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Do you think it would stay as "clean" as the For Women section?

Good question. How many women here want this segregation?

Well, I was kind of assuming there were "For Men", "For Children", "For Gays", "For Transgenders", "For nostrich" communities in the works too.

You mean there aren't?

Oh.

I'm leaning more towards the opposite of there being a "for men" section: the removal of "for women." As you so rightly pointed out, an interest is an interest. If we're talking about equality, it's basically required that either the "for women" section be removed or a "for men" section be created - the latter being silly, in my opinion. :)

edit: My response reminded me of the Brown vs. Board of Education case, in which the judges ruled that, essentially, "separate but equal" isn't possible; being separate automatically makes the two things unequal.

Not to imply that the Notes organization here is nearly important as the Brown vs. Board case, of course. ;)

edit #2: I just noticed this line of text below "For Women":
Parenting, fashion, career, health...the ladies discuss it all.

I'm certainly not upset about that, but I'd say there are many who would be. Parenting is just for women now? I'm a dad, but I'm not a woman, so... do I get a For Men section, to talk about my parenting, as opposed to the women's parenting?

Down with "For Women"! Up with "For All"! (/drama)

I see your point Josh and I like it. To me it seems like a "special interest", so why not make it a Clique?

@RightOn: Yeah, I think it would be better as a Clique, personally.

I don't like the Special Interests community either. Are those interests not "cool" enough to get their own community? Who defines a "special" interest?

do special interests ride the short bus?

I agree with Josh. Instead of adding a "For Men" section, they should remove the "For Women" section. That would be the only way to make it equal.

It's not about equality, it's about content aggregation. I have notes that talk about periods, menopause, pregnancy, makeup, etc. and they are female issues. Unless men go through menopause, have periods, etc. and I completely missed it, the community is a valid one.

Women wanted a section, men didn't. It's a simple as that. Men still don't want it (not that I have the conversations to justify it). If I disband it I have no place to put valid female only issues. Female only issues that will rise once more females are around.

Funny, don't see you guys saying there is an Apple section and not a Microsoft one. :)

Personally I think it would be great to have discussions about things from a male's perspective. Parenting is different for women vs. men and sometimes women want to talk with other women because they relate. Obviously, you guys don't want to have those discussions but it's not because we didn't want to create the community. We were asked not to - just like now.

There goes your equality theory. :)

Not to make this any less gender unbalanced (and probably cause a few frowns in between) but, in regards to the "For Men" community, what did you think the Technology Community was for?

Men can put on makeup too. And I've been told that I look sexier than most women in a summer dress

And I've been told that I look sexier than most women in a summer dress

But do you prefer Tampax brand or Playtex?

@Kami - that's what they said! Apple, Tech, Auto and Sports lol.

@Vidar - see, legitimate discussion for a men's community. The trials of finding the right make up, fingernail polish, earrings, etc. Along with your prostrate issues, losing your hair, being a single parent (father), why men wear socks that don't match what they are wearing...

@cooper - LMAO

Gender inequality will always exist because the genders are unequal.

That's not to say one is better than the other.

Guys generally don't want to talk about jock itch, hemorrhoid cream, penis size, body hair, razors and the like because... well it's just not good conversation. Yay for good hygene and all, but I don't want to hear about it from any gender :)

Well, I understand what Tyme is saying. But I still have a problem with that still. Why would women want to talk about their period?? This website seems to be aimed for older people, not preteens trying to learn about what is happening...down there.

I believe Tyme's point is that there were people who wanted a women's section, and so it exists.

Believe it or not there are many places around the web where women talk about their periods, their sex lives, and a variety of other things most of which they are not comfortable talking about in a section full of men. I'm not saying it is what I would prefer but obviously there was a desire for it.

Besides, you'd be surprised at how many women still have no idea what is really going on "down there".

I must live in another world. I've been around male conversations about penis size, jock itch, and body hair. Not that it was pleasant nor would I care to have to make that a conversational mainstay.

@Zombie - very common for a woman having issues with her period to seek advice prior to seeing a doctor along with researching online. Armed with more information. Like problems with periods happen to teenagers only.

....

Hence the need for the female community - so they can talk about those issues. The ladies here put up with the dominated male population and their conversations. There will be topics people don't want to talk about in a community. Windows users might not want to read about Macs, vice versa. If you hate Facebook do you want to read about people who love it?

That doesn't mean there aren't people who do want to discuss those things.

@cooper:

Believe it or not there are many places around the web where women talk about their periods, their sex lives, and a variety of other things most of which they are not comfortable talking about in a section full of men.

