Connection between favored genre & gender

[trinity1013]

ibwolf's boasting about his (vast) DVD collection in another thread basically made me ask myself if you can recognize a person as being either male or female by what s/he likes to watch. Which again raised the question of whether there are as few sci-fi loving women out there as the stereotype suggests.

I'd say the action/adventure genre is still mostly male-dominated. And then there's the love story thing at the other end. Where's sci-fi?

My personal experience suggests that the majority of sci-fi fans are men as well (as I am someone who's punished with female friends who are all impersonations of the cliché - with, needless to say, me being the only exception).

So, I'm wondering if they're people out there who don't fit the cliché concerning "gender-specific" genres and have similar experience. Like when I told my female friends that I was into "Stargate", they were all like "Oh, you dig that MacGyver guy, don't you?". I mean, how can you assume that a woman will just watch sci-fi if there's a hot male character in it (turn it around for men: hot female character in a chick flick)? So, have you ever been given strange looks because your favored type of entertainment is not the same as many others' of your gender?

I'd be interested in opinions of both women and men. I hope I haven't been (all too ) sexist.

[Pdixie]

In my experience men who enjoy science fiction are looked down upon by others, which is why I'm in the closet about my love of scifi to everyone aside from my friends. Personally I don't see the difference between someone who gets excited about a new episode of Stargate and someone who gets excited over a stupid game (football).

[trinity1013]

In my experience men who enjoy science fiction are looked down upon by others

Really? I've never experienced this. Most of my male friends are into sci-fi and they're the only ones I can talk to about it. Of course, they're - (stereo)typically - also into all the action stuff, but I've never heard that a man's looked down on for loving sci-fi. Why? It's not like you confessed your love for some sappy love movie. And even that would be okay, although really way out of the stereotype.

[Posherella]

In my experience men who enjoy science fiction are looked down upon by others...

I think that has more to do with the fact that sci-fi is considered "geeky" and people immediately cut to images of Star Trek conventions and Dungeons and Dragons. I don't think that stereotype has to do with gender.

It's fairly established that the male and female brain don't work the same. Therefore, it's only logical that men are stimulated by shows that women aren't and the other way around. It's why channels like Spike TV and Oxygen exist.

I'm sure every show on TV knows its demographic and caters to each major demographic group in different ways with their shows.

[Larry]

In my experience men who enjoy science fiction are looked down upon by others

As a male in my 40's, I got my "looks" when I expressed the fact that I really really enjoyed Buffy the Vampire Slayer. To the un-initiated, that was a show that should only be viewed by teenagers. I do think there are certain genre's that attract, and most definatly are marketed to certain population segments. I do think that good storytelling is universal however, and women that enjoy the "manly" genre of Science Fiction are, like many people, drawn to great storytelling that is done well the way Stargate SG-1 does.

[trinity1013]

It's fairly established that the male and female brain don't work the same.

Sure, but does the fact that I am a woman and into sci-fi (just to stay PC: for a man being into love stories/whatever else you rather associate with women) mean my brain is working in a more "manly" way? Do I have to worry?

I'm sure every show on TV knows its demographic and caters to each major demographic group in different ways with their shows.

So, what's the major demographic group for Stargate? Men aged 16 to 50, perhaps?

As a male in my 40's, I got my "looks" when I expressed the fact that I really really enjoyed Buffy the Vampire Slayer. To the un-initiated, that was a show that should only be viewed by teenagers.

Perhaps I should include "age" as a criterion here as well, not just gender. Feel free to do so in your replies. Actually, include any criterion you want as long as it makes you stick out of a group of more or less homogenous people and you have been treated differently because of that.

[Posherella]

Sure, but does the fact that I am a woman and into sci-fi (just to stay PC: for a man being into love stories/whatever else you rather associate with women) mean my brain is working in a more "manly" way? Do I have to worry?

I have absolutely no ideas what the demographics are for sci-fi or Stargate, but they must be out there. They might not be public knowledge. It might be possible though for your brain to be working in a more "manly" way, but I doubt it'd be cause for concern. Everyone's different and all.

