Any women on this forum?

[sergeauckland]

Good luck finding an Engineer job in the industry if you're in Germany, France or in the UK, you've got your degree within the Ministry of Education university system and your competition is from candidates coming from the Ministry of Industry university system.

UK universities are not part of any ministry, being independent, but are government regulated, so there's no Ministy of Education or Industry issue here. A university degree from one university is nominally as good as another, albeit employers may be more impressed by an Oxbridge degree than some more obscure institution. Nevertheless, savvy employers know what they want from a new graduate and will weigh the value of any degree accordingly.

S

 

[mannye]

Men or women, there aren't that many audiophiles at all. Mostly men though.

 

[Michael_B]

Not many women in the control room, but plenty of important contributions nonetheless:
https://www.space.com/women-of-apollo.html

 

[beefkabob]

It's not very nice to ask a girl on the internet to prove she is one, but here ya go,

I think @Krunok should reciprocate and post a photo of himself to prove he's not a dog.

 

[beefkabob]

I teach calculus to high schoolers, mostly sophomores. I like my job; it's easier to relate to the students I teach because I'm less than a decade older than them, hahaha!

OMG! Do you want a job?

 

[AnalogDE]

I'd like to see a poll here about who's an engineer and who isn't. I'm definitely not an engineer. I tried a CS class at Cal and hated it passionately.

There's alot more to engineering than CS (programming) ...

 

[AudioSceptic]

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/engineer

Yes, apart from ships, the use of "engineer" for someone who operates equipment is pretty much an American thing. As an European, "engineer" means someone with an higher academic degree in some form of engineering science.

It makes for quite a difference. There is nothing wrong with learning by practice and vocational education, but a solid theoretical background does help with stuff that is counter-intuitive (as a lot of digital technology tends to be).

Example: US railroad engineer = UK train driver. I learnt this from films and TV, and some songs. but you would be really confused otherwise.

 

[beefkabob]

There's alot more to engineering than CS (programming) ...

Yes, sure. Probably most computer science programs qualify as software engineering.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Just curious. A lot of these engineering-oriented spaces tend to be more popular among men.

OK, someone's got to do it. <

>

 

[direstraitsfan98]

The hobby is full of men who are borderline misogynist or just straight out sexist. I personally can ignore the stupid “WAF!” sort of messages you see on the internet, but my boyfriend doesn’t use the that term to me as he knows I don’t like it, and isn’t even the kind of brainless monkey to use that term in the first place.

What’s more concerning is the way the old men crowd who completely dominate this hobby treat not just young females but anyone my age.

Every single one of my experiences in person with the hifi community (with one very special exception) wether it be a dealer or a local sale for something used has wound up with whatever 50 something year old dude being extremely condescending, rude, judgemental, and sexist.

It makes me sick to my stomach to remember these interactions. My experience with one of my local dealers (as well as the distributor) was so upsetting and left such a bad taste in my mouth that I sold the speakers I had purchased from them just a few months later. (Planet of Sound in Toronto; speakers were Harbeth 30.2s)

 

[beefkabob]

The hobby is full of men who are borderline misogynist or just straight out sexist. I personally can ignore the stupid “WAF!” sort of messages you see on the internet, but my boyfriend doesn’t use the that term to me as he knows I don’t like it, and isn’t even the kind of brainless monkey to use that term in the first place.

What’s more concerning is the way the old men crowd who completely dominate this hobby treat not just young females but anyone my age.

Every single one of my experiences in person with the hifi community (with one very special exception) wether it be a dealer or a local sale for something used has wound up with whatever 50 something year old dude being extremely condescending, rude, judgemental, and sexist.

It makes me sick to my stomach to remember these interactions. My experience with one of my local dealers (as well as the distributor) was so upsetting and left such a bad taste in my mouth that I sold the speakers I had purchased from them just a few months later. (Planet of Sound in Toronto; speakers were Harbeth 30.2s)

I'm sorry you have to deal with that shit.

 

[Blumlein 88]

The hobby is full of men who are borderline misogynist or just straight out sexist. I personally can ignore the stupid “WAF!” sort of messages you see on the internet, but my boyfriend doesn’t use the that term to me as he knows I don’t like it, and isn’t even the kind of brainless monkey to use that term in the first place.

What’s more concerning is the way the old men crowd who completely dominate this hobby treat not just young females but anyone my age.

Every single one of my experiences in person with the hifi community (with one very special exception) wether it be a dealer or a local sale for something used has wound up with whatever 50 something year old dude being extremely condescending, rude, judgemental, and sexist.

It makes me sick to my stomach to remember these interactions. My experience with one of my local dealers (as well as the distributor) was so upsetting and left such a bad taste in my mouth that I sold the speakers I had purchased from them just a few months later. (Planet of Sound in Toronto; speakers were Harbeth 30.2s)

I think you are making a mistaken attribution. I've experienced exactly the same condenscending attitude about 99% of the time with dealers. Has been the case for 3 decades. Now the way they show that condescension might differ due to my age or sex at different times. But the basic condescension probably has very little to do with you personally. It is strangely how many dealers function or used to function. Most have gone out of business imagine that. Observing I seen the same people blow off medical doctors as not having enough time to have enough listening experience, and turn around and blow off working people as not being sophisticated enough. The main point being they were placing themselves in the position of exalted guru you should listen to regardless, and didn't want to play if you didn't abide by their desires. Some of the stories boggle the mind.

