What's your gender?

Message

pianowizard · #1 Post by **pianowizard** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:17 pm

Just wondering how many people here are women.

#2 Post by **JaneL** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:21 pm

I don't think this is either appropriate or necessary.

#3 Post by **K. Eng** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 4:55 pm

Huh?

What is inappropriate about this poll?

#4 Post by **AlphaKilo470** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 5:37 pm

I don't see any reason why knowing gender would be an issue except maybe if the "both" option gets checked.

#5 Post by **jdhurst** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 6:22 pm

Iam neutral on this. A forum like this (civilized) is one place where anyone (young. old, disable, male, female, from any culture) can participate fully and be respected. Asking gender is much like asking age or such like. It may not hurt (some may disagree), but it doesn't help much either.
... JD Hurst

christopher_wolf · #6 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 6:45 pm

Well, I don't see immediate harm...but I do see that it isn't going to help anything. We are only going to get a quick demographic of whoever responds to the poll, not of the entire forum. Besides, who wants to know this?

#7 Post by **GomJabbar** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 8:58 pm

Responding to a poll anonymously shouldn't cause angst to anyone. If a responder cared to elaborate, that would be up to him/her. I suppose those responses, beyond just answering the poll, could raise the ire of some.

My P.I. commentary follows:

I suppose if one gender felt they were somewhat in the minority, they may feel threatened. My experience is that in some families, the wife is the computer "expert" and the husband just clunks along. In other families it's just the opposite. I would suspect that perhaps the male gender may be using this forum more than the female gender. One reason I say this is that for some, the ThinkPad is a status symbol of sorts. I suspect the females generally prefer other status symbols. Many men prefer to show their status with sporty cars, trucks, power tools, the latest technology, etc. (think: Tim the Toolman Taylor). Women generally prefer to show their status with nice homes, furniture, clothing, purses, jewelery, etc. (think: Jackie Onassis). How one choses to display oneself to the world has nothing to do with intellegence, it is a matter of personal taste. Many will probably disagree with my reasoning above, and say that ThinkPads are only tools and not status symbols. Could be, but I just think that when in the market for a laptop, men will be more likely to spend time on the research (and hence be members of this forum). This is because a laptop means more to them in the symbolic sense. Of course, from the utility point of view, laptops are just as important to women as to men. When a job needs to be done, everyone regardless of gender, wants what works well and looks good.

A second reason the male gender may be more frequent on this forum is that men are proverbial tinkerers, and computers often need a lot of tinkering. Just think of all the "wipe off the IBM/Lenovo junk" threads. I suspect that the men are often trying to "soup-up" their laptops by removing Services, adding RAM, etc. Most women probably take the laptop as it comes out of the box, just adding the software they need. One approach is not necessarily better than the other, just different.

End of (not intended) diatribe.

christopher_wolf · #8 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 9:27 pm

Now, now...This is all standard fare; but there is something different here.

Namely, the "Both" option in the poll

#9 Post by **JaneL** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 10:50 pm

OK, this is not a dating forum, and trolling is explicitly prohibited in the Rules of the Road. Locking this thread.