The diversity in this hobby, and on this Forum is great.

[Ramfins59]

After enjoying this modeling hobby for so many years, and being a member of this Forum for several of those years, I am really struck by the amount of diversity that there is. I totally understand that different people have different likes and dislikes and different outlooks and preferences.

Some people only like or build cars, some only like or build foreign cars, some like Big Rigs, some like Pickups, some like motorcycles, some like brass era cars, some like 1950's or 1960's cars, some like muscle cars, some like race cars of many different types, some like Large scale models, some like small scales, some like military and plane models. Some like building dioramas, some like figures.

Some hobbyists collect diecasts, some collect plastic kits, some collect boxes. Some build for their shelves, some build for competing at contests, some build for a "customer".

Some are casual box stock builders, some are "down to the last detail / over the top" builders. Some are fantastically creative scratchbuilders.

Some of us are gray haired "old farts" who have enjoyed building for many years, some are newbies to the hobby. Some are somewhere in the middle.

I guess my point in all this is that with all of our individual likes and dislikes, opinions, preferences and attitudes, abilities and disabilities, we are all pretty much one BIG "family" of sorts.

I, for one, am happy to be a member of this "family" and hope we all can continue to enjoy each others company for a long time to come.

I now turn over the "pulpit" to whomever else has something to offer.

[DrGlueblob]

Not to be a buzzkill, but not many of the fairer sex seem to like the hobby. Really, why is that?

[chunkypeanutbutter]

Not to be a buzzkill, but not many of the fairer sex seem to like the hobby. Really, why is that?

It's a guy thing, really. Most of the time, women aren't interested in vehicles for points other than transportation.

I like cars and car models because of the visceral feeling of the car, especially when you build something yourself, like our Ranger. I saw it nearly completely apart and now it's running again... It's so cool that all these pieces of metal come together to make a fast, loud, nearly breathing machine.

I, too, love this forum. It's a nice escape, and a good place to show my skills off, give tips, and get advice on how to make a better product, which is what I'm working towards.

Edited January 7, 2015 by chunkypeanutbutter

[Ramfins59]

Not to be a buzzkill, but not many of the fairer sex seem to like the hobby. Really, why is that?

Guys like cars, trucks and mechanical things, and taking things apart and putting stuff together more than girls do.

[atomicholiday]

Not to be a buzzkill, but not many of the fairer sex seem to like the hobby. Really, why is that?

Do you mean to tell me that chicks won't dig me because I build models?!?!

[Bernard Kron]

Not to be a buzzkill, but not many of the fairer sex seem to like the hobby. Really, why is that?

All of us are the product of our upbringing and what's called "acculturation". We are pretty much blank slates when we start out and are the result of what and how things are done around us. Only in recent decades have women been allowed the opportunity to experience roles other than those which were set many, many decades ago. So, for example, many modes of activity are still reserved largely for men even as they are changing. Banking and finance, high tech, mathematics, physics and the "hard sciences", machining, engineering and manufacturing, the military-defense complex, and motor racing are all examples. In every one we can point to increased participation of women and yet it's relatively easy to show there is a total lack of "diversity" in any of them. The same is true on the other side of the ledger. Just go to Hobby Lobby to see what I mean. Talk about lack of gender diversity ! I guess I just wasn't raised to appreciate dried flowers... So it's a work in progress all the way around.

But I totally agree with Rich, the diversity here is one of the site's great pleasures for me. I think it's critical in maintaining the forums' vitality. I'm a member of several specialist forums and sometimes it's a struggle keeping a sense of energy and involvement within a relatively narrow range of interest.

Edited January 7, 2015 by Bernard Kron

[Ace-Garageguy]

Not to be a buzzkill, but not many of the fairer sex seem to like the hobby. Really, why is that?

Guys like cars, trucks and mechanical things, and taking things apart and putting stuff together more than girls do.

This is really fascinating to me, because I've been listening to feminists whining for the past 40 years about how women are discriminated against in the tech and engineering sectors, as evidenced by the relatively few women working IN those sectors.

The REAL truth, as Richard stated so simply, is that the vast majority of females have zero innate interest in mechanical and techy things, and the ones who do (and I have actually known a few) are exceedingly rare. And I don't think it has anything to do with little girls being forced to play with Barbie and little boys being forced to play with trucks.

Just watch small children and notice what they seem to be hard-wired to notice, depending on what sex they are.

[Bernard Kron]

Bill, our posts crossed each other. I guess we're on the opposite sides of the (ahem) "conversation", to use that terrible modernism. Nurture or nature...

Edited January 7, 2015 by Bernard Kron

[Ace-Garageguy]

Do you mean to tell me that chicks won't dig me because I build models?!?!

Sadly, no. And they really won't dig you if you build real cars either...but if you can afford to buy a new Porsche, you're in like Flint.

There are SOME women who are turned on by competence in anything, whether it's building models, real ones, carpentry, art, or playing the piano. But you have to find a woman who has an independently functioning mind, and who doesn't like what everybody else likes, just because. Good luck with that.

[Bernard Kron]

Shall we start a pool as to how long it takes for this thread to get locked?

[Ace-Garageguy]

Bill, our posts crossed each other. I guess we're on the opposite sides of the (ahem) "conversation", to use that terrible modernism. Nurture or nature...

I believe both "nature" and "nurture" figure significantly in the formation of a personality, and each individual personality favors one or the other. But I still maintain that in general, most female human minds are wired differently from most male minds, just as left-handers are wired differently from right-handers, and some folks are born with great musical talent while other's cant distinguish music from noise.

