Why is MTBing so male-dominated?

beski

The bets off - one of those Hob-Nobs is milk chocolate

projectsome

It's simple, a lot of women don't like riding mtb. just the same as a lot of men don't like going shoe shopping :roll:

but nowadays more and more women are getting into the sport.

Steve_F

It's a man's sport for men only, that's just the way it is.

I do like the idea of more women in the mags, rider's wife sounds good to me!!

Actually, I completely agree that more needs to be done to open the sport up to women. There are some great female riders out there but it isn't marketed in any way to attract more to the sport.

For a bloke falling off and getting an injury can be a mark of pride, walking into work on the Monday battered and bruised from trying a new drop or jump and getting it wrong has a strange feeling of pride that I think only really works in a macho kind of way.

Stevo_666

They should market MTB'ing to women as a good way to meet 'fit' blokes. It might get quite a few recruits and we might benefit too

BigShot

north-sure wrote:

Emily Batty i think it was - Very nice!

I'd like to prefix this by saying I am most certainly not one of these male femi-nazis that jumps on every perceived (or completely imagined) slight or objectification of women... but...
"Very nice!" may well play a part of why male dominated sports (that don't have restrictive rules) stay that way.
It takes a certain level of self confidence and thick skin for a girl to step into an arena full of people who (quite naturally) have that kind of reaction.
It's an extremely complicated issue comprised of social norms and pressures that exist pretty much from birth onwards (pink for a girl, blue for a boy, for example), but think of it this way:

When you're in the car park before a ride and a bloke rides up next to you... you see his bike. When a girl rides up next to you... you see her... THEN her bike. Granted that may be because the fairer sex are such a rarity in so many sports that they stand out merely by their presence which leads to the situation above, but that situation and the fairly natural "hot or not" judgment that comes between noticing them and noticing their bike makes for a pretty hostile environment to the kind of women who aren't completely comfortable in themselves.

Throw in things like fitness levels and I think it likely that most women who judge themselves "not fit enough" to ride could well be far fitter than many men who consider themselves fit. I have a feeling that men would tend to overestimate their own fitness and women, underestimate. If I'm correct, then in sports that require some fitness to be able to "keep up", that mindset could do a lot to change the XX to XY chromosome ratio.

I also think the earlier comments about cave men and cave women have a lot to do with it.

All the above said, while I've not ridden bikes with women more than a couple of times, I've done a hell of a lot of snowboarding in mixed groups and some of the best riders I've been out with have been girls. One particular bunch from Iceland and Sweden were bloody hardcore too. They had me pushing myself to do things that scared me so I could keep up.
While those groups didn't have that grunting, blokey quest for oneupmanship they also weren't all soft and cuddly and supportive. Just a load of people riding hard and having a bucketload of fun. I think the ideal is somewhere between the scenario of blokes egging each other on and something resembling a support group. I'm not so sure either of those are the best environment for people to progress.


I'm not sure advertising has much to do with it... especially since most advertising to guys seems to be done on a seriously homosexual level. Sex sells alright, but look at the ads for just about any fragrance, underwear and so on. Guys with their chests out, packages held in a rather provocative way by their smalls, presenting a GUY'S male ideal. That is, what guys think is attractive to women... or rather, what guys find attractive in other guys.
For bikes, boards and the likes the advertising is more slanted to "buy this product and you too will rip like Peaty/Burnquist/Haakonsen/Slater" but the point remains that it's selling to what gets guys going rather than anything to do with objectifying women.

More woman-specific kit that isn't all pink would probably help too, but I think the fitness, atmosphere and confidence issues are far, far more important to actually getting them onto the trails in the first place, because it's only there that there will be any benefit to kit that actually fits them rather than small sized mens gear.

broken weeble

Stevo 666 wrote:

They should market MTB'ing to women as a good way to meet 'fit' blokes.

They would be awfully disappointed if they ever met me though

cee

Kiblams wrote:

Are we argueing the same point here? I was saying that there are no naked men or women in the adverts in MTB magazines, therefore the ads are not aimed specifically at men... :shock:

no....i think the mtb mags are aimed at men...well...more specifically, young men between 16 and 25......

maybe one or two are aimed differently...

All I am saying is that men dont buy stuff because of naked women....men buy stuff with naked men in the adverts...manly huh!

BigJimmyB

miss notax wrote:

Agreed

How about a cover of a female MTBer on a MTB magazine??!!!

See last months Singletrack....I think it is Emily Batty as previously mentioned...she is very nice indeed.

cee

and that concurs with BigShots analysis of perceptions of ideals.

miss notax

BigJimmyB wrote:

miss notax wrote:

Agreed

How about a cover of a female MTBer on a MTB magazine??!!!

