Aquatic Plant Forum banner
21 - 40 of 81 Posts
Women are just smarter than we are.

In the spare time we have nowadays women want to enjoy their hobby. They enjoy their gardening outside. This involves getting rid of the weed that grows every now and then, but that can be taking care of while singing. All with a fast beautiful result.

While we are frustrated with our algae, fighting with our lights, running around the house with buckets full of water, spending our last money on plants which will probably not grow the way we want etc...
 
With your StarScream link I would have bet money you were a 'dude'. You never know these days ;)

I gotta agree with the nerd/tinkering factor. I can remember the glazed-over look I've gotten when significant others hear discussions on fertilizing methods or the arguments to use PAR to measure lighting for the planted aquarium.

Interesting enough, the women in our local plant club had interests in gardening as well as aquariums, which got them into planted aquariums. On the other hand, most guys in the club got into 'gardening' (i.e. emersed setups) from planted aquariums.
True, you never know. ;)

Quite a few females I know in the transformers fandom are Starscream fans. We are also a breed apart from our male counterparts in our enthusiasm for him. With that said, I don't share a number of the common traits for a female transformers fan. :twitch:

My husband gives me a glazed uninterested look when I try to discuss the various fertilisers. Or annoyed when I tell him to look at the shrimp heap that's feeding. I think that's because he finds that group gross.

I admit, I got into planted tanks because I have a need to be with green. I live in an appartment and I can't really have a garden. This satisfies my need.

My sister on the other hand, 9 years older, has a fish tank, a couple plants...that's it. It'll grow-maybe. She's the girly girl. She played with dolls as a child, she wore skirts alot, makeup and now does scrap booking as an adult hobby.

I played with tonka trucks, transformers. I hated skirts, although I have a few that reach my ankles. I will wear those from time to time. I never understood makeup and scrap booking looks....its cute, but not for me.

My best friend, who's a girl, hates fish so discussion with her about this is not in the books.
 
I am also a member of a male-dominated Guitar forum (even moreso than this hobby or forum). This very question came up once and I mentioned the idea that women generally have less spare time, since they are "most often" in charge of cleaning, cooking and family matters. I know some of you guys will object to that because you are good partners and help your wives. But. generally speaking, I think this is at least part of the case.

BTW, the idea didn't go over too well in the guitar group.

Personally, I don't have kids to tend to, but own a home, and manage to fit in my fish hobby, and (barely) my guitar hobby.
penny
PS...."lady like"? That term is pretty antiquated! :)
 
Well men tend to have more free time for hobbies.

in terms of aquascaping, after a point, it is purely a competition for who can make the best scape. Women usually are satisfied with a helthy tank anf not a perfect "competition" tank.

Plus guys tend to really indulge in the tech part. I mean how many of those tanks are set up with all the autodosing, water change systems, reactors, etc. are set up by women. If you think about it, all the tanks we drool over are the one that have all the fancy expensive setups. That's why all us guys love ADA, cause we can see the money and we like it.
 
I don't know, but when I first set up my 125 gal I purchased a huge plant package and started throwing them in the tank. an hour or so later I stood back to look at my creation in total disgust, I am not a decorator. My GF never even had a fish tank and I asked her if she thought that she could make it look better than I did? Lets just say she moved the scape around a bit and it stayed that way for 2 years looking just awesome, and she did it in half the time I did. Sometimes you just need a lady's touch, she is a better aquascaper than I am.

She does get kind of squemish, I had a ghost shrimp jump out of the tank and land on her shoulder when she was trimming (that's right, I got her trimming too) holy crap talk about a spasm, she wouldn't even pick it up off the floor to stop it from drying up into a shrimp stick. Then there was the other time she grabbed onto the shed exo skeleton of my bamboo shrimp asking me what is this? I was smiling the whole time fully knowing the reaction that was about to take place, I then told her and watched the fun ensue.
 
Interesting thread! I just got back into aquariums 2-3 years ago, after a 10 year break. During all the previous years I had been involved in fishkeeping, I never belonged to a club, never really knew anyone else who shared this interest.

When I went to my first meeting with the local planted tank club, I was surprised to find that I was one of the only women there (out of 20+ people, there were 4 women). It had never occurred to me that this might be more of a "guy" thing. I knew it was kind of nerdy, I knew it was a weird sort of hobby to have. But a male dominated hobby? That simply never occurred to me!
 
i was talking to my husband about this topic and he gave me a flat answer.
"The womens place is in the kitchen and the bedroom." he said he was joking around but im sure there is a small part of him that really does think that way.
 
