For Women Members: Are you comfortable posting/participating

[Drrich1965]

Based upon the question of gender, I would love to hear what women have to say about participating on this forum.

[Deactivated Member]

Obviously not.

[TreacleSponge]

Obviously not.

Suprisingly that hasn't encouraged women to answer the question

[Drrich1965]

Obviously not.

Now there is a helpful response that pays close attention to what is asked for

[Deactivated Member]

Sorry. Just a joke. Ignore me...

[Di Blasi]

The options are kind of uncomfortable, to me anyway. I really hope women do respond though, I'd love for these forums to expand and grow more with their input. We have a lot to learn from them gentlemen, and I'm not joking!!

[parvus]

I find this poll a bit strange, similarly with the poll about how many women post here. It's interesting, I guess, but does it matter to us? Should they be treated any differently or have their opinions carry more or less merit simply because of their gender?

I certainly hope not.

[Single Malt Kommunist]

Darn, we did forget to start a few posts about the best whiskys to drink at a hen party or tips about washing dirty nylons in ledaig.

I will share the blame with the rest of my male forum members.

[Reggaeblues]

The options are kind of uncomfortable, to me anyway. I really hope women do respond though, I'd love for these forums to expand and grow more with their input. We have a lot to learn from them gentlemen, and I'm not joking!!

di Biasi, I always assumed you were a bloke!( y' know "assume" -= makes an "ass" out of "u" and "me")

But I'm so glad to see you have a lot to learn from us gentlemen!!

My wife recently received an email from my sister containing some wonderful 50's wisdom - "The good wife's guide" which contains this gem:

"Remember, his topics of conversation are far more important than yours..." (Echoes of Harry Enfield's wonderful "Women! Know your place!" sketches.)

i'm always pleased to discover that a member is a woman, as it helps debunk the myth that whisky is either a man's drink or a macho drink. just as music is "art for the ears" so whisky is "art for the tastebuds" and I have found consistently that women whom I introduce to whisky consistently "get" things on first nosing or tasting that it's taken me years to grasp.

(which sort of illustrates what I know you REALLY meant di B. Just playing!)

[Di Blasi]

The options are kind of uncomfortable, to me anyway. I really hope women do respond though, I'd love for these forums to expand and grow more with their input. We have a lot to learn from them gentlemen, and I'm not joking!!

di Biasi, I always assumed you were a bloke!( y' know "assume" -= makes an "ass" out of "u" and "me")

But I'm so glad to see you have a lot to learn from us gentlemen!!

My wife recently received an email from my sister containing some wonderful 50's wisdom - "The good wife's guide" which contains this gem:

"Remember, his topics of conversation are far more important than yours..." (Echoes of Harry Enfield's wonderful "Women! Know your place!" sketches.)

i'm always pleased to discover that a member is a woman, as it helps debunk the myth that whisky is either a man's drink or a macho drink. just as music is "art for the ears" so whisky is "art for the tastebuds" and I have found consistently that women whom I introduce to whisky consistently "get" things on first nosing or tasting that it's taken me years to grasp.

(which sort of illustrates what I know you REALLY meant di B. Just playing!)

Not sure where I lost you Reggaeblues? Yes, your assumption is correct, I am a bloke, but what I was saying was the poll asks the same question, over and over, with an ever so slight, hard to understand difference between them. And I'm in support of women on this forum, their input will add the "spice of life!"

[arkle]

Ok, I'll come clean I am female, and I find some of the attitudes towards female imbibers of SMW to be a bit old fashioned, not from you guys, I hasten to add, as although I have only recently started to post I have been reading posts for about two years.When my husband accompanies me to events there is an assumption that he is the Whisky drinker.
Some men seem to find it difficult to take me seriously or that my opinions are valid, which I find irritating and somewhat rude especially when they continue to direct questions to the non drinking husband!.There have been occassions at WL where I have been completely ignored by the 'gentleman' behind the stand ( treated with derision by one, I walked away)Needless to say some are completley opposite and are interested and go out of their way to take you through some of their products.(BB& Rudd)
There, I feel better for that!!