See last months Singletrack....I think it is Emily Batty as previously mentioned...she is very nice indeed.

Really? Fair enough then!

BigShot

cee - maybe it concurs but if nothing else it was a damn sight more succinct. :P
Me, be brief? Naaaah!

Oh yea - I forgot to address this point...

miss notax wrote:

Agreed

How about a cover of a female MTBer on a MTB magazine??!!!

And yes, I realise what i'm up against - I work for a sailing magazine and have we ever had a woman helm on the front cover? No :?

I dunno what things are like now, but from my long-since-chucked stack of bike mags from the late 1990s and early 2000s I can recall a fair few female covers. Missy, Rachel Atherton and wossname* all spring to mind.

I can picture the cover alright, but I can't remember her name. I think she was sponsered by Animal for a while. Maybe rode an Orange bike, but I could be making that part up.

Did Croxon get a cover back then? Might even be the one I'm thinking of.

andyxm

I think that a lot of interest in mtbing for blokes is the various bits of kit you can spend your money on, which probably doesn't interest women quite so much. Most of the conversations the guys I ride with have revolve around which tyre is best blah blah blah. Mtb mags feed this with a tedious obsession with the latest bits of kit. I suspect both of these factors are a bit of a turn off for women.


I suspect that one of the primary reasons blokes aren't really into horse riding is that you can't upgrade your horses legs to titanium ones.

Kiblams

andyxm wrote:

I think that a lot of interest in mtbing for blokes is the various bits of kit you can spend your money on, which probably doesn't interest women quite so much.

...

I suspect that one of the primary reasons blokes aren't really into horse riding is that you can't upgrade your horses legs to titanium ones.

I think you may have hit the nail on the head there for alot of people.

BigShot

andyxm wrote:

I suspect that one of the primary reasons blokes aren't really into horse riding is that you can't upgrade your horses legs to titanium ones.

Unfounded nonsense.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... e-leg.html

:P

cee

BigShot wrote:

cee - maybe it concurs but if nothing else it was a damn sight more succinct. :P
Me, be brief? Naaaah!

nothing wrong with an essay type rant! Some of us have also been know to go on a bit...mostly about nothing mind you but....

tilt

I've finally managed to get my wife to start riding with me (nice to have some company seeing as my two mates that took up mtbing last Summer haven't been out on their bikes once this year :roll: ).

I think the main thing putting her off was the initial cost of the bike tbh, she certainly doesn't have any problems when we're out on the trails.

mea00csf

lots of valid points made. I turned up to ride with the local mtb club thinking there was no way i'd be fast enough/strong enough/fit enough and have coped just fine, and in fact on the first ride another guy turned up and bailed half way round saying he was too knackered.

I think the issue for many women in sport is there is a huge gap in your teenage years where almost all girls stop doing any sport at all. I guess it's the same to a smaller extent for blokes but there will still be plenty of male groups of mates who see there mates by doing sport, that just isn't the case girls. and once your out of sport, it's so much harder to get back into it, particularly if none of your friends are into sport, which is less likely to be the case for men than women.

Can't understand the comments on the pics of girls in magazines. Look at MBUK. It's certainly the most prominent magazine available, and is so full of testosterone it's actually quite laughable, complete with pics of semi naked women draped over bikes in the adverts section, that'd be enough to put any women off getting into mountain biking.

Mostly tho, i think it's just a mindset, very few women enjoy adrenaline sports. I've certainly found that i get on significantly better with blokes or women who do adrenaline sports than with "normal" women. I just find i have nothing in common with them and i hear the same from other cyclists/snowboarders etc

Anonymous

I for one would love to see more women involved in the sport. I often take my friend's daughter out mountain biking and she loves it.
The conversation is a refreshing change from the endless toilet humour/pi** taking and stupid songs with my male friends.

And also, I enjoy seeing her develop as a rider. She's only started riding recently, and doesn't do it particularly often, but it's good to see her progress.
I've never just sped off into the distance and left her behind, although she'll often want me to ride a little further ahead so she can see what lines I'm taking etc.
But most of the time, we stick close by, as I said, the company is nice, and she's a really sweet girl.

giantculler

it is a interesting question. cause i think that nowadays the girls can do everything that the guys do. girls... please, anwers us.

miss notax

mea00csf - agree with your post

I'm convinced there will aways be a massive difference between a chap that says 'i'm new to MTBing' and a girl that says the same..... Blokes have generally spent years cycling around with their mates, messing around with BMXs etc. When I said I was new to MTBing years ago I literally meant 'I have not ridden a bike for 25 years!' :shock: And no-one likes looking stupid in front of other people do they....

