Is Literotica a 'Male Centric' site?

[nice90sguy]

I'll venture to say that the analytical approach to learning something, which is possibly more of a typical male thing, is actually a handicap in learning technology these days. But not when I started, when it was more like learning electronics.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Being able to use a basic tablet like an iPad is literally point and see what happens. Typing helps (my kids learned to read, write and type so they could log in to Minecraft and start naming infinite numbers of cube-shaped animals...)

But concepts like files, servers, file structures, disk space, memory, backups - they have no clue. Then they get to secondary school (age 11) and half of them haven't used a keyboard, they learn that and mousing quickly, but navigating to a particular folder and finding their work from last week? Total nightmare. (To be fair, we have the same problem at work, because SharePoint is shit and it's been set up to restrict access all the time so you're constantly having to email docs anyway...)

I swear my kids' school needed a full-time member of staff just to constantly reset passwords and login accounts for all their different sources of homework... Still, they did somehow instil the message that 'TikTok is for losers' and how to avoid most online scams, so it's not all bad. But I bet uni-level degrees in CompSci have to start with the basics, just like they did before the 80s and kids (generally boys) all played with PCs so many were decent programmers by the age of 18. That was when the proportion of girls in CompSci plummeted, as no-one could keep up with the degrees unless computing was their main hobby as well as an interest.

 

[alohadave]

I guess the modern-day equivalent would be reading raw HTML. WYSIWYG was a big thing and now we all take it for granted.

Yeah, that's a good example.

 

[Britva415]

Coincidentally, WYSIWYG is not really a thing when writing HTML. There have been some attempts at visual HTML editors in the 2000s (e.g. MS FrontPage) but they all produced so much bloat in the source that no one seriously used them.

The old Mozilla Composer wasn't bad in this regard.

 

[SimonDoom]

Once upon a time you had to learn how to use computers. Now people just figure it out on the fly.

I wasn't technologically inclined as a kid, but I had friends who were, and I had friends who got into computers in the 70s just as personal computers were really becoming available. They learned about them by building their own, which I have to think made a big difference. At the time I sometimes wondered why they spent so much time on computers, but they ending up going into the field for their careers and became fabulously successful. Shows what I know.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I guess the modern-day equivalent would be reading raw HTML. WYSIWYG was a big thing and now we all take it for granted.

I can see the Lit story title now: "Real Men Don't Use WIMP Environments"...

(For those under 40, that's Windows, Icons, Mice and Pointers, ie all the stuff you expect to see on a modern computer interface like Windows, as opposed to previous computers which started up in a mere fart-beep and gave you nowt but a command line and a flashing cursor.)

 

[StillStunned]

I can see the Lit story title now: "Real Men Don't Use WIMP Environments"...

(For those under 40, that's Windows, Icons, Mice and Pointers, ie all the stuff you expect to see on a modern computer interface like Windows, as opposed to previous computers which started up in a mere fart-beep and gave you nowt but a command line and a flashing cursor.)

And weren't we proud, as we boasted to our friends about the new 286 our dad had just brought home?

 

[Kumquatqueen]

And weren't we proud, as we boasted to our friends about the new 286 our dad had just brought home?

I went from a BBC Micro to working on MVS mainframes - though I did get to use OS/2 on those for a bit (note for the youth: OS/2 was like Windows only not created by Microsoft. MS's genius move was getting Windows pre-installed on PCs).

First Christmas at college I bought a 486. And monitor, keyboard, mouse and, decadently, my own printer. Still got the keyboard... I charged less to print than the library did, so made some cash back.

 

[KeithD]

My family's first computer was a Texas Instrument, TI99, which was one step above (for me) the Smith Corona word processor that was a closed system, with its own floppy size, but that let me erase and overwrite at will and print. That was just a writing system. You couldn't play games on it. The TI99 provided mastery of Pacman and some other rudimentary games. What it did so much more, though, is that it gave my son a computer to use and take apart and put back together and begin to program for--which led eventually to his doctorate in virtual reality and a career as a senior scientist at a major think tank.

 

[AlexBailey]

I accidentally catfished a chatter the other day. FFS, what a pig. He had full access to my profile and said how he liked my AV. He started out sweet and kind and was happy I gave him back some flirty energy.

Things escalated quickly, telling me all about how lucky I was he was giving it to me, how he was the best I’ve ever had, yada yada… He was off in his own world and while he was telling me how he wanted to use my body he kept telling me what he wanted me to say to him.

I got annoyed and began to wonder if he was paying any attention, so I told him to slow down, I wasn’t even hard yet.

“Are you female?”

“I’m queer. You found me in the TG/CD section.”

