So?

[Bud Struggle]

Why is RevLeft and Communism (one would guess) of little interest to women?

You say all the right things (abortion, woman's rights, etc.) on ReLeft. And yet there are few women who participate on this forum--it seems there's no real interest in this site from women. RevLeft is a guy's club. Maybe, 90% men.

What's the problem?

[LOLseph Stalin]

Because women don't exist on the internet. ;)

[RedAnarchist]

Women in general don't tend to post on forums. Female Internet users prefer social networks. I think most members here would much prefer it if the sex gap was closer to 50-50, but it isn't, and it's not entirely our fault.

[Zanthorus]

From what I've seen so far there's a bit of a hostile attitude between some factions on here which might turn some people off.

[Pirate turtle the 11th]

We are too ugly.

[Lyev]

Something to do with all the male egos that clash on here when people sometimes argue, perhaps.

[Invincible Summer]

I know plenty of politically active, leftist (Communist and otherwise) women. It just so happens they don't post on Revleft. It's not like this website is the international collective for communists worldwide.

Besides, even if one says the "right things," there are still women who are even against women's rights. Bizarre, I know.

[Ele'ill]

There's nothing cute about the site. It's very brutish and petty.

Rather than the women joining the men in a game of catch-up, why don't the men join the women in the real world and actually do something. :D

No seriously. Time's a tick'in. :(

[Robert]

We are too ugly.

Speak for yourself, Joe Dude. :closedeyes:

[yuon]

The reason that more women don't join is that we have this idiot troll (Bud Struggle) who turns a lot of people off. I've started six sock puppets, and four of them have left in disgust at the fact that Bud Struggle is not yet banned.

Indeed, I would guess that before Bud Struggle came to this forum, there were a lot more women. However, since about March last year, the numbers have fallen drastically.

So, my solution, ban Bud Struggle.

:rolleyes:

[Matty_UK]

I don't think the ratio is particularly different to any other political forum, but that aside the atmosphere here is pretty horrible. The design is ugly, I can't explain what it is but the website looks like it's made to appeal to angry teenage boys - whenever someone sees me browsing this site I always feel a little embarrassed. I never get that feeling with libcom, which has a much more pleasant layout.

Also, there seems to be a lot of glorifying violence and deliberate crudeness. I think there are some members who try to prove their working class credentials by acting in a certain aggressive, faux simplistic, anti-intellectual way to seperate themselves from middle class left-liberals, which I think is immensely patronising and silly and certainly doesn't win you or your ideas respect or trust in any real life struggle. I can't explain what this attitude is exactly, but I do know I used to do that myself a little and there's a handful of members I'm pretty sure are doing the same thing, and they know who they are.

[Pirate turtle the 11th]

Speak for yourself, Joe Dude. :closedeyes:

I included myself so not to hurt everyone else's feelings. Fact.

[Revy]

I agree that the design is crappy. Too much gray. It makes me feel depressed.

[Pirate turtle the 11th]

I don't think libcom has that many female users either.

[RedAnarchist]

I agree that the design is crappy. Too much gray. It makes me feel depressed.

There is another skin, which is blue and white.

[Revy]

There is another skin, which is blue and white.

That one's worse.

[125]

Wow, what a bunch of crap. So, when people actually question why there are so few females, the emphasis is on the fact that the site isn’t ‘cute’ enough, and that only females post on social networking sites. Yup, sure.

[Revy]

Wow, what a bunch of crap. So, when people actually question why there are so few females, the emphasis is on the fact that the site isn’t ‘cute’ enough, and that only females post on social networking sites. Yup, sure.

Well, I was just agreeing that the site needs better design. I wasn't agreeing about the whole lack of cuteness being why there's no women thing.

[125]

Its just lame and a scapegoat as well as condescending to females (apparently we only like cute things.)

The last thing that is wrong with this site is its design (which I actually prefer over libcom).

Bunch of liberal feminist boys.

[Jazzratt]

Women are pretty well represented at actual events and in actual organisations on the left. Revleft seems more of an abberation in respects to gender balance. I am certain it goes beyond aesthetics.