There are lots of books and studies on this subject and I can't even pretend to know anything other than that the studies exist. Although I have seen a few specials on the Discover Channel. hehe.

[ibwolf]

Ibwolf's boasting about his (vast) DVD collection...

Boasting!?! I was merely ah ... establishing the fact that I have plenty of first hand experiance with DVDs. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. (In case you are wondering)

Oh, and (not that it matters at all) "ibwolf" is always spelled with all lowercase letters.

... in another thread basically made me ask myself if you can recognize a person as being either male or female by what s/he likes to watch. Which again raised the question of whether there are as few sci-fi loving women out there as the stereotype suggests.

Well, I started reading Sci-Fi because my mother introduced me too it. She's probably a bigger SG1 fan then I am so, yeah, there are sci-fi women out there

I'd say the action/adventure genre is still mostly male-dominated. And then there's the love story thing at the other end. Where's sci-fi?

Sci-Fi can be either action/advanture, horror, romance, drama ... it's all a matter of setting. Most Sci-Fi films these days are action/advanture (like the new I, Robot or The Chronicles of Riddick) but that's just because action movies are the ones most likely to realize the kind of profits needed to justify the effects in a decent sci-fi.

My personal experience suggests that the majority of sci-fi fans are men as well (as I am someone who's punished with female friends who are all impersonations of the cliché - with, needless to say, me being the only exception).

Probably more men then women, yes. 'Geeks' tend to be guys. The engineering department at my university is the only department where men are still in the majority.

So, I'm wondering if they're people out there who don't fit the cliché concerning "gender-specific" genres and have similar experience. Like when I told my female friends that I was into "Stargate", they were all like "Oh, you dig that MacGyver guy, don't you?". I mean, how can you assume that a woman will just watch sci-fi if there's a hot male character in it (turn it around for men: hot female character in a chick flick)? So, have you ever been given strange looks because your favored type of entertainment is not the same as many others' of your gender?

It's never a good idea to rely too heavily on stereotypes. Sure there are more men then women who dig sci-fi. But there are also more men then women working as software engineers. That doesn't mean there are no women programmers, in fact I know several very talented ones. It's just that they don't get much attention.

In my experience men who enjoy science fiction are looked down upon by others, which is why I'm in the closet about my love of scifi to everyone aside from my friends. Personally I don't see the difference between someone who gets excited about a new episode of Stargate and someone who gets excited over a stupid game (football).

Fortunately this has never been a problem for me. Maybe it's because I'm a 'geek'. Some of my friends like sci-fi, some don't but it's never a subject for even light hearted ribbing. Maybe it's more of a cultural thing.

[tera'ngan]

Yeah, I've always been a bit of a weird duck compared to all my chick friends (pun intended )! I've been a sci-fan fan since I was a kid. You name it, I loved it. "Space:1999," "Buck Rogers," "Battlestar Galactica," "Star Trek TOS," "Bionic Man/Woman." How many girls did you know growing up that had a Star Wars action figure collection - and played with them! My best friend in high school rated her movies by the number of kleenex she went through - drove me nuts! We did everything together . . . except watch T.V. and movies.
So, maybe I have a "manly" brain, too. But that wouldn't explain my hobby of quilting . . . I will have to say that I was in the minority - definitely had to have my "fan" conversations with the guys. And as for Stargate and sci-fi, good story or eye candy? Perhaps it is a little of all three

-tera'ngan

[trinity1013]

I have absolutely no ideas what the demographics are for sci-fi or Stargate, but they must be out there. They might not be public knowledge.

I'd be really interested in that. If anybody has an idea, enlighten us.