There's a compelling body of empirical evidence to suggest that some characteristics are indeed hard-wired (many of them depending on "gender"), including sexual preference.

The women I've known who particularly appreciated my involvement with machinery were almost invariably from families where the dad or brother was heavily into cars or aircraft, so that's an indication of "conditioning" to be receptive to the hobby or interest in one's mate, but it's no guarantee the girl in question will want to get out in the shop and start getting filthy.

EDIT: I HAVE known women who deviated far from what's expected. I was with a girl for several years who was an aerospace engineering major at Ga.Tech. She had a MUCH easier time with calculus than I did. She was in Air Force ROTC, and went on to become a pilot. Interesting girl, but not at all typical

Edited January 7, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[10thumbs]

Hi Rich, I agree to your statement and observation. Here we can see 20, 30, 40 up to lots over 60's that still build models and have fun doing it, plus the communication and exchage is a good thing. Older guys, a while back, started a nice hobby and still like doing it.

Let's keep on building.

Michael

[DrGlueblob]

Nobody's trying to be uncivil here, I don't see why it would be locked.

In my travels I've seen/met some women who are incredibly talented miniaturists -Be it scale models, dollhouse furniture, scratchbuilt figures, propmakers. I admire anybody who has the patience, creativity, and skills to make something small look 'real'.

[Bernard Kron]

Bill, I believe time and opportunity play a very large role in most things. That's the basis for my "work in progress" comment. Just because we can imagine something doesn't mean it won't be a time-consuming process to see the change.

Hi Rich, I agree to your statement and observation. Here we can see 20, 30, 40 up to lots over 60's that still build models and have fun doing it, plus the communication and exchage is a good thing. Older guys, a while back, started a nice hobby and still like doing it.

Let's keep on building.

Michael

I agree with you completely. Well put.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Shall we start a pool as to how long it takes for this thread to get locked?

I don't think anything inflammatory has been said. Model cars are equally accessible to women as they are to men. Last time I looked, you didn't have to get a gender test to buy a model. So it comes down to choice.

It's also been my experience that there are many more male gamers than female. This certainly can't be due to females having restricted access to the internet or modern technology, or being "forced" into gender-specific roles. It's simply innate interest.

[aurfalien]

You bring up good points Richard.

I also uber appreciate this forum and its diversity for its purity in the love of this hobby.

So diff from other countless forums that I am a member off, no BS, just the facts in terms of scale modeling. Totally cool.

In terms of woman, well my local hobby shop has been selling many vintage VW kits to mostly woman lately. Albeit younger woman but still they do build.

[10thumbs]

I think the thing has gone somewhat off topic.

It's not male/female.

It's modellers who have fun, and like doing it.

Plus this forum is really a decent place to be active on, I'm quite content here.

I think Rich made a nice statement, and just wanted to express his positive outlook.

Michael

[Ace-Garageguy]

I think the thing has gone somewhat off topic.

You're right, but digression is part of the nature of public forums.

I agree 100% with Richard's sentiment.

[10thumbs]

Actually, I love to go off topic. It's fun!

Rant and vent is cool. I like. Politics would be cool, too. I do this though, elsewhere. lol.

I like too, that on this forum I can write a pm to a stranger, and actually get a decent reply.

This is really a decent place to be.

Michael

[southpier]

I miss crazygirl ....

[Tom Geiger]

I grew up in the the military so I became used to being in a diverse community from an early age. I have known what its like to be the foreign guy. Moving forward I have spent the last 35 years in the pharmaceutical industry, which is very diverse, so I don't even notice these things until someone stops to point it out. In fact I had a friend I knew 10-15 years when he mentioned being Jewish. I didn't know that. Religion had never come up in our hobby conversations.

Hobbies are the great equalizer, because having a common interest brings people of different backgrounds together. I really enjoy knowing modelers from different parts of the world, male, female, young, old, and of different faiths and races. I like to see how people who come from different beginnings and experiences approach the same thing... like street rodders in Australia, Europe and South Africa. So close, but with some interesting twists. It's all part of what makes this interesting.

And the really interesting part is what's called "crowd sourcing", where a topic or question comes up and answers come from all over. That happens on the board all the time, and sometimes the solutions come from all over the world. We take that for granted today. And that's very cool.

[johnbuzzed]

Do you mean to tell me that chicks won't dig me because I build models?!?!

Nope. My wife and I have been married for more than 37 years. I have been building for more than 54 years. I once told her, before we were married, that if I couldn't build I would go nuts. And she's still with me.

A whole bunch of- most likely, the majority of- those modelers who I know are married and have been for many years. You just gotta find the right "chick". Heck, they even attend shows, contests and swap meets.

[slusher]

I think the thing has gone somewhat off topic.

It's not male/female.

It's modellers who have fun, and like doing it.

Plus this forum is really a decent place to be active on, I'm quite content here.

I think Rich made a nice statement, and just wanted to express his positive outlook.

Michael

Well said Michael, I agree with Rich, we are all like family here and a great place to be part of. I have made so great friends here.

[Roadrunner]

So far, it does indeed seem like an excellent place to hang and talk model "stuff".

[mikemodeler]

Great topic Rich and I agree with your opening statement. What I find most interesting here and on other forums is how people from other continents can build replicas of vehicles not common to their location and do it well. I think having the internet and these forums to help in their building has made them more successful and adds to the diversity we see.

As far as this being a hobby that chicks will dig? My wife knows that I could have a bunch of other hobbies that cost more money and would take me away from home more. She is frustrated by the size of my stash and the space it takes up but she is always interested in what I am building and likes that I am down the hall instead of in a bar!