That brings up an interesting point, namely that the For Women section at 9rules is full of men. No one is blocked from any section based on their gender (or any other criterion). I understand Tyme's point that some wanted the section, but for me, in light of your comment, it still doesn't make much sense - that is, if one looks at the section as strictly for women only. Every Note that is posted, regardless of what section it appears in, shows up at 9rules.com/notes. Every Notes section is accessible to everyone. So, the concept that the For Women section is only for women, as if it's some secluded area, is a false one.

And to clarify, I'm not going on about that to get the area shut down; after reading Tyme's response, I fully understand that it's helpful for content aggregation. I just find the idea of a closed-off-but-not-really-closed-off area to be an interesting (and perhaps slightly humorous) one.

I get your point. I do understand that there are a lot of things about women that MOST men would not be interested in.

But where do men go if they want to talk about their sex lives???!

But where do men go if they want to talk about their sex lives???!

I'm here to listen - feel free to email me. ;)

@cooper: What's your email address? (Kidding. :)

But where do men go if they want to talk about their sex lives???!

As a wise philosopher once spoke: the finest trait about being male is the whole world is your urinal. We pee where we please =)

Read into that as you like but behind all of this discussion is the fact that gents tend not to talk as much about their personal schinzzle. If I need to talk about a rash on my ding-a-ling the order of reference would be:

• Google (reading only)
• My woman (training to be a doctor)
• One of my closest friends
• A real doctor
• ...
• A total stranger online

You can jig that about a bit depending on the embarrassment factor but the topic has to be fairly trivial for me to consider chatting away merrily to people I don't know (when I'm not anonymous).

@Oli: I'm the same way. The idea of posting online about some male-specific issue I'm having just sounds bizarre to me. And by that, I mean online at all. If anything, posting about such a thing in a private, male-only forum would probably seem even peculiar to me.

That's not, of course, to say that it's wrong to do so; if some women feel comfortable doing it, that's cool by me. (And by that, I mean women posting about their female problems; but I suppose women posting about their male problems is fine too, and perhaps far more likely. :)

I'm sorry, I know that the root of this conversation is a serious issue about gender equality, but I've had trouble NOT falling off the chair LMAO at some of the responses! Thanks for that, at least, I needed it this morning!

As for me, I can see all sides here, which makes it hard to input an opinion, but I will say that about as far as I'd go talking about "female issues" is a conversation about PMS or menopause, but not anything else like sexuality issues, or actual problems with menstruation, infections or the like. My order of preference for dealing with these issues is: research online, and then my doctor if I can't figure it out on my own. I'd chat with a personal friend about it, maybe, but not in a public forum like this where anyone and everyone could read it.

I know some of you (as well as you can know anyone online, anyway), and consider you friends, and maybe if we were out for coffee we would chat like that if we knew each other very well, but not in here.

Look if anyone has problems with their naughty parts that actually presents a cause for concerned, you're forgetting that I'm also a Medical Scientist and I would think I have a few pointers on some problems.

That makes 9rules a good stop for issues both for men and women.

But in all seriousness, I would think that we put the communities based on whether we need it or not. None of us has ever asked for a "For Men" community and I don't see that ever happening. If people asked for a Women's community. That's great then.

I mean come on, this is 9rules. If we want something, we'd have a perfectly good reason for it. I doubt crying gender quality for the sake of it is a good reason to put a men's community.

@Kami: Amen to that.

It's rather enlightening, isn't it, to see the differences between the way men and women support each other. And the fact is that men are less likely to talk about ... manly issues the same way women do. That's not necessarily a bad thing ... it's like men vs women at shopping.

I'd go with a no. We don't need one, just yet.

I must live in another world. I've been around male conversations about penis size, jock itch, and body hair. Not that it was pleasant nor would I care to have to make that a conversational mainstay.

I think this is very true. Maybe due to regional cultural differences, or some other socio-econonomic divergence. The only place I can think of that I've experienced that is back in high school locker rooms. Maybe it's just those that are still set in that highschool mentality.

I'm a girl and I figure I have the right to read and comment on
a. any Note I like or find interesting
b. any Note my experience might add another slant or angle to the discussion
c. any Note I can learn something new or different

There are some Communities (like Design) I don't usually check out because I frankly have no experience or understanding of the subject.
I figure everyone has this same right.

Somehow I think most guys aren't really comfortable discussing more private issues out in the open. Other general interests that males tend to gravitate towards such as technology and sports already have communities of their own. Women who have similar interests can use those communities, I think this one is probably reserved for more personal female-specific issues.

