Should the ladies of LFGSS have their own sub-forum?

The reason I'm recommending a sub-forum is that many women are only posting on women only ride threads and are otherwise not having anything to do with the forum, which is a shame. It would be nice to have a place that would be friendly and easy going (like the rides), and if people start to feel more comfortable, then they could go onto the rest of the forum when they like.

I know some women have left the forum completely thanks to some members attitudes, and it's a shame to have lost them. It might be helpful if there is a corner of it that they feel comfortable in and that they can ask questions without feeling like they have to deal with everyone.

I had a lovely drink tonight with Emilia (who has pretty much left the forum), and Fluff (who hasn't, but would be more involved if there was a seperate corner for super cool women who do neat things on bikes) and we thought it might be worth at least having a try.
It does seem like there was plenty of women on the rides, but you would have had to be told about the thread to have seen it. If there was a sub forum, these things would be much easier to find, and much easier to organize.

I think with a strong moderator it wouldn't have the same problems as the rest of the forum.

I'm really more interested in this as a way to organize knowledge than as a way to be either inclusive or exclusive.

What do you think?

Not my business, but knowledge is power and maybe being a little exclusive could be inclusive, after all it's only an internet forum, bend it to the shape that fits...

I'd PM Velocio and ask if he'd set one up.
Give one of you the ability to vet members to make sure they're actually female or something too.

Only an internet forum?! Digger, wash your mouth out!

Couldn't we just ban the dickheads whose behaviours cause this to be floated as an option in the first place? :-/

It's been a while since I registered (not that I'm an OG or anything) but do you have to stipulate what sex you are when registering?

Well, I don't know if I want it to have seperate members, I was thinking that a general forum membership would be best, and if that doesn't work, we can try something a bit more exclusive or we could just go back to the way things are now.

I did PM Velocio, I'm interested in seeing what his opinions are.

I don't mind if men post in the sub-forum, I just don't want to see anything abusive, and I'm very happy to be the person in charge of deleting it and politely telling them to piss off.

Only an internet forum?! Digger, wash your mouth out!

Gargling sound...

As someone who wouldn't be a user I'm not sure how valid my opinion is but anyway

I think it's a good idea and if we can encourage more ladies on to the forum (and keep them here) this place will be a bit more balanced and probably better off for it. With everything in one place and with mods specific to the sub forum I can see it being much easier to cut the willy waving bullshit which pops up on other parts of the forum. It would be nice if people weren't posting in and communicating with people exclusively in the sub forum it would be good and hopefully it would be used as a starting point to the rest of the forum (online and offline) .

My 2 pence worth from the brighton ride thread:

• Maybe we (women) should lead/organise more rides at a pace we are comfy with. Then men who want to ride at that pace can join in, I don't see the need for it to be segregated.

  • More women on the forum would be ace.
    
    

• Do you think having a women's only sub forum would stop the problems, surely people who want to create upset will do so in the women's sub forum too?

• Is there that much info that solely relates to women to warrant it, we managed to do this ride well enough without needing one.

• Maybe having a prefix in front of the threads to make them stand out/more searchable would help (like in classified) i guess vb would have to help with this.

Part of why I joined was the fact it is so inclusive of everyone and I have never felt unwelcome to say what I want (not that I say much or have knowledge of others experiences)

• Maybe having a prefix in front of the threads to make them stand out/more searchable would help (like in classified) i guess vb would have to help with this.
  
  
  
  

This is pretty much what I mean. A sub forum that you can click on from the front page and is searchable so that women can find out about rides, drinks, shorts, bikes and races that is more applicable to them then any other part of the forum.

Like trackies, tricks, and the sub-forums for different cities.

^this.

Oh, and I would also want the moderator to have the ability to edit tags.

So you've been out for a drink with a courier and someone from Wigan? I'm not sure those kind of people should be allowed on here in the first place.

Could be worse, could be Americans.
Loud, bossy, and lousy at football.

If we do have a ladies sub-forum, it should be open I think - some ladies are posting via their partners logins.

However, we've managed to fend off the chaps in our threads, and gain their support - I think that this is quite an important point actually, that by having the mixed sub-forums, the chaps can see that the ladies are doing stuff, which they give their support and we gain kudos.

If we split out and have a separate sub-forum, then we are at risk of re-segregating and taking ourselves back to the digging remarks that used to pepper our threads. I'd vote for keeping the mixed forums, having ladies threads.

Can we have a ladies sub-forum that has links to ladies threads that are scattered around the reast of the forum? best of both worlds??

hmmm ... not sure I'd like "for sale", "wanted", or "ladies" ...

So you've been out for a drink with a courier and someone from Wigan? I'm not sure those kind of people should be allowed on here in the first place.

Oi! ... my Dad's from Wigan ... am proud of my roots!

I would suggest having more than one moderator just so you don't get accused of megalomania and you can share the work.

^ yup

I would want Clefty to be one of them.

So the idea is that there is the practical side to this; things that are of specific interest to women can be found more easily and then there is the other side; somewhere where sexism and misogyny can be moderated out? You can see straight away that some people will call the second aim 'censorship', which I guess in a way it is, but I also think that if moderation is used lightly then pretty quickly you set a tone and a standard and people respond to and respect that. Personally I think the need to encourage more women to post and to be active on here is urgent enough to warrant a bit of 'censorship'. A few people might try trolling you but I think they would be slapped down easily enough.

Exactly, Will.

People are slapped down easily enough on the main forum anyway, no?

If I may pipe up, I don't think a women's sub-forum would be a bad idea at all, even if it was only somewhere where sexist comments were definitely outlawed. Otherwise, for the reasons Nhatt cites--if anyone needs reminding what it can be like, look here.

It's a well-documented fact that a lot of women in this country think cycling isn't for them. There's a good deal of culture-specific stereotyping behind this, and this finds conscious or unconscious expression in a lot of posting that goes on here.

I think 'segregation' is a bit of a red herring here. If a sub-forum enables women on here to feel a stronger sense of community, they'll also have more confidence posting. As it is, the community has a distinct blokish feel.

There's of course absolutely nothing wrong with holding women-specific events--people need to realise that a lot of rides organised on here are effectively men-only events, anyway--with the occasional very fast woman thrown in, like stelle, GinaG, RP, or Pocketfull, to name just a few, who can teach many of the fast men on here a thing or two. It's just that there's an implicit and often unrealised mechanism of selection at work that doesn't make that so obvious.

Most men get into cycling by means of peer support, and women are missing out on that and fewer enjoy the benefits of cycling. Even allowing for the obvious objection that not everyone must enjoy cycling (O RLY?), the ratio of cycling men to cycling women in the UK is still shockingly lopsided and a lot of patronising shite tends to be wheeled out when people try to fish for explanations.

So, this forum's not the centre of the Universe, and I don't want to sound over-the-top serious, but I certainly find the sexism annoying and I can completely follow women's reasons for not wanting to be part of a community where people hold such views. Or--pardon me--have a kind of ruthless and vital sense of humour whose multi-layered irony takes no prisoners. But of course.

My 2p.