this is cool

[spokes]

I think some our topics would send them screaming from the room anyway.

good!! if they can't handle a little talk about menstruation, maternity jerseys and the unending search for a good bra, then who needs 'em?

the 'other' cycling board (mostly men) is full of threads like 'how fast have you gone?' --all that testosterone-laden bragging and 'who's the best' comparison. this board is much more 'typically female' in our approach. they've done studies about how boys play together and how girls play together: boys tend to play competitive games that focus more on individual success (like 'playing war'); girls tend to play cooperative games that are about how people relate to one another (like 'family' or barbie).

obviously these are generalities that include a fair amount of overlap-- but don't these traits fairly accurately portray the boards? here, i find, the threads are motivating and supportive; newbies are given loads of info and encouraged; when someone reaches a persoanl milestone we congratulate them; and we never ever mock someone who's new, made a mistake or is at a different level than us. in addition to the ability to ask 'embarassing' questions that the guys at the LBS probably couldn't help us with anyway. which is why we rock.

[Irulan]

Originally posted by spokes
good!! if they can't handle a little talk about menstruation, maternity jerseys and the unending search for a good bra, then who needs 'em?

I have online acquaintances on other boards, women, who just don't get the female bonding thing... I think they've been fed a little too much equality at all costs talk. If they see no need or have no desire for a women's forum, or women's camps or whatever, fine for them but I choose otherwise Both are good, mixed company and non mixed, but for different reasons.

I was recently invited to join an women's mtb forum that is a subsection of a regional bbs. First, there was no traffic or content, and more importanly, for every gal's post to the women's forum there were 10 from men. For me that wasn't very conducive to sticking around, I get enought man-talk elsewhere. And when I tried to gently explain that perhaps they should butt out of the women's forum, that maybe more of the women would participate, they just didn't get it. Hmm, maybe I should post a hard core/graphic chafing question to run them off.

From seeing that and two other women's mtb forums that have zero traffic ( one post a week if that) I can honesltly say you can build it, but you can't make them come. Just by it's existence doesn't make a forum worth going to, there has to be something going on, it has to be alive so to speak.

so, ride on gals

I.