[Deactivated Member]

I find this poll a bit strange, similarly with the poll about how many women post here. It's interesting, I guess, but does it matter to us? Should they be treated any differently or have their opinions carry more or less merit simply because of their gender?

I certainly hope not.

I agree.
Gender is irrelevant here. This is a site which is (mostly) dedicated to whisky. Giving information, advice, recommendations and opinions.
Whisky is appreciated (or not) by both genders, young and old, tall or short, fat or thin, bearded (yes, still) or not.
Why even question, let alone be worried or concerned about the gender of posters?
MT

[Deactivated Member]

A friend of mine at work goes to whisky tastings with his girlfriend regularly and she seems to be the more keen of the two! I always wish mine would like whisky, but unfortunately she only drinks the odd glass of wine.

[Willie JJ]

Keith you might as well say that parliament is a forum for the discussion and creation of laws; why be concerned about whether minorities are represented in it?

I agree that whisky is enjoyed by all, I just wondered if our group on the forum is representative of that diversity. I often get a lot from tasting events that have women present as the non-male points of view are different and invariably the events are more fun. I wondered how much of that we are getting here and it appears not much.

I dislike the 'boys club' image of whisky and think we should fight it.

arkle I think you should be open about which stands made you feel sidelined. It could be that the guys concerned are unaware that they are doing this (you know, basically they are just plonkers), and maybe just need it flagged up to stop it.

Anyway it is insane for a marketing effort to exclude half the population, so I'm sure if gets across to the companies concerned that this kind of thing goes on then attitudes will be made to change.

They must be made to change. Its disgusting! We're in the 21st century for goodness sake.

Sorry. I started ranting.

[martin grant]

Reassuring to note that (so far) 100% of those who have voted feel totally comfortable posting here.

[arkle]

Thank you for your support chaps, the worst offenders at WL London were Pebble Beach and Bowmore.I shall give them both a miss this year, I think.

[Deactivated Member]

Women's opinions on whisky:

The best tasting note I have ever experienced from one of my live tastings was from a woman when evaluating the Bruichladdich Celtic Nations #1:

She said "It has a Scottish nose and an Irish mouth"
Excellent and perfectly correct.
MT

[TreacleSponge]

Arkle - your posting style and language made me think you were a woman. Funny that you, SoMK and I share some traits in posts that the fellas don't exhibit so much. That's why I mentioned (male) horse in a different thread to see if you'd 'fess up

I agree about Whisky Live, but I found it was the girls who ignored me in favour of my brother (who was consistently referred to as my husband). At the Bowmore stand I asked the questions and she directed the answers to my brother! WL Glasgow was pretty much a meeting of middle class, middle-aged white men. Which isn't suprising, despite the advertising which show more women than men, and a good multicultural mix. And I think the same goes for this forum. It's no shock that it's male-dominated. It's not just what the advert shows that will attract more women, but more importantly where the advert is placed.

I think this forum is less blokey now compared to 3 years ago. There's more mention of wives and partners. And fewer posters say "lads" in their messages ("Thanks lads", "what do you think lads", etc) which was quite common at one point and made it feel like a boys only club.

Anyway, to answer the question, my comfortableness or not is not affected by being a girlie.

[Newbie]

The ppl at stands shouldn't have ignored you or anyone for that matter. Their job is to promote their whisky and they should be encouraged to target women as it is a huge market! Also its basic manners to address who ever is talking to you.

The women I know can tear me apart when it comes to tasting and aromas. They can detect all the flavours in a meal that were I can only detect; salty, sweet, yummy

The only problem they have with the whisky is that the alcohol can overwhelm them or that they don't have the vocabulary/knowledge to describe what they're tasting (they can taste sweetness but don't know its sherry becuase they've never tried sherry)!

Before there is outrage at the above comment, I have the same problems! Even now I can't really describe what I am tasting other than to say if I like it or not

[Deactivated Member]

This type of attitude is common in Germany, or at least here in Bayern.
Sabine is German, therefore speaks perfect German. Her English is spoken with an Irish accent and is also very close to perfect, almost native.

