Woman-friendly photography forums?

[Teresa At]

I'm not saying that this forum isn't women-friendly, however, when the default avatar is an obvious male sillhouette, we're off to a bad start, I'd say.

I'm asking the women. Do you have favored forums where you go, where you feel comfortable conveying that you're a woman in this man's world of photography?

 

[TrapperJohn]

It would help with the overall quality of discussion.

I've noticed that even the most vitriolic posters tend to get all polite when a photo of a pretty gal appears in an avatar.

 

[tko]

Seriously, why does the gender matter? No one knows who you are on-line, it's all about the quality of info, not your sex.

And is it a man's world of photography? There are a lot of great women photographers out there.

I'd rather not deal in sexist terms. This is a techno-weenie site, lots of people, men and women, would be more comfortable w/a more humanistic approach, if so, that's what I ask.

The default Avatar is a white male because that's probably the majority of posters here, I guess you could make it an Asian women, would that make anyone feel better?

In my posting here I've never once thought about what my Avatar look like ?

I'm not saying that this forum isn't women-friendly, however, when the default avatar is an obvious male sillhouette, we're off to a bad start, I'd say.

I'm asking the women. Do you have favored forums where you go, where you feel comfortable conveying that you're a woman in this man's world of photography?

 

[Playsinthedirt]

I'm not saying that this forum isn't women-friendly, however, when the default avatar is an obvious male sillhouette, we're off to a bad start, I'd say.

I'm asking the women. Do you have favored forums where you go, where you feel comfortable conveying that you're a woman in this man's world of photography?

And gender makes a difference when one is seeking advice and trying to learn about Photography? Just curious...
--
Greg

 

[Teresa At]

The gender makes a difference in how much respect is given to the information requester, yes.

The information isn't worth much if it's given in a snide manner.

 

[Teresa At]

The responses I've gotten so far pretty much prove my point.

I asked women where they go. I've immediately gotten 3 responses, all from men, all saying there's something wrong with my request, not even wondering why I feel that way. There's simply something wrong with me.

 

[mamallama]

It would help with the overall quality of discussion.

I've noticed that even the most vitriolic posters tend to get all polite when a photo of a pretty gal appears in an avatar.

Maybe, but some very vitriolic posters, themselves, are women. But, yes, that might help them get polite, also.

--mamallama

 

[Playsinthedirt]

The responses I've gotten so far pretty much prove my point.

I asked women where they go. I've immediately gotten 3 responses, all from men, all saying there's something wrong with my request, not even wondering why I feel that way. There's simply something wrong with me.

Where in my post did I ever say something was wrong with your request? I was going to ask why you feel that way but was leery of doing so.

--
Greg

 

[wiwi]

Hi Teresa,

You're right in that these forums are very male dominated but for me it's never really been an issue. I'm a frequenter of the Canon 500D-300D forum and I'd like to think they think of me as an equal member there. There are also other female posters such as Olga Johnson whose opinion is very well respected.

There have been times when the response I've had has been a little terse or snide, but I put that down to a reaction to what I had said or asked and the way I worded it, as opposed to my gender. Sometimes English is not the first language.

Written communication is so hard and it's easy to misread or misunderstand a post and react negatively and likewise, it's easy to put your own tone into a post from someone else.

I say stick with it, ignore the trolls and I hope your experience of these forums improves. I've found them an invaluable source of information and inspiration, but I do also wish you luck in your search for somewhere you feel more welcome.

Cheers Olivia
--
The world is too big for one lifetime, and one lens.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oliviamair/

 

[iMac therefore iAm]

The gender makes a difference in how much respect is given to the information requester, yes.

The information isn't worth much if it's given in a snide manner.

No, gender doesn't make a difference, attitude does, and you showed a very bad attitude yesterday to perfectly courteous responses. (OK, one response was a bit coarse, but you bit the head off of two other respondents who had very valid potential solutions to your problem). Whether you incorrectly interpreted the responses to be snide or not, doesn't change their validity. In fact, you validated my response when you admitted you stood away from the viewfinder (thus allowing light to come in and 'possibly' throw off the metering).

 

[Ron Poelman]

and let your photos do the talking.

, however, when the default avatar is an obvious male sillhouette, we're off to a bad start, I'd say.

You were expecting a goat ?
What a stupid, sexist piece of simplistic drivel to spout.

Of all the things that get squabbled about on these forums,
the sex of the respondent doesn't even get a look in.