——— dickhead left the room ———



This guy was probably clicking on random names and was so excited for a bite that he reeled me in without knowing anything about what he caught.

It’s one man’s own little world.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

I can't let mention of WYSIWYG go on, without mentioning it's origin. 'What you see is what you get' was a catchphrase of Flip Wilson, an often undervalued and now (maybe?) forgotten comedy innovator. Maybe more significant was his phrase 'The Devil made me do it,' used to call attention to the denial of personal responsibility.

 

[AlexBailey]

I'd disagree with that, if anything computers of any sort have gotten consistently easier to use.
3 year old kids can navigate a tablet, and it's only going to get easier.

True that.

I recently heard my mom say, “Alexa, play Ella Fitzgerald.”

One of my sons helped her set it up, before that even Spotify was too complicated for her or my Stepfather. Their hands have been too shaky for phonograph records for years.

 

[Escierto]

I can't let mention of WYSIWYG go on, without mentioning it's origin. 'What you see is what you get' was a catchphrase of Flip Wilson, an often undervalued and now (maybe?) forgotten comedy innovator. Maybe more significant was his phrase 'The Devil made me do it,' used to call attention to the denial of personal responsibility.

When I think about it, Flip Wilson was way ahead of his time. The devil made me do it has become the standard excuse for every misbehavior.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

When I think about it, Flip Wilson was way ahead of his time. The devil made me do it has become the standard excuse for every misbehavior.

Nahh, now it's all an addiction or some other sort of condition.

 

[Lady2020]

I can vouch for that. It's unbe-fucking-lievable. But most of those men are neither readers or writers, but the "dark matter" of stalkers and lonely people who spend more time in lit chat than anywhere else

IDK. I think it's more complex than that.

 

[lovecraft68]

Nahh, now it's all an addiction or some other sort of condition.

These days all bad behavior is deemed "Mental illness/Mental health issues" both by the person committing the acts and their apologists.

There are people who act badly and do bad things simply because they're bad people.

Mental health is the new cop out and yet another way for people in modern times to have zero accountability for their actions.

And of course in the end, this hurts people who really do have those issues because there's so many frauds out there that they're the ones who aren't believed or are afraid to say anything in fear of getting the "Oh, right, you and everyone else."

 

[Kelliezgirl]

These days all bad behavior is deemed "Mental illness/Mental health issues" both by the person committing the acts and their apologists.

There are people who act badly and do bad things simply because they're bad people.

Mental health is the new cop out and yet another way for people in modern times to have zero accountability for their actions.

And of course in the end, this hurts people who really do have those issues because there's so many frauds out there that they're the ones who aren't believed or are afraid to say anything in fear of getting the "Oh, right, you and everyone else."

Very true, we've trivialized important issues and hurt the people who need help.
Look at way people abuse laws designed to help people with legitimate disabilities so they can take their dog to the grocery store by calling it an "emotional support" animal.

 

[lovecraft68]

Very true, we've trivialized important issues and hurt the people who need help.
Look at way people abuse laws designed to help people with legitimate disabilities so they can take their dog to the grocery store by calling it an "emotional support" animal.

I never considered that, but yeah, you're absolutely right.

 

[lil_jenni]

The site as a whole may not be, but most threads in the forum are male centric. Hell, those that aren't at still male dominated in most cases, even when the thread is intended to focus on female perspectives.

Also, for the record, women can be visual. They can enjoy porn. They can enjoy reading stories that aren't intended for the so called "fairer sex". They can have opinions and stick to them and still be overtly sexual, even raunchy. They can enjoy giving head and still call out misogyny and asshattery. They can flirt when they feel like flirting and rant when they feel like ranting and unburden themselves when they feel like unburdening. They are complex human beings with complex emotions, sometimes even contradictory ones.

And how do I know this? Because I live it, and I've been both held up as some kind of goddess because I am hypersexual and I am willing to talk about it (often pretty unfiltered) and blasted and demeaned and condescended to when I've had the temerity to talk about my mental health struggles and thus ruin the fantasy for some poor man. Oh, and let's not forget the fucking white knights who want to save me from myself, and then either tell me I'm not worth their time or that I must not really be a woman when I tell them I don't want or need fucking saving. And let's not forget the plethora of times I've been told here that my use of profanity is unladylike, sometimes by men who have liked or responded to posts about my earlier promiscuity or how much I enjoy giving blowjobs.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

The site as a whole may not be, but most threads in the forum are male centric. Hell, those that aren't at still male dominated in most cases, even when the thread is intended to focus on female perspectives.

Also, for the record, women can be visual. They can enjoy porn. They can enjoy reading stories that aren't intended for the so called "fairer sex". They can have opinions and stick to them and still be overtly sexual, even raunchy. They can enjoy giving head and still call out misogyny and asshattery. They can flirt when they feel like flirting and rant when they feel like ranting and unburden themselves when they feel like unburdening. They are complex human beings with complex emotions, sometimes even contradictory ones.