My German is, well, errrmmmm, not so perfect and my English is rather ...... Yorkshire.

Anyway, the number of times she asks a question (in German) of perhaps a shopkeeper or workman ... etc and they (usually male) reply to me and not to her is amazing!

[TreacleSponge]

.
My German is, well, errrmmmm, not so perfect and my English is rather ...... Yorkshire.

In my head I always read people's posts in a Yorkshire accent because I have a fairly broad West Yorks accent. You didn't sound very Yorkshire in your (very good, btw) WhiskyCast piece, or was that your telephone voice?

[Willie JJ]

The only problem they have with the whisky is that the alcohol can overwhelm them or that they don't have the vocabulary/knowledge to describe what they're tasting (they can taste sweetness but don't know its sherry becuase they've never tried sherry)!

Newbie it is precisely this lack of traditional descriptors that I find makes the women so valuable at tastings. MT's example of the 'Scottish nose and Irish mouth' is classic. These modes of description may sound a little funny to us because we're not used to them, but as MT observed, it is spot on. I love to hear whisky described in different language. It really opens my mind to new possibilities for understanding the drink.

Cheers to all
whatever your gender (including the others of course)

[Willie JJ]

Reassuring to note that (so far) 100% of those who have voted feel totally comfortable posting here.

Martin how can you see the result unless you have voted? I thought the poll was for women only.

[Deactivated Member]

After living for ten years in Hampshire and now a further nine years here in Bayern, I'm afraid my true Tyke accent is rather faded. But if go home for any length of time I tend to return here speaking a language that nobody understands.

I guess my accent rounded off a lot when I was darn Sarf as I worked in a sales environment and Suvvern customers struggled to understand Tyke.
In additon, when speaking regularly to foreigners (as I did in the UK as well as now), one tends to simplify words and pronunciation in order to be fully understood.

Well, that's my excuse.
MT


Meanwhile, thanks for taking the time and trouble to listen to my Podcast ramblings, it's good to know that people heard (and hopefully enjoyed) this.

[Deactivated Member]

Willie, you don't need to vote, just click on "View Results".


I also think that my earlier post may have been slightly mis-understood, or not worded correctly by me.
I wasn't deriding the idea of this poll, I was just trying to say that it shouldn't be necessary.
I still say that gender is, or should be, irrelevant and people's ideas and posts are all welcome, regardless of gender, size or whatever.
Social grouping is irrelevant here in cyber-space.
Just make everyone welcome and accept their contributions for what is typed. Not for what or who a person is.
MT

[Willie JJ]

Willie, you don't need to vote, just click on "View Results".

Ta, that's useful! I just wondered if there was something Martin wasn't telling us.

I wasn't deriding the idea of this poll, I was just trying to say that it shouldn't be necessary.
I still say that gender is, or should be, irrelevant and people's ideas and posts are all welcome, regardless of gender, size or whatever.
Social grouping is irrelevant here in cyber-space.
Just make everyone welcome and accept their contributions for what is typed. Not for what or who a person is.

I absolutely 100% agree that it shouldn't be necessary Keith, nor am I arguing with the desirability of your sentiment. I'm just not sure that people put their biases aside just because they have logged on.

Having said that, the evidence of this thread is that folks seem to be happy enough around here so let's leave it at that. It seems there are a lot more problems in corporate marketing departments than there are online.

Cheers

[TreacleSponge]

I don't know if this is a man thing, but I think it is specific to this forum, at least I've not seen it on any other forum (or icq/mIRC). When people find out a members' real name, they often get called by that. This is really unusual to me. Even when I've been a member of a forum where we had many real-life meet-ups no-one ever addressed each other by their real names on the forum board, just at the meets.

Like I said, I don't know if that's because there are so many men here but as this is the only forum I know that has soooo many men compared to women, I'm guessing that might have something to do with it.