It's not about equality, it's about content aggregation. I have notes that talk about periods, menopause, pregnancy, makeup, etc. and they are female issues. Unless men go through menopause, have periods, etc. and I completely missed it, the community is a valid one.

I respect you, Tyme, but that's a fairly narrow minded comment. Simply because someone doesn't personally go through something, be it physical, mental or emotional, does not mean they are unqualified to comment or personally uninterested in doing so. Or do you go through all the things other users post on this site? As for the content aggregation, I agree with Josh, in that all the notes show up in the Notes section, including those found in "For Women," so it's not just content aggregation, if it's even that.

Also, I don't currently see one note going on in the For Women section that deals with any of those things. That could be because, as other women have stated, most of us would never dream of discussing those things here, and with good reason(s).

Funny, don't see you guys saying there is an Apple section and not a Microsoft one. :)

Don't get so defensive. But, in all honesty, separating content according to interest is, I think, much more valid than separating it by sex.

Gender inequality will always exist because the genders are unequal. That's not to say one is better than the other.

The genders are equal, but they are different in terms of preferences usually. Still, though, I don't see why such a thing supports the creation of a "For Women" section. Yeah, maybe women asked for it, but perhaps that should be thought of as well. Why do women think their interests should be so segregated? (And please, no fashion, menstruation, etc. comments. This section is not made up solely of such Notes.)

I also think it's interesting that when I bring this up, it's all physical issues, along with a few others (like children, in general--because, you know, CHILDREN are ONLY a female issue), that are mentioned. Yet, when I look at what's on top of the "For Women" section now, though, it ranges from relationship issues (which has a section for itself) to gun storage.

I'm not saying I totally care one way or the other, but I think it's silly to assume the "For Women" section is needed, because we're all ill-educated about our amazing bodies.

As for the content aggregation, I agree with Josh, in that all the notes show up in the Notes section, including those found in "For Women," so it's not just content aggregation, if it's even that.

I suggest you look again because there are topics that definitely talk about things from a female perspective. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that because liked minds/interests tend to blend together online. Otherwise networks like Glam or sites like AskMen would not exist. They cater to a particular niche and are able to organize content better.

At 9rules we have a diverse community. For Women has 9rules member sites that are from a female's perspective along with notes. We'll probably add more sites to it as well as other things. We offered to start a men's community, the community declined. That doesn't change the fact that people looking for content pertaining to women wouldn't look in the For Women community. The content is separate from other content (which a clique would do) and men cannot join the conversation. Many large communities break down content between men and women.

Yeah, maybe women asked for it, but perhaps that should be thought of as well. Why do women think their interests should be so segregated? (And please, no fashion, menstruation, etc. comments. This section is not made up solely of such Notes.)

Because the community is also made up of what members talk about on their blogs. And female members definitely have talked about their female issues on their blog...and there is nothing wrong with that...and they shouldn't be made to feel "wrong" for doing it - which is implied here (whether intentional or not). Personal bloggers tend to talk about what is going on in their lives. One that made a deep reaching impact was Rob "AcidMan" Smith who talked about his prostrate cancer and how he had to use a pump to achieve an erection, his divorce, his other medical issues. He said:

This may be nothing but a temporary quick fix, but it's a lot better than nothing. What I REALLY would like, if they won't cut me or give me copious amounts of drugs, is to give me my own supply of this stuff. I still HAVE a bunch of needles left over from my "fix-a-flat" days and if I could poke a shot in my DICK back then, I KNOW that I can poke my own shoulders now. Just gimme the shit, and I'll do it myself.

He died two days later.

Not the thing any of the guys here would talk about but he helped a lot of men going through the same experiences because he had the guts to talk about. Because men do go through those types of experiences and there is nothing wrong with talking about it. Eventually, most large communities end up breaking down content between men/women because it makes it easier for the user to find what they are looking for. As 9rules becomes more mainstream these topics will come up more. They always do because in the end people talk about what they know, what is going on in their lives - or seek that information.

It's simply a method to better organize the large amount of content that flows through 9rules.

Don't make it more than that.

I want to start my own site but it scares me how strangers think they have a right to tell people what to do with their own sites. I see it more and more. It's rude.

I just read a female 9rules member site and she talked about her cramps in her entry. She talked about her career problems being a woman, her kids, a wife/girlfriend. I'm glad she's in the ladies community and not in Apple or something.

There are For Men sections, they are called "Games" and "Sports".

*ducks

Good one, Scrivs.

I read this somewhere:

The difference between the way men and women communicate: when women share their problems with each other they get empathy, and understanding, and oh I know how you feel.

When men share their problems with each other they expect solutions. Oh I know How You Feels just makes us want to throttle you.