And how do I know this? Because I live it, and I've been both held up as some kind of goddess because I am hypersexual and I am willing to talk about it (often pretty unfiltered) and blasted and demeaned and condescended to when I've had the temerity to talk about my mental health struggles and thus ruin the fantasy for some poor man. Oh, and let's not forget the fucking white knights who want to save me from myself, and then either tell me I'm not worth their time or that I must not really be a woman when I tell them I don't want or need fucking saving. And let's not forget the plethora of times I've been told here that my use of profanity is unladylike, sometimes by men who have liked or responded to posts about my earlier promiscuity or how much I enjoy giving blowjobs.

Curious how we can see things in such a different light. I see Lit story-side as very male-centric, while I find Author's Hangout quite the opposite, despite the disparity in gender in favor of men.

 

[lil_jenni]

Curious how we can see things in such a different light. I see Lit story-side as very male-centric, while I find Author's Hangout quite the opposite, despite the disparity in gender in favor of men.

I meant the forum as a whole, not specifically AH. But, speaking specifically, AH does seem quite male centric to me, despite the number of influential female posters. There tends to be a lot of men explaining how women feel (or should feel) in the guise of defending/promoting women, which is why I don't hang out here much. White knight misogyny tends to piss me off, even when it's heavily veiled.

 

[JMJ4Play]

These days all bad behavior is deemed "Mental illness/Mental health issues" both by the person committing the acts and their apologists.

There are people who act badly and do bad things simply because they're bad people.

Mental health is the new cop out and yet another way for people in modern times to have zero accountability for their actions.

And of course in the end, this hurts people who really do have those issues because there's so many frauds out there that they're the ones who aren't believed or are afraid to say anything in fear of getting the "Oh, right, you and everyone else."

Everyone and their mother uses mental illness as an excuse for bad behavior or for needing ‘time to heal’ etc and it’s just… keep it to yourself. Thanks for the apology but stop trying to sugar coat it. This sounded a lot better in my head but POST REPLY…

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I meant the forum as a whole, not specifically AH. But, speaking specifically, AH does seem quite male centric to me, despite the number of influential female posters. There tends to be a lot of men explaining how women feel (or should feel) in the guise of defending/promoting women, which is why I don't hang out here much. White knight misogyny tends to piss me off, even when it's heavily veiled.

Hmm, all right. I didn't want to talk about the opinions behind opinions as it's hard to know people's true thoughts and intentions on the internet. While there are likely some (maybe many, I have no idea, to be honest) who only pretend to speak in favor of women, I still think that at least outwardly, AH is female-centric. It's a good thing so I am not complaining; I was just surprised at the difference in our perception. I am trying to take the people at face value, I guess

 

[SimonDoom]

The site as a whole may not be, but most threads in the forum are male centric. Hell, those that aren't at still male dominated in most cases, even when the thread is intended to focus on female perspectives.

Is this true? I wasn't sure so I just scanned the 40 threads on page 1 of active AH thread list. Most of the threads have no particular gender concern or orientation. I don't think they express gender centric opinions at all.

A few raise gender-specific issues, and it's fair to say that in some of those threads, like that recently closed, silly bear v. man thread, or the "what's special about rape" thread, there is some denial of women's experience in certain areas. But it seems to me that the women in the forum in those threads give as well as they get, and there's no shortage of them expressing their views every bit as loudly and effectively (assuming for the sake of argument that people are the gender they represent themselves to be) as the men do. I don't see those threads as a whole as male-centric. I see some people expressing what one might consider "male" views and some expressing "female" views.

 

[lil_jenni]

Is this true? I wasn't sure so I just scanned the 40 threads on page 1 of active AH thread list. Most of the threads have no particular gender concern or orientation. I don't think they express gender centric opinions at all.

A few raise gender-specific issues, and it's fair to say that in some of those threads, like that recently closed, silly bear v. man thread, or the "what's special about rape" thread, there is some denial of women's experience in certain areas. But it seems to me that the women in the forum in those threads give as well as they get, and there's no shortage of them expressing their views every bit as loudly and effectively (assuming for the sake of argument that people are the gender they represent themselves to be) as the men do. I don't see those threads as a whole as male-centric. I see some people expressing what one might consider "male" views and some expressing "female" views.

I posted early that my original comment meant the Lit forum as a whole, but sure. You're right. Thank you, sir. I guess my boobs caused me to misunderstand what I've read over the years. How foolish of me to not realize that review of a list of thread topics can definitively disprove my experiences.