Joined
·
3,373 Posts
If you follow stereotypes and traditional gender roles, women are supposed to be the child bearers, homemakers and peacekeepers of this society. As we reach adulthood, we're expected to balance full-time paying jobs, housework and, eventually, child-rearing. Sometimes it's just plain hard to be a girl in today's society. There's the competitive need to always look our best, be physically fit --preferably model thin-- and be appropriately dressed for any occasion. There are official competitions held on the sole basis of who the prettiest girl is. There are TV reality shows on being transformed into a beautiful, whole person through unnatural means, such as plastic surgery. Education and career are quickly entering the "competition" as well. The pressures are enough to make anyone crazy.
But I've found a weird, yet special place, where, unexpectedly, a lot of those pressures of society don't always apply: Internet car forums. As long as you enjoy cars, it's a great place to be. In addition to learning about cars, you're exposed to a culture where external appearances and formal education don't matter as much. Due to the sheer fact that guys greatly outnumber girls on the forums, girls are [almost] always treated well. The same mouth that is cussing out another guy on the forum is also the same mouth that's sweet-talking us girls, offering car help, advice, etc. Since I've been on the forums, I've only encountered nice guys. It's kind of weird to be treated so well by perfect strangers, who wouldn't know me from any other girl on the street. Am I complaining? Heck, no!
Gosh, I've wondered, what if car forums were dominated by girls instead of guys? What would they be like? I can imagine it now. For one thing, there wouldn't be the massive displays of testosterone. There wouldn't be the need to "flame" or "beat" someone down verbally. There wouldn't be all the name-calling and cussing each other out. We probably wouldn't call each other "motherf***ers" or "a** holes" or other such commonly used insults. "F*ck" and "sh*t" have reached new heights of usage in today's [male-dominated] car forum world. Those two words seem to be applicable in basically every situation or sentence written. The slightest insinuation that perhaps the entire truth isn't being told can result in vicious written flaying. (See "The Street" or "Go Faster" for some examples.) Most of the time, girls aren't hostile or volatile until provoked or threatened. When needed, our cusswords of choice would probably be "b*tch" or something along those lines, as well as the traditional insult, such as "slut" or "whore" thrown into the mix. And I'm sure they wouldn't be thrown around as easily or often (unless of course, guys are involved, but that's a completely different issue). Although it's interesting to note that "b*tch" is used quite often currently. Guys seem to find it an enormous travesty to be called anything even remotely female. In fact, calling someone a "g*rl" is almost guaranteed to invoke a response from some members. I don't think girls would find it as offensive to be called a "guy" by some random strangers online. [Note: Girls would be VERY insulted if that happened in person though.]
If girls ruled car forums, might forum contents drastically change? There wouldn't be any fighting about whose car or which tuner produced the highest HP car. That's easily resolved with hard data or dyno sheets. No need to argue about that! There would probably be more "discussions" about whose car looks the best. The car-related aspects of the forum might slowly wither, while the PL would grow exponentially. Could "Inside & Out" incorporate clothes, shoes and handbags as well? The regional sections would have more "sale" threads, such as "OMG, Stila's having their warehouse sale in LA this weekend!!” The PL would have more pics of hot guys, rather than naked girls. We'd also have threads on recipes and cooking, as well as favorite places to bargain shop. The "WTB" and "For Sale" sections could hold listings such as "WTB Seven or Blue Cult Jeans, size 29" and "FS: Gently Used Manolo Shoes, Size 7". We'd probably be more open about posting our pictures, since with more girls and less guys, it wouldn't be as intimidating. Knowing that a bunch of unknown guys are looking at your picture is quite daunting. Currently, I don't see guys being pressured into posting their pictures on .NET. And when a picture is posted, it's not a big deal. Why is that? But that could all change if roles were reversed, and girls ruled IS300.NET.
Okay, enough of that imaginary world. I'm getting goose bumps. I'd rather have today's IS300.NET as it currently stands, with a wealth of anything IS-related, a few other goodies and a bunch of crazy (and car-crazy) guys.
But I've found a weird, yet special place, where, unexpectedly, a lot of those pressures of society don't always apply: Internet car forums. As long as you enjoy cars, it's a great place to be. In addition to learning about cars, you're exposed to a culture where external appearances and formal education don't matter as much. Due to the sheer fact that guys greatly outnumber girls on the forums, girls are [almost] always treated well. The same mouth that is cussing out another guy on the forum is also the same mouth that's sweet-talking us girls, offering car help, advice, etc. Since I've been on the forums, I've only encountered nice guys. It's kind of weird to be treated so well by perfect strangers, who wouldn't know me from any other girl on the street. Am I complaining? Heck, no!
Gosh, I've wondered, what if car forums were dominated by girls instead of guys? What would they be like? I can imagine it now. For one thing, there wouldn't be the massive displays of testosterone. There wouldn't be the need to "flame" or "beat" someone down verbally. There wouldn't be all the name-calling and cussing each other out. We probably wouldn't call each other "motherf***ers" or "a** holes" or other such commonly used insults. "F*ck" and "sh*t" have reached new heights of usage in today's [male-dominated] car forum world. Those two words seem to be applicable in basically every situation or sentence written. The slightest insinuation that perhaps the entire truth isn't being told can result in vicious written flaying. (See "The Street" or "Go Faster" for some examples.) Most of the time, girls aren't hostile or volatile until provoked or threatened. When needed, our cusswords of choice would probably be "b*tch" or something along those lines, as well as the traditional insult, such as "slut" or "whore" thrown into the mix. And I'm sure they wouldn't be thrown around as easily or often (unless of course, guys are involved, but that's a completely different issue). Although it's interesting to note that "b*tch" is used quite often currently. Guys seem to find it an enormous travesty to be called anything even remotely female. In fact, calling someone a "g*rl" is almost guaranteed to invoke a response from some members. I don't think girls would find it as offensive to be called a "guy" by some random strangers online. [Note: Girls would be VERY insulted if that happened in person though.]
If girls ruled car forums, might forum contents drastically change? There wouldn't be any fighting about whose car or which tuner produced the highest HP car. That's easily resolved with hard data or dyno sheets. No need to argue about that! There would probably be more "discussions" about whose car looks the best. The car-related aspects of the forum might slowly wither, while the PL would grow exponentially. Could "Inside & Out" incorporate clothes, shoes and handbags as well? The regional sections would have more "sale" threads, such as "OMG, Stila's having their warehouse sale in LA this weekend!!” The PL would have more pics of hot guys, rather than naked girls. We'd also have threads on recipes and cooking, as well as favorite places to bargain shop. The "WTB" and "For Sale" sections could hold listings such as "WTB Seven or Blue Cult Jeans, size 29" and "FS: Gently Used Manolo Shoes, Size 7". We'd probably be more open about posting our pictures, since with more girls and less guys, it wouldn't be as intimidating. Knowing that a bunch of unknown guys are looking at your picture is quite daunting. Currently, I don't see guys being pressured into posting their pictures on .NET. And when a picture is posted, it's not a big deal. Why is that? But that could all change if roles were reversed, and girls ruled IS300.NET.
Okay, enough of that imaginary world. I'm getting goose bumps. I'd rather have today's IS300.NET as it currently stands, with a wealth of anything IS-related, a few other goodies and a bunch of crazy (and car-crazy) guys.