Anonymous

miss notax wrote:

And no-one likes looking stupid in front of other people do they....

I got used to it pretty quick.

miss notax

yeehaamcgee wrote:

miss notax wrote:

And no-one likes looking stupid in front of other people do they....

I got used to it pretty quick.

Ha ha, yeah, ditto

hbrashaw

yeehaamcgee wrote:

I often take my friend's daughter out.

Score!
your friend might not be so happy when he finds he's a grandfather though!

Anonymous

He already is, but not by me, and not that particular daughter.
I've known her so long she's like a little sister to me though.

gb2gw

I second a lot of the sentiments on here about women tending not to be interested in adrenaline type sports or getting bruised or muddy, but talking to my non-biking female friends about why they're not interested, it also seems that aside from the risk of getting hurt or being scary they feel that although you're out in the countryside, you're never actually able to look around you and enjoy the views or notice anything as you're always constantly hurtling over something scary and always have to be looking down.

Which isn't true of course, but I definately think you need to have perseverance and determination, to keep going even when your lungs and legs are burning or you keep falling off and hurting yourself. It's been a challenge to me but am just about starting to get to the point where I can ride stuff that would have terrified me before and it's so gratifying and rewarding.

I also like looking at curtains and pretty things on occasion, but I think women who bike are of a certain type. I've never yet met a girlygirl with full face makeup and manicure out on a bike, the girls that do it are all a bit gutsy and grrrrr.

mobilekat

I suspect that one of the primary reasons blokes aren't really into horse riding is that you can't upgrade your horses legs to titanium ones.

I am guessing you have never looked in a horsee magazine.... The money you can spend on equine kit actually makes mountain biking into a comparativly cheap sport (OH is much happier that I am cycling rather than horse riding, and that despite a new bike, helmet etc this year!!)

The comment about when a bloke cycles up you look at his bike and a girl you look at her is true- does go the opposite way a bit too- when I see girls out riding I often feel sorry for them as they are often on bikes that are reducing their enjoyment- where as the bloke they are with is normally on a great bike!

As a 'well built lass' I know I get some odd looks when out cycling, but they are just as many 'big blokes' out there so I dont worry- Just wish female clothes were a bit less PINK. But so long as we are all having fun who really cares about the fabric!

The hardcore girls are great- they inspire me to try harder, and so long as we all encourage each other (male or female) we can all have a good time! (and get muddy too!)

Silversladey

My wife and i go out on bikes a coulple of times a week, she is new to biking and we just use the canal and cycle tracks at the moment, I like the trail centres and the more technical stuff. She wants to try the more difficult stuff so i think we will be progressing thru the blue routes at the trail centres and then on to the Red and Black stuff, if she enjoys it. It all depends on the individual, I have seen loads of women on my local trail at cwmcarn.

CraigXXL

Quite a few interesting comments on this subject. My opinion is that lads grow up looking for adventure, competition with others and accept the risks that they bring. From all this you get the fight or flight buzz for when it does go right or wrong. If it does go wrong lads seem to be more ready for the outcome, bones mend and "chics dig scars" attitude. The other factor and often recognised is that men take longer to grow up mentally.
On the flip side the majority of women don't have that same adventure and competitive spirit. Where a lad sees a challenge he's thinking if I do that, pick that line I can do that. The girl starts by thinking if I do that then I'm going to end up in mangled mess and bottles out to begin with.
Strangley I see this now reversed in the younger generations coming through where you are getting more girls taking risk and the lads bottling it with them getting ribbed by the girl. I also find it amusing that you still see so many ladies picking bikes based on colour and size of the saddle yet others have commented on here about less pinkness to female orientated bikes and clothing whilst some lads have gone the same way picking bikes on colour, blingness and comfort.
As far as I'm concerned male or female rider I don't care so long as I'm in front and if I'm not then I must be a mechanical problem.

atomic fox

my wife enjoys being out on the mtb,but she knows her limits.we ve been to both cannock and sherwood pines and while she copes well with the blue routes she struggled on the red a bit .that s fine with me as i would sooner she come and ride green and blue runs than none at all . there are some very good technical girls out on the trails as i witnessed on follow the dog. i m not ashamed to say i moved over for one flying female who was really attacking it. that said she was probably 20yrs younger than me

griffsters

butcher of bakersfield wrote:

...I just know I rather wouldn't be picking curtains.

Replace the word curtains with pretty much any household item and you have the reason for most Sunday shopping tension

I'd love the missus to get more into biking. I'm starting early on my daughter so she can join me on the trails in a few years :P

Edit; As to the original point - its great exercise but like many have said, I think the getting dirty and odd bruises here and there doesnt tick the right boxes for many girlies unfortunately