[9]

The OP raises a valid point but makes an incorrect assertion. The number of women on revleft is insanely small. The thing is, though, that revleft is not representative of international communism. And, in fact, in the West (in the US, in my experience) the gender distribution in left-wing "circles"/movements is quite even. And, in the cases where it is not even, it is generally quite close to being even. So I believe the issue with revleft has everything to do with internet culture and political forum demographics and nothing to do with communism.
Many "political tendencies" which are nearly nonexistent in real life are extremely popular and overrepresented here (technocracy, MlM in the West, Left-Communism, etc.) and quite a few more popular tendencies/movements in real life actually have very scant representation on revleft. I tend to think much of this has to do with the relationship between the demographics from which these tendencies are most likely to draw their support on the one hand, and the demographics from which the majority of internet forum users are drawn on the other hand. And where these two factors overlap (technocracy as an ideology + young white males as an internet forum demographic, for example) we find extreme overrepresentation, and where these two factors fail to connect (syndicalism as an ideology + middle aged black women as an internet forum demographic, for example) we find a total lack of representation.
But even this method of analysis is incredibly misleading because of the extremely high rate of young white males of any political tendency as an internet forum demographic and the extremely low rate of older non-white females of any political tendency as an internet forum demographic (and this also extends to, seperately, older people of any race/sex; non-white people of any age/sex; females of any age/race).
Having said all that, I still tend to think the following is also a very valid point, and an opinion/observation which I share:

I don't think the ratio is particularly different to any other political forum, but that aside the atmosphere here is pretty horrible. [...]
I think there are some members who try to prove their working class credentials by acting in a certain aggressive, faux simplistic, anti-intellectual way to seperate themselves from middle class left-liberals, which I think is immensely patronising and silly and certainly doesn't win you or your ideas respect or trust in any real life struggle. I can't explain what this attitude is exactly, but I do know I used to do that myself a little and there's a handful of members I'm pretty sure are doing the same thing, and they know who they are.

[Rosa Provokateur]

There's nothing cute about the site. It's very brutish and petty.


Agreed, RevLeft could totally use a make-over;)

[RGacky3]

Rather than the women joining the men in a game of catch-up, why don't the men join the women in the real world and actually do something. :D

No seriously. Time's a tick'in.

Really? Screw you.


Something to do with all the male egos that clash on here when people sometimes argue, perhaps.

What???


Women in general don't tend to post on forums.

Thats probably it.

[Pogue]

I suppose its a mixture of patrnosing attitudes and general sexism within society and gende rpreferences towards forums generally.

[cb9's_unity]

The ratio is pretty average for internet forums. It would be abnormally high if even 25% of the user's on revleft were female.

[#FF0000]

Thats probably it.

HURR BUT I WONDER WHY THAT IS.

I'm going to bank on the hostile atmosphere argument you know, more than a few female members have commented on it.

Still don't know if that's entirely it, but we could at least work on it. There's no reason not to.

[Bud Struggle]

The ratio is pretty average for internet forums. It would be abnormally high if even 25% of the user's on revleft were female.


I actually post on a couple of other Forums and both have a good share of women--each maybe 50% or more. One on classical music and one on religion.

It may be politics. Maybe women don't take politics as seriously as men. Or maybe RevLeft is particularly hostle to women.

[#FF0000]

It may be politics. Maybe women don't take politics as seriously as men. Or maybe RevLeft is particularly hostle to women.

Nah, like a lot of members have said over the years, there are a lot of women in radical politics. I think the latter is more likely.

[Bud Struggle]

Nah, like a lot of members have said over the years, there are a lot of women in radical politics. I think the latter is more likely.

So what can we do about it?

[#FF0000]

So what can we do about it?

Enforce rules on trolling and conduct, the lax enforcement of which has saved me from a great many verbal warnings and warning points :thumbup1:

[Robert]

Enforce rules on trollingA few female trolls is better than no trolls at all.

I mean, uh, a few female trolls is better than no females at all.

Yes, that's what I meant. I'm almost sure of it.:thumbup1:

[RGacky3]

So what can we do about it?

Why should we do anything about it? who cares?

[Ele'ill]

Why should we do anything about it? who cares?

Why don't you care?

[9]

Why should we do anything about it? who cares?

Presumably those among us who would like a more representative environment?