Discussion starter · #28 ·
i was talking to my husband about this topic and he gave me a flat answer.
"The womens place is in the kitchen and the bedroom." he said he was joking around but im sure there is a small part of him that really does think that way.
...there are lots of people that have tanks in the kitchen and bedroom.... :D No problem there![smilie=b:
 
This has been a very interesting and entertaining read. The initial question was about aquascaping specifically and I think men are more likely to have a finished project in mind and work to reach that goal, while women that have aquariums tend to enjoy the growth and evolution of the tank.

I enjoy gardening outdoors and my tanks provide me with the opportunity to do the same inside. Since my gardening technique is informal with plants permitted to reseed and come up wherever, you can probably guess that my aquarium gardening technique isn't going to win any awards. There is no finished scape that I'm trying to reach, just a relaxing hobby (more or less) and the joy of watching the tank evolve as the plants grow and fill in or I decide to try a different arrangement or new plant.

Now as to why the entire hobby is dominated by men . . . hmmm, I'll have to get back to you on that.

p.s. The bedroom is a perfect place for an aquarium or two. I love being able to procrastinate getting up by watching my 2 tanks. :)
 
My main tank is more or less an evolution, my Muddy banks (the betta one) and the cavern (not yet in progress) are tanks with a very distinct plan.

I want to have my cavern tank in my bedroom as I wish it to be where it is dark and cool.
 
I've always been a tinkerer interested also in aesthetics. I attribute to painter mom and engineer dad and being lucky enough to have them both share their interests and encourage most any of mine. There was no gender bias when it came to certain hobbies or activities. Helping mom in the garden and dad with the car.

Interestingly enough it was my aunt who game me my first aquariums as kid. Her's were incredible reef and planted. I was also fascinated by insects, reptiles, and plants when playing in the yard with my brother. We would collect specimens, draw them, look them up in the encyclopedia and release them.

When I went away to grad school, aquariums went on hold. I had to focus on school, work, family, and friends. I had male friends in school who were able to maintain their hobbies but often sacrificed other aspects of life.

I'm glad to be back into the hobby.

Great thread TexGal..........I always enjoy your posts.
 
Discussion starter · #32 ·
Thanks Kim. I find it interesting that it does seem that women's tanks are more wild and free. Maybe it's just because there aren't enough comparisons for a valid sampling. I don't see women trying to really copy anyone's tank. Maybe it's the overall feel they like.

Waterfaller has wonderful nano tanks. Complexity's tanks, before she moved, were wonderful. (Where are you now Vicki? I hope you are ok!) Sunstar's DIY talent never ceases to amaze me. I love her Betta tank!!! Cs_Gardner's tank was one of the first that I fell in love with. Karen Randall's work is wonderful. I do think there are some wonderful women here that do amazing work. (In proportion to their numbers maybe even better than the men, no offense please!)
 
I do think there are some wonderful women here that do amazing work. (In proportion to their numbers maybe even better than the men, no offense please!)
Blasphemer!!!!! ;)
 
I do not offer answers, only a personal observation from a wonderful relationship with this hobby and an incredible lady.


Submerged plants and fish do not take kindly to cuddling.
 
Plain and simple, most women just do not have the time nor energy. Women still are the primary caregivers of children, do most of the housework, cooking, laundry, shopping and work full time outside of the house. While most men help out at home more than their fathers, the majority of the work still falls up women.
 
IME most women place aquariums in the same category as toys, along with video games and therefore a waste of time and money. They look nice but are not worth the time and effort.
 
Just now seeing this thread, but want to jump in real quick, seeing how George Farmer mentioned that one of the reasons I was chosen for interview was because of my age and gender...

1. Why more men than women?
The pretty-factor woos a lot of women. The tedious, scientific, expensive pieces and parts aspect, patience and social impression probably doesn't woo. You don't see a bunch of gals sitting at a table for coffee talking about their brand new light bulbs. Ok well I do. Also, the time a person can truly appreciate and afford this hobby is probably after they've gotten into other hobbies, had kids, etc. Kids love fish tanks. Kids can't afford $400 lighting systems and patience it takes to get results. Adult [women] mostly can, but there's probably a lot else going on in their life. The women I've talked to LOVE my tank and like to look at it. But it takes a trained eye to see what's gone into it. I was lucky enough to start in the fishkeeping hobby (and stick with it) very young. By the time I could afford the big kid toys, I had already ingrained an appreciation and fascination for aquascaping.