[Di Blasi]

I too like the friendliness around here, but sometimes I feel lost as to who Nick or Woody or Jonathan, (yes, that's me I know, but do others that I haven't pm'ed with??) And I always try and use the member name so everyone understands, even if I know (Christian) Mr Fjeld personally, I'm just not sure others do. Anyway, just my silly 2 cents worth.

[Foey]

It's not just this forum, i also belong to a local motorcycle forum & a lot of people on there use real names once they become known & yes there are quite a few "Girlies" on there.

[TreacleSponge]

I too like the friendliness around here, but sometimes I feel lost as to who Nick or Woody or Jonathan, (yes, that's me I know, but do others that I haven't pm'ed with??) And I always try and use the member name so everyone understands, even if I know (Christian) Mr Fjeld personally, I'm just not sure others do. Anyway, just my silly 2 cents worth.

Yes I feel the same about everyone understanding, but I do feel disrespectful calling you just by your surname, so in future I will refer to you as Mr.DiBlasi, which is how Mr Fjeld could have set up your logon in the first place

But you will tell me that all your other forums are just as friendly

Of course not, it could never be so

[Di Blasi]

I too like the friendliness around here, but sometimes I feel lost as to who Nick or Woody or Jonathan, (yes, that's me I know, but do others that I haven't pm'ed with??) And I always try and use the member name so everyone understands, even if I know (Christian) Mr Fjeld personally, I'm just not sure others do. Anyway, just my silly 2 cents worth.

Yes I feel the same about everyone understanding, but I do feel disrespectful calling you just by your surname, so in future I will refer to you as Mr.DiBlasi, which is how Mr Fjeld could have set up your logon in the first place

But you will tell me that all your other forums are just as friendly

Of course not, it could never be so

I think Di Blasi is kinda cool actually, and maybe Mr Fjeld thought it would be a bit weird to have 2 Misters in Bergen, you all may think we're weird or something. Here 5 year olds call their teachers by their first names! But I too always use the respectful title, Mr. Doctor, etc, so you can call me Mr. Di Blasi Treacle Sponge, if you'd like!

[Di Blasi]

Oui!

[SoMK]

Jeez, I go away for a few days and miss all the fun

Like so many people, I think the poll is kind of irrelevant as we're here to talk about whisky.. but to answer it :
Comfortable speaking here, yes, like more or less everywhere else in Europe/North America... although, during Shows and Cons, I often see people directly talking to my husband when in fact, I'm the one working here but hey, that's insulting only if you want it to be. It's just something that happens when you evolve in majoritary masculine environment but no big deal..That's just bad information -that can be corrected- and new generations help nivelling the whole thing...
So, here, no pb for me, I'm comfy :p *well, especially if we reaaaallly get the Ooh Shiny level, that makes my girlie side go bling* *nudgenudge winkwink* <-- Ok, that was ironical.

This is a very cool and friendly forum, the only drawback is not being able to dram alltogether from time to time Whisky is better when shared.

MT & Treacle > Being brought up for a few years in Knaresborough, I adore your Yorkshire accents *melts*

[Mr Fjeld]

I think Di Blasi is kinda cool actually, and maybe Mr Fjeld thought it would be a bit weird to have 2 Misters in Bergen, you all may think we're weird or something. Here 5 year olds call their teachers by their first names! But I too always use the respectful title, Mr. Doctor, etc, so you can call me Mr. Di Blasi Treacle Sponge, if you'd like!

lol, heavens no! If we're being serious for a moment, the reason why I called myself Mr Fjeld is because I thought I prefered to be formal in a place where one doesn't really know the people you are talking to. How wrong I was! However, I cannot see how it would be rude to call someone with their surname when you've had contact with them on a more personal basis such as with pm's? In Norway that would definately be considered as being rude; "so why are you suddenly being all formal towards me" ? It may be hard for foreigners to understand but Norwegians are fiercely egalitarian hence titles are abandoned as soon as possible - the King being the only possible exception

Mrs Sponge? Sure you won't prefer just Treacle?

[les taylor]

You mean like King Fjeld.