Yet another reason to stick with TE

[Eden]

I don't know, Eden, virtually the first thread I read was this one:

http://www.cyclingforums.com/t350478.html


East Hill

Gosh - when I read it I thought that sure, the first person was obviously and obnoxious teenage boy, but if you read further a bunch of men got on and basically told him to shut up and stop whining (and some women too), no one else on the board fed into it and the little troll got shut down. I guess I've never felt that the community as a whole over there was unsupportive to women. Even if a woman gets on and says I'm just starting out I'm overweight and I going to be able to do this -- the guys and gals can be pretty supportive.

[mimitabby]

Gosh - when I read it I thought that sure, the first person was obviously and obnoxious teenage boy, but if you read further a bunch of men got on and basically told him to shut up and stop whining (and some women too), no one else on the board fed into it and the little troll got shut down. I guess I've never felt that the community as a whole over there was unsupportive to women. Even if a woman gets on and says I'm just starting out I'm overweight and I going to be able to do this -- the guys and gals can be pretty supportive.

hahaha, i read it too. They gave him a new... oh, never mind. But it's nice to be able to
come here and not have to deal with that kind of bs.

[East Hill]

Perhaps I will have to wander around some more over there then, but the impression I got from reading the thread was that all the responders to the OP were female, right up until the last person, who is obviously a male administrator. And he was right, that was a troll. But I read some of the OP's other posts, and he was obnoxious in those too.

I think I must just have found a bad one right off. But I think the point I've been making here is that, right or wrong, one's first impression is important.

If a woman comes here, and it's her first venture into the wide world of cycling, it's likely to be a positive encounter. But if she were to read a thread such as the one I posted just a few posts back, or something like this:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=263919

She might not be feeling so loved. Most of the comments in the thread refer to a woman's sexuality. The last comment in particular is highly offensive, but no one seems to care.

(The thread above had a photo removed by a moderator. It is the cover of the catalogue in the link and features a young woman in a bathing suit)

I mean, I don't know about the rest of you, but if I were to go to a forum about cats, I would not expect to see photos of naked/semi naked women in order to sell cat litter. I've been assured that marketing in Europe is different, but the people making the comments in the above thread are from the United States. It's been stated here (somewhere ) that cycling is a co-ed sport. Sometimes that's hard to believe.

Perhaps I'm just cranky from having to work six days a week...or perhaps I still believe in trying to change the world to a better place, if not for myself, but for the girls who may be just starting out as cyclists.

East Hill