2. Do you think there are differences in how each sees the hobby?
Not to make a blanket statement, but it appears to me that only those OUTSIDE of the hobby are going to see it differently as men or women. Men like projects... cars, boats, building stuff. And aquascaping is an ongoing project that includes building, tools, etc. Women, I think, are a little more instant-gratification centered and if it doesn't come pre-packaged perfect and done, AND able to cuddle, it might not be so cool in their book. Women say "oh how pretty." Men say "What's up with the plumbing!?" haha

3. Are there differences in their styles?
Us ladies (at least here) tend to have a wilder-jungle feel that pulsates from manicured, to jungle and back and forth. I see more intricate, extreme and highly manicured scapes from men. That may also have something to do with the competitive aspect. My tank is a home for the animals, first and foremost. Seeing if I can get my plants to turn blood red is an added challenge that takes the back burner.

4. Who are some of the women? I can think of names of some good male aquascapers.
Walstad, Drinda, Catherine, Karen.... etc.
 
I'll have to agree with the nerd theory as well. At a recent childrens birthday party at my house, everyone was oohing and ahhing over my two tanks (neither of which are truely "scaped" but are collections of plants stuck randomly in the substrate) The mothers remarked about the "prettiness and naturalness", the dads wanted to know how much work, how much did it cost, how much this, how much that... Except the one female geek (some sort of -ologist at CMU) She wanted to know what was up with the CO2 bottle and how did I arrive at the ideal CO2 balance and asked about bacteria and outgeeked me bigtime.

If you wish to see a true disparity of the sexes, try going to a motorcycle forum... But the women often can outride the men because they are more fluid and less hamfisted with the right hand then the men.
 
I think the last post pretty much sums it up.


Men are more worried about the practical side of things, where as women are more worried about appearance.
 
I don't remember to see any top aquascape only made by a woman. But is strange. I believe that some of the nature aquarium culture, as T.amano said before, came from the Ikebana Japanese flower arrangement that is made mainly by women.
First let me address this misconception. Ikebana is traditionally a man's art (like most parts of asian culture), and was started by men. Looking on some of the larger ikebana using even large tree branches, one can see how the physical strength of a man comes to play when weaving together bits of tough plant matter. While women have also done ikebana for centuries, and there have been many great femal ikebana masters, still to this day many of the great masters and students of Ikebana are men, and the tradition will always have its root's with men's ikebana.

Even in looking at Japanese garden design and stone arrangement, these are largely male-dominated artforms, and always have been. Can you imagine a noble woman in ancient Japan, dressed in her elborate kimono, having much to do with the sweaty work of lifting large stones, fortifying and training trees with large wooden poles, or raking moss?

Addressing aquascaping, this is a highly technical artform, with all the gadgets and gizmos, ph reading etc. While now there is a big movement to try and get more women into math and science, without a doubt these fields have been traditionally male oriented.

Let's not lie to ourselves-- Aquascaping has a decidedly "geeky" side to it.

Though anyone can appreciate the beauty of the resulting aquascape (and I will say that the ladies love my work), the fact is that in making aquascapes one needs a bit of "Otaku Seishin" (spirit of fanaticism). The devotion (obsession?) required for understanding water balance, memorizing fish/plant species, studying the art, playing with Cameras, etc. etc.-- it lends itself much better to the border-line ADD-ness men are famous for (infuriating women the world over). "Boys and their toys," as they say. The same kind of personality that becomes a car-shop geek, also is suited towards becoming an aquascaper. Rather than having more free time for hobbies-- men make more free time (at the expense of various other activities generally involved with "having a life" lol).

Finally-- let's face it, between arranging heavy rocks (you need pretty big ones even for an Iwagumi in a 60cm tank) and wood, installing equipment and even doing water changes, there's a definite physical element to aquascaping.

I've thought several times "Wow, if I hadn't done so much wrestling training in highschool, doing that would have been a bitch!" during my aquascaping career (towards a variety of tasks). Things have not changed so much since those first ancient Ikebana artists and garden designers. It's still men who have the brilliant idea to play in the mud, move big rocks and plants, get wet, get hot, get sweaty and icky, and at the end of the day-- maybe put out something brilliant (albeit incredibly geeky).

I'm not saying that women can't be great aquascapers, but most of them lack the personality (insanity?) profile (and back muscles) that generally get involved with it.
 
21 - 40 of 81 Posts