I don't know if this is still true as many hifi companies are large outfits now, but in the past there was a huge contrast with people who made the gear. They literally didn't care who you were if you and they shared a love of music and good sound. That was all it took for them to respect you. How the high end salons became so exactly opposite from gear makers is an odd thing I wish I understood better.

 

[Wombat]

The hobby is full of men who are borderline misogynist or just straight out sexist. I personally can ignore the stupid “WAF!” sort of messages you see on the internet, but my boyfriend doesn’t use the that term to me as he knows I don’t like it, and isn’t even the kind of brainless monkey to use that term in the first place.

What’s more concerning is the way the old men crowd who completely dominate this hobby treat not just young females but anyone my age.

Every single one of my experiences in person with the hifi community (with one very special exception) wether it be a dealer or a local sale for something used has wound up with whatever 50 something year old dude being extremely condescending, rude, judgemental, and sexist.

It makes me sick to my stomach to remember these interactions. My experience with one of my local dealers (as well as the distributor) was so upsetting and left such a bad taste in my mouth that I sold the speakers I had purchased from them just a few months later. (Planet of Sound in Toronto; speakers were Harbeth 30.2s)

What were the Harbeths guilty of?

 

[BillG]

50 something year old dude being extremely condescending, rude, judgemental, and sexist.

I don't know what country you're in, but where I am currently, and where I was born, the US, it's dominated by older white men, a number of them with those attitudes. (Yeah, I'm direct enough to actually write that. Squirm if it makes you uncomfortable reading it.)

My avatar and I share the same ethnicity, and I've gotten treated that way as well on occasion - it's not always racism, though. Snobbery comes into play as well as higher end audio is a luxury. Fortunately I've the mental fortitude to make them very uncomfortable when they do it to me...

 

[DownUnderGazza]

@direstraitsfan98, you're right.
Us 50+ straight white males are legitimately guilty of a lot of things, I agree with you.
Sadly, it comes from unjustified sense of entitlement and a misguided belief that the world is laid out for us.
Unless we change, myself included, it does make it so much harder for the next generations.

 

[g29]

...
The hobby is full of men who are borderline misogynist or just straight out sexist. I personally can ignore the stupid “WAF!” sort of messages you see on the internet, ...)

What is sexist about the term WAF ? Just because the term upsets someone doesn't make it sexist. It is a fact of married life. When I buy something, my wife usually ALWAYS HAS A SAY because we both have to live with the decision. When it comes to audio, I enlist her ears in the evaluation because she hears differently than I do and I want something we both will enjoy. Her ears are shaped differently than mine and she hears higher frequencies than I do. Biological fact, nothing sexist about it. Maybe I should consider her sexist for having better hearing than I do ??? When I buy her expensive "surprise gifts", she gets to pick them out (directly or indirectly) because her tastes are sometimes different than mine. Hell, she even designed her own engagement ring with the jeweler so she got exactly what she wanted, WAF. Again, nothing sexist about the term WAF, just reality. Going on 40 years with my one and only wife I have learned one thing. Happy Wife, Happy Life, WAF.

...
It makes me sick to my stomach to remember these interactions. My experience with one of my local dealers (as well as the distributor) was so upsetting and left such a bad taste in my mouth that I sold the speakers I had purchased from them just a few months later. (Planet of Sound in Toronto; speakers were Harbeth 30.2s)

Also, selling something that one presumably likes at presumably a financial loss on the used market to ineffectually "smite" a stereo dealer that could care less only hurts the person discarding their belongings at a financial and functional loss. This seems to have been more of a knee jerk reaction than a logically thought out one. Then again, there is something to be said about peace of mind if the losses actuallly achieved the goal.

 

[g29]

What were the Harbeths guilty of?

The inanimate object is always responsible for the actions of the wielder. Ban all Harbeths !!!

 

[Wombat]

@direstraitsfan98, you're right.
Us 50+ straight white males are legitimately guilty of a lot of things, I agree with you.
Sadly, it comes from unjustified sense of entitlement and a misguided belief that the world is laid out for us.
Unless we change, myself included, it does make it so much harder for the next generations.

 

[solderdude]

A few years ago I visited a hifi store where a woman was listening to LS50 speakers. She turned to me and started with.. they sound nice don't they ?
Sadly I was time constraint so couldn't make it a long conversation but she knew a LOT about speakers and sound reproduction.
This was the only time I heard a woman speak that way about speakers or hifi in general.

So... yes really rare to find a woman interested in this aspect of speakers.. most only have remarks about looks, size and where they should go (preferably out of sight, behind curtains etc.)
Fortunately for me my female counterpart in life isn't picky at all and lets me decide all audio/video and its placement.

 

[Thomas savage]

Ah gender politics , what a minefield. There's good reason for the absence of women in forums like these and indeed from the audiophile world in general.

I think having more women here would benefit us but probably not them lol

It's amusing to think gender has any relevance on internet forums , seeing as though there's no physical interactions and a certain anonymity can be exploited to varying degrees.

A question, as a man on a audio forum would you have a different feeling and indeed treat a woman differently here than you would if addressing a fellow hairy arsed male?

The hobby and by in large this site is male dominated, do you think that's part of the appeal to you?