So, I’ve been watching this discussion, but I’ve been holding off on responding to avoid an unmeasured response. Let me start by saying I am a woman who has been on the internet since high school back in 1990. Surprisingly little has changed for me in interacting online since then. The moment I identify my gender, it changes the interaction without fail. I’ve learned to strip any gender identifying aspects from my usernames, email addresses, profiles, etc. because it just saves time. My SOP has become lay low and lurk otherwise I get interactions I don’t want. Sure, it’s unfair, but I can’t change the internet’s default male response, so this is how I function online.
Moreover, I’ve been online long enough that I don’t get offended when someone drops an offhand comment about appearance or gender, I just feel dismayed. As someone accurately noted earlier, I tend to write those folks off as someone to step carefully around. Qualifying comments on this forum about a female’s physical characteristics, no matter how well-intentioned the comment, tells me that the commenter is routing everything from or about women through another part of their brain I’m not here to be a part of. Try to omit the qualification as it doesn’t serve what we are all here for. I’m here to discuss using Fractal’s incredible products to make music. I don’t care to hear anyone else’s opinions on appearance or gender (or politics, or religion, or anything else not music). Those qualifications are as relevant in the context of this forum as your opinion on eggs or your favorite color.
That said, I’ve been seriously impressed with how overwhelmingly successful FAS, the moderators, and the community in general have been on keeping things on topic and welcoming on this forum. Let’s keep doing that! Yeah, I’d also like to see more people of all stripes picking up a guitar to express themselves. But calling out ‘OMG, it’s a girl!’ detracts when your intent is to cheer on players. When you throw an asterisk on a posting based on appearance or gender, I’ll sigh disappointed, then fall back into SOP and lay low. I know I’m not unique in that response. I’m certain we will see more varied gender representation when we don’t shine a light on it. There’s no score to keep or quota to be met, so let’s try lifting everyone, regardless of irrelevant categorizations.
Moreover, I’ve been online long enough that I don’t get offended when someone drops an offhand comment about appearance or gender, I just feel dismayed. As someone accurately noted earlier, I tend to write those folks off as someone to step carefully around. Qualifying comments on this forum about a female’s physical characteristics, no matter how well-intentioned the comment, tells me that the commenter is routing everything from or about women through another part of their brain I’m not here to be a part of. Try to omit the qualification as it doesn’t serve what we are all here for. I’m here to discuss using Fractal’s incredible products to make music. I don’t care to hear anyone else’s opinions on appearance or gender (or politics, or religion, or anything else not music). Those qualifications are as relevant in the context of this forum as your opinion on eggs or your favorite color.
That said, I’ve been seriously impressed with how overwhelmingly successful FAS, the moderators, and the community in general have been on keeping things on topic and welcoming on this forum. Let’s keep doing that! Yeah, I’d also like to see more people of all stripes picking up a guitar to express themselves. But calling out ‘OMG, it’s a girl!’ detracts when your intent is to cheer on players. When you throw an asterisk on a posting based on appearance or gender, I’ll sigh disappointed, then fall back into SOP and lay low. I know I’m not unique in that response. I’m certain we will see more varied gender representation when we don’t shine a light on it. There’s no score to keep or quota to be met, so let’s try lifting everyone, regardless of irrelevant categorizations.