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Why is NeoGaf so predominantly male?

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V

Valhelm

contribute something
The thread on the role of men in modern society reminded me again how so overwhelmingly male the demographics of NeoGaf are.

I've been a member of several online communities (Reddit, Zelda Universe, Tumblr, and various fan forums), but none of them have been as monogendered as NeoGaf. Reddit is often criticized for the blatant misogyny of its members, but there's still a bustling community of women, with dozens of female-oriented subreddits. But NeoGaf, one of the largest forums on the internet, only supports an extended handful of active female members.

What makes NeoGaf so popular among guys, and less so among women? Are girls just less inclined to discuss the games they play? Do you think the NeoGaf community, intentionally or inadvertently, steers away potential female posters?

EDIT: Read the fucking comments before posting. Saying something like "It's a videogame forum", or "You shouldn't have to ask" are pointless, offensive, and detract from discussion.
 
A

Azih

Member
Also Neogaf is 'hardcore' enough that only someone REALLY interested in games would jump through the hoops of applying for membership with a non free email address and wait for approval.

Most other sites are far more permissive in terms of account signups and actively try to make it incredibly easy to become a member.
 
L

LiK

Member
I dunno, while there's a lot of dudes, I've noticed a lot of females posting as well. Besides, sometimes it's hard to tell who's actually a guy or gal in a forum anyway.
 
M

Miss Riot

Neo Member
the backlash from some users against us speaking has done its job to keep us quieter than usual. I can only see "dem titties" in threads so many times before I dont want to contribute
 
T

Tawpgun

Member
does OP not grasp the concept of video games, specifically a slightly more hardcore following of video games, is a predominately male thing?
 
B

BeerSnob

Member
Miss Riot said:
the backlash from some users against us speaking has done its job to keep us quieter than usual. I can only see "dem titties" in threads so many times before I dont want to contribute
Click to expand...

Directed toward female GAF members or female entertainers? Even in the hypersexual threads I rarely see anything lecherous directed toward the userbase here.
 
W

WhereAreMahDragonz

Banned
As a girl, I think it might have to do with the stigma of being a girl who likes games, simply put. A lot of my female gamer friends are shy about the fact that they'd rather play a game than go out. Many are shy about it and feel that it ostracizes them; I sometimes feel this too. I think that there's a certain expectation when saying "I'm a girl gamer!" so a lot feel pressured to fit into that mold.
 
H

Hunter S.

Member
Girls do not always advertise their gender on here. The other half of this forum is a bunch of video game news, or opinions no one has to know.
 
M

Miss Riot

Neo Member
BeerSnob said:
Directed toward female GAF members or female entertainers? Even in the hypersexual threads I rarely see anything lecherous directed toward the userbase here.
Click to expand...

I don't see it to users here, but it's still a reminder of how people feel about females and it keeps me quiet more often than not. I recently got approved here after lurking and I found there's not much for me to say without opening myself up to attack. but hey I'm not like

HI I'M MISS RIOT because I GRRRRR a lot when I GET FRAGGED on DOOM! YEAH THAT'S RIGHT! I'M A GIRL! What do you think about THAT?
 
A

AlimNassor

Banned
Miss Riot said:
the backlash from some users against us speaking has done its job to keep us quieter than usual. I can only see "dem titties" in threads so many times before I dont want to contribute
Click to expand...

Backlash? Nobody here is telling women to not ever talk. Go to /v/ if you want real backlash. The idea off female gamers enrages /v/.

As for men talking about sex, why? Whats the big deal. Shoul we keep the fact we find women attractive secret? Should sexualizing women be something private?Why can't women sexualize men? I sure wouldn't have an issue with women making topics about hot guys.
 
M

Miss Riot

Neo Member
AlimNassor said:
Backlash? Nobody here is telling women to not ever talk. Go to /v/ if you want real backlash. The idea off female gamers enrages /v/.

As for men talking about sex, why? Whats the big deal. Shoul we keep the fact we find women attractive secret? Should sexualizing women be something private?Why can't women sexualize men? I sure wouldn't have an issue with women making topics about hot guys.
Click to expand...

no I'm not asking that this place turn into a church where sexuality is ignored and pretends it doesnt exist. I shouldn't have even got into it, but reasons are reasons and sometimes you just learn over the years to keep your mouth shut instead of open a can of worms because it's not worth it.

but if your big contribution to a new character reveal in a fighting game is "dem tittays" you shouldn't be surprised if I don't necessarily want to talk
 
A

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
Azih said:
Also Neogaf is 'hardcore' enough that only someone REALLY interested in games would jump through the hoops of applying for membership with a non free email address and wait for approval.

Most other sites are far more permissive in terms of account signups and actively try to make it incredibly easy to become a member.
Click to expand...
I think this may have a bigger effect than most people think. I know several girls who tried to register for this site, but eventually stopped trying because of the "non-free email" signup clause and approval times.
BrentonRodgers said:
Really? Try reading one of the 'xxxx sure is looking good' threads sometime.
Click to expand...
Yup. GAF doesn't seem as bad as Reddit for the most part, but there are still plenty of serious "this girl looks disgusting"/"sharp knees"/"lol girl" comments.

