Women

[Shockman]

I'm sure all of you have had this thought, but I don't remember there ever being a discussion.

Is the world of Pinball fans really 99.9 percent male? A bigger percent of women than that piss standing up I think.

Is it forums. Is it that women don't involve themselves at forums? That does not seem to be so.

Is it because the number of men early on was at a high percent that it turned into a mans club?

Or do women generally not like pinball, or as it is, nostalgia?

Is it our behavior?

Or it is something else?

 

[Itchigo]

I think pinball is something like the 3 stooges, men get it and love it, women don't understand it.

 

[sleepy]

Could be because we men are prone to accomplish our own goals and do things for ourselves while many women are still raised as housewives/dependents/what have you.
The few women that I know of who are openly into pinball are also more independent or more competitive. Of course if one is hassled by being taken care of too often when the desire to be independent is strong, then maybe the calculated twists and turns that are built in to a pinball game are a turn-off. The game is perceived as being too manipulative or too dependent on chance and not skill. That would also depend on the specific table design.

There is also the intent to protect one's Privacy as a woman against unwanted attention, so there are probably a few women in forums posing as men.

Women are purported to be better at math, so I would think there would be a correlation between math ability and the angles of the game, geometry, trigonometry, etc.

 

[Kimono_skunk]

Actually...

My wife loves playing the pinball games on my old laptop, and she is quite good at them, kicking my tail rather easily.

Kimmyskunk

 

[faralos]

My gal sucks worse at playing than I do, but she is constantly being amazed at the originality that goes into my creating a pin while she watches! She is curious, but has no artistic skill and has already stated that she can't learn the scripting at all. But she liked the contest between Itchigo and myself and watched the pin come together. It was my first pin that she actually saw me build and now is even more fascinated with the vp world! But to actually participate, nah, I am glad she supports it, though, and knows that at times, I DO spend up to 4 hours at a shot working on a pin!
This coming summer she and I are going to visit a few of the local pin museums (silverball arcade in Asbury Park being just one). She is ok with that and knows I will be spending most of my time at these pay one price play for free places and is happy I have a hobby I love so much (aside from building models and making Pysanky eggs!), so she while not playing is happy watching me play my heart out! As she did at last years Allentown Pinball Expo we attended!

 

[tiltjlp]

Faralos, it sounds like you have a very fine lady there. I have set two women friends up with VP recently, and they rally enjoy playing. And one of them has even gotten her 12 year old daughter playing too. So, while not all women enjoy pinball, I think a lot more than we image do. They probably have other interests that take up their time rather than hanging out on pinball forums.

 

[StevOz]

It's because our brains are different.

http://www.theabsolute.net/misogyny/brainsx.html

 

[faralos]

I'll agree with that! she can Im with up to 6 different guys at once but can't learn coding!

 

[bob]

The percentage can't be as bad as 99.9 % men. I remember playing pinball with girls. :)

Let's name the women who have released VP tables.

Dizzidi - Rocky & Anthias' mother
Pincode
Kinsey

Any others?

 

[tiltjlp]

There's also Penquin66, and I remember a gal from somewhere in Europe, whose name escapes me.