You're insulting a lot of people here with clichéd sloganning like this.
Not to mention making the women who do use these forums, cringe.
As an obvious sexual bigot, maybe you DO need another forum.
--

 

[mhc_99]

I've been on this site for about 3 years and I have never seen negative reactions based on gender alone. What I have seen leads me to believe that responses to questions has to do more with attitude than gender. I've seen people here be incredibly patient and helpful to people posting the most basic questions. I've also seen very dismissive responses (both to men and women), but in general the tone of the original poster determines the kind of response they get.

You mentioned that no one had asked you why you feel that DPR is problematic for you, so I will ask. Is there something or someone with whom you've experienced problems?

Marion

 

[Marcamera]

I'm not saying that this forum isn't women-friendly, however, when the default avatar is an obvious male sillhouette, we're off to a bad start, I'd say.

Out of 45 OP's on the first page of Open Talk Forum listing, 17 seem to be male.
As for the rest of them, there isno indication of gender, it could be either.
How do you know what I am?

As for the "obvious male silhouette", who knows , I see k.d lang or Ellen DeGeneres, could be one of them as well.
Rgds

 

[rgmoore]

I've also seen very dismissive responses (both to men and women), but in general the tone of the original poster determines the kind of response they get.

Sometimes, maybe, but not all of the time. I've seen plenty of posters who love insulting others for asking perfectly reasonable questions. It's an unfortunate side of the Net. Some people respond to the relative anonymity of posting online by letting out all the sarcasm and pent up anger that they would never show face to face. I think you just have to call a spade a spade and call those people out as the jerks they are.
--

As with all creative work, the craft must be adequate for the demands of expression. I am disturbed when I find craft relegated to inferior consideration; I believe that the euphoric involvement with subject or self is not sufficient to justify the making and display of photographic images. --Ansel Adams

 

[pocketfulladoubles]

I'm not saying that this forum isn't women-friendly, however, when the default avatar is an obvious male sillhouette, we're off to a bad start, I'd say.

I'm asking the women. Do you have favored forums where you go, where you feel comfortable conveying that you're a woman in this man's world of photography?

I'm not sure what to say. I feel really offended. With all the images of beautiful female models on this site, I was sure this forum was focused on the women's topics related to photography. And to top it all off, do you mean to tell me that the front page sillhouette isn't a young lady with short hair? I hope you aren't trying to pigeon-hole women into stereotypes of long hair and eyelashes. This is 2010 you know.

 

[Ed B]

Teresa,

Maybe someone has said something that causes you to feel this way but your post is timely, for me, because just a few days ago I felt just the opposite of what you're feeling.

There is a female poster who, for many months, never identified herself as female. She either didn't get many responses to her threads or got a lot of negative replies to her opinions.

Once she identified herself as female she all of a sudden had a male fan base that thought she could do or say nothing wrong.

She turned into miss popularity.

I won't say who she is but she mostly posts on the compact forums.

Anyway, hope things get better for you. dpreview is really a pretty good place.

 

[Berghof]

Yes, and if we men establish our " men only" forum,the same woman will try to stop us,we men have to be inclusive but somehow some women believe it's OK to be an exclusive club,that's not fair,is it?
--
Berghof G.C.

 

[mamallama]

Best to be gender-neutral on photo forums because photography has nothing to do with gender.

Once gender enters into the discussion, you can get into a can of worms with claims and counterclaims. Isn't that exactly what we see on this thread now? Proof positive!!!

--mamallama

 

[Olga Johnson]

I'm not saying that this forum isn't women-friendly, however, when the default avatar is an obvious male sillhouette, we're off to a bad start, I'd say.

Never paid attention to the avatar but since I have short hair, I suppose it works for me.

I'm asking the women. Do you have favored forums where you go, where you feel comfortable conveying that you're a woman in this man's world of photography?

I've never thought of photography as being a man's world. I've made many friends (both men and women) in these forums as well as some enemies (both men and women.)

I went back and read some messages you have exchanged with some folks. You were really unkind to people who tried to help. You misunderstood more than one attempt to help you. You forgot that they do not know your skill level, your experience level, or your exact troubleshooting steps. Yet you were quick to claim they were nasty to you. You got insulted by their attempt to help.

It's a shame that you misinterpreted assistance for nastiness. There is much to learn here. That's not to say that everyone is sweet as pie, but if you cannot recognize sincere help, then the loss will be yours.
--
Olga

 

[weezy]

Don't Ask - Don't Tell.

The ones that rile me the most are the rabid fanboys. Of either sex, but they usually are male.