It might be possible though for your brain to be working in a more "manly" way

I doubt that my brain works in a manly way. I'm no good at math, which is considered a male subject. And I have actual "statistics" to prove that: there are only a handful of men studying what I study (languages) and almost everybody who studies it really sucked at math in school. Which suggests to me that there are many people who are either good at the "female" thing including everything language-related or at the "male" logical, math-related stuff, but very few are both. I think it's interesting, because according to that theory, we encounter two (gender-stereotype-wise) "outsiders" on Stargate - Daniel Jackson, linguist, and Sam Carter, physicist and good at everything technical.

I doubt it'd be cause for concern.

Oh, if you knew just how bad I am at math, you wouldn't say that!

[Posherella]

Oh, if you knew just how bad I am at math, you wouldn't say that!

My husband makes fun of me for how bad I am at math. I have huge problems adding without a calculator. I know it doesn't make me dumb - my brain just really doesn't operate on that level.

I've never heard that women are better at languages before - I'm not disputing it, I've just never heard it. If that's the case, I wonder why the majority of programmers are men then, since it's not much more than another language.

[joshing123]

Yeah, I've always been a bit of a weird duck compared to all my chick friends (pun intended )! I've

Most of my male & female friends when I was younger thought it was weird for a female to be so into science fiction (started watching ST when I was 4). When I was younger I actually rarely brought it up. Only my family and close friends really knew how much I loved it. As an adult though, I admit straight out to being a sci-fi geek & other then an occassional initial eye roll or laugh, most people don't think twice about it, especially since they already know I'm a computer geek (I also think it's partly because to look at me, I don't fit into the stereotypical "geek" category at all).

My mother has only recently admitted a love of science fiction, although she reads/watches a lot more other genres than I do. Two sci-fi gals in one family!

[trinity1013]

Oh, and (not that it matters at all) "ibwolf" is always spelled with all lowercase letters.

So is trinity1013 but people keep capitalizing it, so I thought I could do the same to you (I actually thought about it before posting). But I'm doing a good job at convincing myself that people just write my username with capital "t" because I'm so important. Oh, and as it rather annoys me, I'm gonna change it...

Sci-Fi can be either action/advanture, horror, romance, drama ... it's all a matter of setting. Most Sci-Fi films these days are action/advanture (like the new I, Robot or The Chronicles of Riddick) but that's just because action movies are the ones most likely to realize the kind of profits needed to justify the effects in a decent sci-fi.

So, perhaps some/many (?) people don't really enjoy the sci-fi but just the action within the sci-fi?

It's never a good idea to rely too heavily on stereotypes.

I know that. But there's also a reason that the stereotypes exist in the first place. And as someone who's basically continually ridiculed for loving sci-fi I am certainly not in favor of any stereotyping. I just wanted to know if the stereotype's justified. I can live with being one of the few sci-fi loving women and if there are really that few, I don't have a problem with not getting all that much attention.

Maybe it's more of a cultural thing.

So, yet another thing to include... gender, age, cultural/social background, huh?

[trinity1013]

My husband makes fun of me for how bad I am at math.

My dad makes fun of me for how bad I am at math

I have huge problems adding without a calculator.

Thank God, I am not alone!

I've never heard that women are better at languages before - I'm not disputing it, I've just never heard it.

That's very much the picture I get from my fellow students.

I wonder why the majority of programmers are men then, since it's not much more than another language.

Are you talking about computer programmers? Because, as far as I know, computer programming is all about math. I actually wanted to study computer science... that is, before I learnt that you have to do only math for one year to get started. Even if you want to become a graphic/web designer, you have to go through that, which I think is weird because I know many people who are really good at art-stuff (doing collages, websites, drawing, that kind of thing) but suck at math.

I wonder if ibwolf has to say something about that, how else would he know that

The engineering department at my university is the only department where men are still in the majority.

?

[aAnubiSs]

programming isn't all about math. But having a great understanding of math is a very good start.

I've programed in VB,C++,Java and I'm pretty good in math and algebra.
My friend also studied the same courses and he sucks at math, but he did ok in VB,c++,java.


While webdesign doesn't require any math, getting a job as a webdesigner 99% requires knowledge of ASP and PHP. PHP is very similar to c++ and therefore knowing math is good