Even though such comments sometimes lead to bans, they still pop up often enough that I can see why girls would be reluctant to draw attention to their gender.
 
M

Miss Riot

Neo Member
Zoe said:
You think it's so bad now, try to imagine geek communities in the 90's.
Click to expand...

yeah I used to play a lot of Doom. lots of it has kind of been forgotten in my mind because at that time I was a teen and there was a lot going on because it's pretty hard to grow up for everyone at that age. everything bothered me and upset me and I was really angry. still am I guess.
 
Sub_Level

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Females are usually more casual. Nintendo platformers, phone apps, AAA hand holding blockbusters like Assassin's Creed, Tomb Raider, Call of Duty, and Halo. The works. Men are becoming increasingly casual too, it's not a good trend. Luckily I think neogaf manages to attract some hardcore females. Also keep in mind that maybe not every female posters wants to divulge that they are female, which is unfortunate since people should only be judged by the games they play and not their gender (or age/culture/etc)
 
K

Karkador

Banned
I don't think it's that women don't want to talk about games, I think it's more so that guys exclude them from conversation.
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
BrentonRodgers said:
Really? Try reading one of the 'xxxx sure is looking good' threads sometime.
Click to expand...

A lot of girls participate in those threads, you know. And 99% of those are joke threads anyway.

OT has its share of male-ogling fairly proportional to those who lean that way. If you don't notice it, it's because you don't care for it.
 
C

ChubbyHuggs

Member
Because it's a video game forum. I think we have quite a few women on the OT side.
Then again, I've never really ventured over to the gaming side, so who knows how many women are over there.
 
M

Miss Riot

Neo Member
Sub_Level said:
Females are usually more casual. Nintendo platformers, phone apps, AAA hand holding blockbusters like Assassin's Creed, Tomb Raider, Call of Duty, and Halo. The works. Men are becoming increasingly casual too, it's not a good trend. Luckily I think neogaf manages to attract some hardcore females. Also keep in mind that maybe not every female posters wants to divulge that they are female, which is unfortunate since people should only be judged by the games they play and not their gender (or age/culture/etc)
Click to expand...

don't paint me with that broad brush. a lot of females I know and am friends with don't declare it. that doesn't mean we're less passionate about games that cater to the hardcore.

Zoe said:
A lot of girls participate in those threads, you know. And 99% of those are joke threads anyway.

OT has its share of male-ogling fairly proportional to those who lean that way. If you don't notice it, it's because you don't care for it.
Click to expand...

the Arrow topic sure was nice
 
U

Ultima_5

Member
girls can't move their thumbs independently OP which makes it impossible to play video games. that's why there not here op
 
I

inm8num2

Member
Long-standing social constructs.

We still have a long way to go, but we're slowly reaching a point where your gender doesn't predetermine what you like/dislike.
 
jediyoshi

jediyoshi

Member
Karkador said:
I don't think it's that women don't want to talk about games, I think it's more so that guys exclude them from conversation.
Click to expand...

You're looking at part 2 of this phenomenon, part 1 consists of why there's a majority of men there to do that in the first place. Likewise, what does exclusion even look like? Isn't the majority male part inherently part of it?

Miss Riot said:
don't paint me with that broad brush. a lot of females I know and am friends with don't declare it. that doesn't mean we're less passionate about games that cater to the hardcore.
Click to expand...

Continually painting fighting game topics as 'dem tittays' chants is like describing gaf to someone and pointing to ponygaf as your first example.
 
T

twobear

sputum-flecked apoplexy
Because evolution and natural selection and cavemen and stuff would naturally make men more likely to congregate on internet message boards to talk about video games
 
W

WhereAreMahDragonz

Banned
AlimNassor said:
As for men talking about sex, why? Whats the big deal. Shoul we keep the fact we find women attractive secret? Should sexualizing women be something private?Why can't women sexualize men? I sure wouldn't have an issue with women making topics about hot guys.
Click to expand...

I think this is a good point. Personally, I never feel over-sexualized as a woman when I see threads like that, but I can understand where you're coming from.

There's a stigma that girl gamers are like some rare mythical breed. I'm not really afraid to join a forum about something I enjoy and I'm able to talk openly about it. Unfortunately most girls don't feel this way and believe that there's this expectation to be like Felicia Day or something like that. Which I guess ties back into the whole overly sexualized thing...
 
S

Steve Youngblood

Member
richiek said:
And we're done here.
Click to expand...

I'm not terribly interested in getting bogged down in this conversation, but I do think that this kind of flippant observation is detrimental to the larger conversation. While there is definitely some truth to it, I think simply conceding "because women don't like video games as much as men do" and calling it a day may not be the ideal attitude to espouse.

And I'm not trying to call you out specifically here. Your post just happened to be the most recent "and we're done here" post, and I'm just not keen on that sentiment.
 
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