The Gender gap

General Unicycling Discussions
#1

>>Christian Hoverath passed Level 10 of the USA skill levels last
>week.
>>He is the sixth person to achieve that milestone.
>
>Does anyone know the names of these skill giants? Or maybe a list is
>maintained online of the top league?

Here is the list in order that they passed level 10. Dana Schneider Ryan
Wood Ashley Wood Irene Genelin Ryan Woessner Christian Hoverath

-Andy

Andy Cotter - Andy.Cotter@OutTech.com Unicycle Video “One Wheel - No
Limit” - http://www.tcuc.org/nolimit/ Twin Cities Unicycle Club -
http://www.tcuc.org International Unicycling Federation - Director

#2

??? this was a year or so ago wasnt it? was there more to be attached?

#3

The gender gap

It would be nice to meet a female unicyclist once in a while.

I happened to notice that 3 of the 6 level 10 unicyclists are female (or at least have feminine names: Dana, Ashley, and Irene). So why is it that every unicyclist that I meet is a male. Grump. And why does everybody who posts here seem to be male (or at least use masculine usernames)?

Are there a higher concentration of good female unicyclists than average female unicyclists?

Is there a gender difference to unicycling? It don’t know any female unicyclists, but in the juggling world, I have noticed that women seem to fall into two general categories: They are either really good jugglers or they are “social” jugglers who rarely juggle alone. Often women in the latter category get into juggling because their friends or boyfriends do it. Men are more likely to get interested in juggling on their own and more likely to practice on their own in a corner. I ask this because I am definitely a loner unicyclist–by necessity, since I don’t have any unicycle geek friends to ride with.
Any opinions about the gender question?

#4

Here at TCUC the split is almost 50-50 for top riders, but more like 60-40 for learners.

#5

Re: The gender gap

–oops, sorry about that. I attempted to quote Mr. Cotter and ended up posting him.

I think I might have been a tad unclear in that last post. I didn’t mean to imply that all the males out there on unicycles are male grumps. Just that I am making a complaint about the world in general. Hence: Grump.

–Wow!, no wonder I have been such a Grump. Now I am a neutered “it”. I meant to say: “I don’t know any female unicyclists.”

I suspect that my hard United seat has emasculated me. I have to get a unicycle seat with a little more padding. :slight_smile:

–Amos

#6

Re: The gender gap

I don’t really have any answers. But if you are judging the boy/girl ratio based on this newsgroup/forum, then you may be introducing other variables. Such as, is there a gender gap in computer users? Or people who access the Internet? Are males more likely to post and females more likely to lurk? I hope all the answers are “no”, but I just don’t know.

We (the active posters in RSU) are only a subset of the unicyclists. There must be unicyclists who do not have computers. And those who just ride. Plus old posters who faded away but still ride. And neo-Luddites.

If I recall correctly, there seemed to be an even balance of males and females in the “One Wheel, No Limit” video. Ah, Max beat me to it. Yes, 50-50.

I’ve never been to a unicyclist convention. But then you would have to ask, are males/females more likely to attend a convention? But maybe I’m just being too anal.

uni57 (Dave)

#7

Now I’m almost tempted to move to Minneapolis.

#8

I think that the MUni unicyclists are mostly male, but in freestyle, it’s a pretty even split. In RSU, it’s mostly the MUni crowd and therefore there are mostly male posters.

#9

That thought has seriously crossed my mind as well. TCUC members are lucky! Are all the level ten riders from TCUC?

uni57 (Dave)

#10

A gender gap in unicycling…an interesting topic. When I was the lone unicyclist in my neighbourhood, I often wondered where the girls were on rsu (with a few exceptions)?

Dave, I think the “anal” factors that you suggest are relevant. The absolute sex ratio of male to female unicyclists remains a mystery to me. On the newsgroup, the ratio is probably skewed towards males, even if you assume that all the posters that do not reveal their gender are male. The younger cohort of females is probably just as computer saavy as the boys…why don’t they post as frequently? One of my friends, appalled at the amount of time I spend lurking at rsu, suggested that maybe girls will check out the site, but are not as likely to post their accomplishments and problems. Most of the female recreational athletes that I asked said that they would prefer to just DO their activity, rather than engaging in micro-examination or sharing on the web. Alternatively, most preferred verbal discussion of their sports to web forums (though none of these people were unicyclists, and there are a heck of a lot more mountain bikers, soccer players, runners, etc. with whom to chat).

I was a lone unicyclist for about a year and a half before the Vancouver Unicyclists came into existence. I think (and someone can correct me on this) that the club ratio is currently 10+ males to 3 females. Assuming that there is an equal tendency by both sexes for group behaviour, you could compile the sex ratio of the various clubs (perhaps the more established ones to minimize bias) to get a rough idea of the number of active female unicyclists.

I can’t really comment on the two categories of juggling females that you suggest, Amos, but I think there may be a trend for guys to pick a hobby and master it. Aren’t there studies that demonstrate that North American females tend to multitask more than males? (I’m out of my league on this topic…I haven’t read the “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” series…if they have a unicycling section, do let me know ;)). Personally, I have the attention span of a gnat on crack, so I have more hobbies than I know what to do with…

Lastly, is the extreme side of unicycling attracting equal numbers of males and females, or is the number of males going into the sport increasing as a result of the recent exposure of trials and MUni? Though there appear to be more males than females who bike, is the sex ratio equal between different types of biking, e.g. downhill, trials, BMX, cross country and road? I’d like to think that sex is irrelevant to choosing to participate in potentially dangerous activities. It is probably not quite yet.

My thoughts…
andrea

(I apologize for any gross generalizations rampant throughout this post. I will now stop procrastinating with stream-of- consciousness typing on the topic of “Gender and the Single Wheel,” and get back to my report writing…)

#11

If you want a nice ratio, then move to Dudenhofen, Germany. About 99/1, mostly female with about 135 members… no wonder they call themselves the smiling faces.

#12

So far in this thread, the only mentions of high percentages of female riders were from unicycle clubs. I will submit that people in large unicycle clubs are less likely to post to RSU than people in small clubs or especially those with no local club at all. TCUC is a huge club, but there are only a handful of regular posters from that group, and I assume most TCUC members don’t even read this.

My rough guess at this, based on watching males & females over the years and seeing lots of unicycle clubs and groups, is that you will find more females in social unicycling situations, and far less of them elsewhere. Hence, unicycle clubs will have more females, and people who ride solo, on trails or elsewhere, will tend to be predominantly male.

I don’t know why, but that seems to be how riders are distributed.

#13

three things,

First, John your right. I think maybe 10 know about it and actively use the group here (to my knowledge).

Second, five out of six live(d) here in the twin cities and the other is a member, Christian Hoverath is from germany, but he visits once or twice a year. If my memory is serving me right (which it has been known not to do) spencer johnson passed ten too, and hes only 9 years old.

Third, There are only about 10 (? not exactly sure) people in tcuc that ride trials/trails so people like me are pretty alone still on the offroad thing.

#14

it’s about a 50.50 female:male split here in the London club as well. It’s also about 60/40 of riders: not-yet-riders

#15

At Memphis Unicycle Club we’ve got a lot of females. All but one that I know are 14 yrs old and under.

On the MUC MUni scene, I think 100% are males.

However, Loveliest Wife spent 30 minutes or so last meeting getting aquainted with a Torker 20". She got her first little thigh bruise. Its so cute.