TroyW

Have you ever wondered that? If you've spent a decent amount of time at SR, you'll have noticed there's a lot more women than men here. Obviously, I have no problem with it, but just curious as to why? I'm pretty sure there's just as many men alcoholics as women, if not more so.

Is it just men being "men", unwilling to seek support, unwilling to admit they have a problem, unwilling to discuss what's going on inside of them? Or???

biminiblue

For me (female) I was uncomfortable in AA meetings, which are predominantly men, and require a level of open sharing I'm not comfortable with in my real life.

Plus, women in general are more verbal, tend to be cautious, and have good written language skills - so this is a good "forum." I think we just need to process things differently and writing is a safe medium.

Ohme

Sometimes I think that men are taught to not reach out for help, and when they do it is only after things are so bad its past the point of denying it. I also think that women are taught that they are inherently flawed and so tend to be more open to outside guidance. Of course, that is just a gross generalization on my part and both constructs are incredibly damaging to the individual. But I think they do contribute to the phenomenon.

Gonnachange

I don't have an answer to the OP's question, but I'm sure the answer is very similar to why, in general, women are much more willing to go to health care professionals than men. Men are more prone to wait until things have gotten bad. I'm not in any sort of related profession, but have friends who are doctors and they each see this behavior with their patients.

Madmartigan

SR kinda breaks the mold in that way. Look up statistics on alcoholism and men are way more prone to alcoholism than women in every aspect.

Anna

I think that women, in general, are more likely to seek support and information for health-related issues.

I also believe that there is more of a stigma towards female alcoholics which could make a message board more appealing.

Venecia

I'm not all that convinced that there is such a big difference between the number of men and women here. Not all screen names lend themselves to easy identification, either.

Soberwolf

I agree with Anna

BBQBOY

I think women like to be completely anonymous, and this forum gives them that. My continuing care (IOP) group is 80% male. I've seen more men getting this kind of treatment (face to face) than women. Just my observations ! That is what makes this forum so successful.....complete anonymity!

FreeOwl

I never noticed....

SR - any stats on this?

Time2Rise

In general--and from a cultural and social conditioning standpoint--I believe men are less inclined to reach out for help and discuss their issues with others. It's not "manly" you see. However, that attitude has changed significantly over the last three or four decades

However, while I haven't done an actual count, I've been reading these boards for a couple of years now, and IMO the ratio of active male to female posters wanes and ebbs. It all depends on the period one happens to be reading on the site.

Aellyce

I agree with the comments that men are generally more likely to reach out for help for mental health-related issues. I also use a mental health forum where the topics are much broader, and have the impression that there is a female dominance there as well as far as the gender of the anonymous posters can be identified. Plus, probably females are more likely to persist on forums like these in the longer run and post regularly than male members. Perhaps in terms of existing accounts, there isn't such a difference, maybe more the regular participation.

PurpleKnight

Never really thought about it before!!

Though I do think there's a good mix amongst the regularly active members!!

Nonsensical

I teach free financial planning classes where the target demographic is low income. The classes are typically 80%-100% female students.

Men seem to have a stronger aversion to asking for help than women. It's unfortunate. SR stopped me from wrecking my family & career, and probably saved my life.

SoberInCLE

Hey, speaking of which, if you are single, do you just try and date non-drinkers?

FreeOwl

men also tend to have higher employment and higher income.... jussayin...

Nonsensical

True, but not in proportion to the class attendance.
http://www.census.gov/content/dam/Ce...mo/p60-252.pdf

FreeOwl

I have no idea where in that 20 pages you were directing me, but I have no reason to doubt your viewpoint or credibility. Just occurred to me that the male-female ratio of a class of that nature might be skewed by the overriding male-female income and employment bias.

PurpleKnight

It depends, the reality is alcohol exists, and our recovery is our own, so it is possible to be Sober and date a moderate drinker, the idea of someone having a glass of wine and not finishing it, these people exist.

Obviously though you gotta stick within the boundary of what you can deal with!!

teatreeoil007

Hi Troy,
I feel like I know you from somewhere like maybe we've worked together, but that is probably just my VIVID imagination working overtime...Anyways the Troy I worked with was a great guy and I loved working with him. If he was on that day it would be a good day!

More women than men...? Well, for some women that is a problem, but it's never been a problem for me, so I haven't spent a whole lot of time thinking about it.

You might have a good point though an certainly worth pondering.