Any gals into aquatics?

[JaimeAdams]

We have several women in our local reef club.

 

[Iona Skye]

What part of VA? We have a lot of good LFS in the DC area and the local reef club, WAMAS, is really great.

Quantico, but I know a few people in DC area and I'll be taking regular trips to the National Aquarium!

 

[Leslie Tabor]

Have not met a gal, but I am a gal. I’ve always found it odd that more women aren’t into reef keeping.

My hubby thinks it weird that this hobby is primarily male dominated. I spend so much time with my tank. He just doesn't get why men would do this. Lol

 

[HexaReef]

My wife is very much into the hobby, and will not hesitate to point out to me what I have done wrong.

Amen...

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

females + reefing = hot

 

[Kali]

Threads like these pull the woman out of the live rock, so to speak.

 

[Adele]

Female here! And my 17 year old daughter is also into reefs and freshwater tanks (has 5 or 6 tanks in her room right now). My 7 year old daughter also keeps a tank in her room. The guys in our family have little to no interest in reef keeping.

Hey there....and a fellow Shrimp Bowl competitor who will also be sporting a new RNN t-shirt too!

 

[Scrubber_steve]

I see what you're saying, but I think I'd blame the difference on our culture, not our brains. I really think girls are taught to be squeamish and encouraged to pick secretary work over hard sciences.

This isn't the case really. Adele's thoughts are correct.
In the most egalitarian cultures, where woman were not only given full opportunity to choose their vocations, but encouraged to take on traditionally male dominated roles like engineering, the majority chose roles that dealt with people.

Male & females, on the average, are different. Males are interested in stuff, while females are more interested in people.
All reputable studies come to this conclusion.
I don't see this as a bad thing. Quite the opposite.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Welcome!

 

[TriggerFinger]

Female here, newb also. My dad had a reef tank for about 10 years and that’s what got me interested. Triggers kept me interested and here I am finally setting up my first tank!!

 

[Salty Lemon]

Hello! I'm really curious.... Are there many gals on this forum or mostly dudes?

I'm a chick, but 99.9% of aquarists I meet are all dudes. Seriously, I've only met ONE gal who was getting into reefing and actually knew what she was talking about. I've run into a couple other gals at the lfs, but they predominantly fit that awful cringy stereotype of "help, I know nothing and I keep killing my fish hahaha" (which seriously ticks me off, but that's a separate issue).

Sooooo.... Have you met many gals in this hobby? What's your experience?

I'm here! I'm here! But yes...this does seem to be a male dominated hobby. I find it funny because whenever my husband and I go into a new marine store, the sales people automatically start talking to him. He quickly says "This is my wife's hobby. She's the person you need to chat with." I'm new to R2R too, but I've been into aquariums for a long time. My husband helps me move the tanks, and occasionally I need to borrow one of his power tools -- that's it.

 

[Iona Skye]

Threads like these pull the woman out of the live rock, so to speak.

Yes indeed! Haha!

 

[Iona Skye]

This isn't the case really. Adele's thoughts are correct.
In the most egalitarian cultures, where woman were not only given full opportunity to choose their vocations, but encouraged to take on traditionally male dominated roles like engineering, the majority chose roles that dealt with people.

Male & females, on the average, are different. Males are interested in stuff, while females are more interested in people.
All reputable studies come to this conclusion.
I don't see this as a bad thing. Quite the opposite.

Very interesting! I have heard some research about relationships that found women's primary need is connection/with-ness and men need support/cheerleader/for-ness (to generalize). It does make sense, as a generalization.

Maybe I'm just an outlier looking for other oddballs like me. I like doing things and building things and I really think I might have made a decent mechanic or engineer, but I stuck with more socially acceptable options and I think that was a mistake.

I still have a lot of complaints about western culture, of course.... So sorry if I what I said earlier was rude, that was not my intention.

Anyway those are my thoughts...

 

[Iona Skye]

Very interesting! I have heard some research about relationships that found women's primary need is connection/with-ness and men need support/cheerleader/for-ness (to generalize). It does make sense, as a generalization.

