I actually love gardening I also like science, sim games, and micro managing.

Also, many of the things in our tanks can live a very long time. They are just more fragile than cats and dogs. It seems like that would be a reason for more women than men to like reefing. The whole nurturing, delicate flower angle.

I am really not into all of the equipment which is a big pain. It makes me procrastinate setting things up or making necessary changes.

For me the tank was a whim - like learning Korean, scuba lessons, becoming a farmer, painting the walls crazy colors, etc...Sometimes I stick with them. Sometimes I have half painted walls...

 

[ellebelle]

Josh, it's interesting that you liken reefkeeping to gardening, because that's sort of how I see it. I like keeping a tank because it gives me a sense of accomplishment to watch something grow and flourish and look beautiful. Sure, it makes me sad and frustrated when things up and die for no apparent reason (fish and corals alike), but in a way it's the frustration that makes it all worth it.

I don't know if the hobby is more GEARED towards men, but certainly there are more male reefers than women - just use this board as subsection of all reefers everywhere. There are probably at least 20-50 male users registered to female users. And, many of the female reefers we've seen come and go have just gotten into it to please their boyfriends. (I suppose you can sort of lump me into this category ... except, I still have a tank. )

I think some of the plumbing and tank set-up aspects can be very intimidating if you've never done something like that before. Plus, the men at the hardware stores near me are extremely chauvinistic and unhelpful, to the point where I've just had Eric go in for me to get what I need so I don't have to deal with it anymore.

 

[ellebelle]

I am really not into all of the equipment which is a big pain. It makes me procrastinate setting things up or making necessary changes.

Amen to that. Next time I set up a new tank, I'm hiring someone to move it, drill it, plumb it, build the stand and canopy and teach me how to use it. I've been so lazy about doing my tank switch because: a) I can't find the right paint for my canopy; b) I can't figure out how to finish plumbing the damn thing; and c) I can't figure out how to wire the stupid fan into my canopy.

 

[LeslieS]

Lissa, the men at my harware are very helpful, but they get annoyed when I tell them what I need the parts for. If you're not fixing a toilet, it's too trivial for them to bother!

 

[LeslieS]

Amen to that. Next time I set up a new tank, I'm hiring someone to move it, drill it, plumb it, build the stand and canopy and teach me how to use it. I've been so lazy about doing my tank switch because: a) I can't find the right paint for my canopy; b) I can't figure out how to finish plumbing the damn thing; and c) I can't figure out how to wire the stupid fan into my canopy.

That is sooooo true! Once I get started, I can usually figure it out. Half the time I just don't know where to start!

 

[LeslieS]

In my opinion, I think it has to do with the male predilection for engineering. I'm not going to go into why this is so, but based on career choices and how students pick their college majors, it is.

The farther we get from the 50's family ideal, the less this will be so. In another 100 years, I don't think we will see any difference.

 

[Josh]

The farther we get from the 50's family ideal, the less this will be so. In another 100 years, I don't think we will see any difference.

I hope so, because if that is what keeps people from joining the hobby then we need to fix it.

 

[Phyl]

Setting up a tank requires plumbing, electrical, & engineering skills that are seldom passed on to girls. It seems that a woman not so inclined to these skills would shy away from trying (unless she had someone to help).

I love a challenge. The challenge of getting everything just *perfect* so that the tank thrives, minimizing losses. I also enjoy seeing at home what I could have only seen in aquariums and while diving before. But that's another hobby not as frequented by women as men. I love gadgets too (and this hobby is chock full of them).

 

[daisy]

So I think that the animals dying part is not a factor so much.

I think that the women in science part may be - as well as the women in engineering part, mixed with a chauvenistic attitude at some hardware stores - but this is not the rule

I think another thing is that the hobby is expensive, and women have other priorities in different parts of their lives. if the woman is the major breadwinner and is not supporting her family with her earnings, then if she has time and energy and interest, then reefing is a possibility.

i can say that for me personally, i got into it so incredibly organically that i managed to ignore the high cost as well as the total intimidation of not "getting" the plumbing aspect of it.

and since it is so late, i'm not sure that this has made any sense whatsoever....

to be honest, i can't figure out why today there aren't more women in reefing. it just doesn't make sense. it is a nurturing hobby (i.e. good for the nurturing type), a relaxing hobby, there is instant gratification as well as delayed. you can go low-tech or high tech... and you can meet cool guys, i mean, cool people....

maybe it has something to do with the feeling of rootedness? by that what I mean is that I was unwilling to set up my swtank untill i knew that i was going to be in one home for a long time. maybe women feel this way but don't feel that they are in their "permanent" home until they are married, and then they get into the tank thing with their sig-oth? Or maybe when they get to that point, their priorities shift and they don't get the tank?

 

[inkblue]

I think women aren't into the "Mine is bigger" mentality so reefing isn't as appealing as say... shoes or clothes.

Same thing with boating. More men are into boats than women. It that 'size' thing that turns men into these sort of hobbies.

No guy ever goes, "Hey... is that guy wearing the same suit??!!"

:lol2:

I'm probably not making sense...

 

[daisy]

Dude - it's not the size of the glass box, it's what you've got in it.

any girl knows that

 

[ellebelle]

I think women aren't into the "Mine is bigger" mentality so reefing isn't as appealing as say... shoes or clothes.

Same thing with boating. More men are into boats than women. It that 'size' thing that turns men into these sort of hobbies.

No guy ever goes, "Hey... is that guy wearing the same suit??!!"

:lol2:

I'm probably not making sense...

Why does it have to be shoes and clothes OR fish? I have the best of both worlds. :biggrin:

PS: I love boats and learned to drive one when I was 15.

 

[prattreef]

Here's a link to an old Aquarium Frontiers article by Fossa and Nilsen that details their attempt at an Internationl Reef Aquarium Hobbyist survey that dates back to 1997. One of the issues was gender and the middle of the first page has their admittedly small sample and now a bit out of date results. To my knowledge this is the only survey of its kind and my guess is that there are more women in the hobby now, but not that many more.

http://web.archive.org/web/20010211...om/fish2/aqfm/1998/dec/features/1/default.asp

 

[ellebelle]

Cool article, Randy. I think those numbers probably are right... one night, Eric and I were trying to name all of the active female members on MR, and we didn't run out of fingers to count on.

 

[prattreef]

Judging by the attendance at recent MACNA's there are clearly more women involved. Many though are involved along with their partners and I suspect only a small percentage are the "main" hobbyists in the equation. Still, there is a marked noticeable difference in the number of women who attend the lectures etc. and participate in a real way than say 3-5 years ago.