Maybe I'm just an outlier looking for other oddballs like me. I like doing things and building things and I really think I might have made a decent mechanic or engineer, but I stuck with more socially acceptable options and I think that was a mistake.

I still have a lot of complaints about western culture, of course.... So sorry if I what I said earlier was rude, that was not my intention.

Anyway those are my thoughts...

(Also, America is really struggling through gender and race issues right now so that's the backdrop of where I live and grew up.)

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

I should say that I didn't realize how male dominant this hobby was until my wife and I went to RAP for the first time a few years ago. We are very much in this hobby together.

We would walk up to a vendor and had the following happen:

• Walk up, ignore wife and engage me
• Wife asks question, turn and talk to me, I told them to answer her

And at a LFS about an hour north of us (it has since closed), my wife went in while I was at work, manager asks if she has any questions replies not yet, doesn't see anything she wanted, as she left he called out "bring your husband next time".

I think the mindset of some people in the hobby is part of what has driven it this direction.

 

[Iona Skye]

I should say that I didn't realize how male dominant this hobby was until my wife and I went to RAP for the first time a few years ago. We are very much in this hobby together.

We would walk up to a vendor and had the following happen:

• Walk up, ignore wife and engage me
• Wife asks question, turn and talk to me, I told them to answer her

And at a LFS about an hour north of us (it has since closed), my wife went in while I was at work, manager asks if she has any questions replies not yet, doesn't see anything she wanted, as she left he called out "bring your husband next time".

I think the mindset of some people in the hobby is part of what has driven it this direction.

You know, just hearing that I'm not alone makes it so much easier to have patience with people who don't realize they're doing this sort of thing. It can change. Slowly.

Thanks for sharing your story!

 

[Scrubber_steve]

I like doing things and building things and I really think I might have made a decent mechanic or engineer, but I stuck with more socially acceptable options and I think that was a mistake.

I'm surre you would have made a decent mechanic or engineer, if only for the reason that it interested you.
>>Your<< mistake was letting your perceptions overly influence your decision. Not to sound mean, but did you ever try to become, say, a mechanic? You could have if you really wanted to, in a western society, which may not appear perfect, unless compared to other cultures

 

[dbl]

Male here, but the father of two wonderful daughters, not to mention their mother who I've been with for 37 years, so that has to count for something.

Might be time for an updated poll to see how much has changed in a year.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/poll-male-or-female-aquarist-not-the-fish.328680/

 

[Iona Skye]

I'm surre you would have made a decent mechanic or engineer, if only for the reason that it interested you.
>>Your<< mistake was letting your perceptions overly influence your decision. Not to sound mean, but did you ever try to become, say, a mechanic? You could have if you really wanted to, in a western society, which may not appear perfect, unless compared to other cultures

I agree, my mistake. Yup yup yup. But I would also say that I was severely misguided. What does a teenager know about the world besides what people have told and shown them?

And to answer your question - I am about to. I am switching careers right now. This isn't going to be easy though...

I know I do complain, and I'm sure that's annoying. Believe you me - I am very grateful to live in a place where it IS possible to do nearly anything.

However, breaking glass ceilings is not as trivial as it may seem. Minorities in a non-traditional field have to work 5x harder than everyone else just to make it. (Could be gender, race, religion, nationality, or any trait that a group of people have collectively decided sets people apart.)

And careful there - Just because it's worse somewhere else doesn't mean we should stop trying to improve where we are. [emoji106]

And again, sorry for complaining about my culture. This is the wrong place to complain and I'll shush now.

 

[Iona Skye]

Male here, but the father of two wonderful daughters, not to mention their mother who I've been with for 37 years, so that has to count for something.

Might be time for an updated poll to see how much has changed in a year.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/poll-male-or-female-aquarist-not-the-fish.328680/

Yeah! Let's do it! Sounds fun and the comparison might be interesting!

Nice pic, is that your daughter at the shooting range? [emoji1]