Why are there so few if any fly tying ladies on this site.

[Bill_729 0]

3 hours ago, mikechell said:

So, to repeat.  If we don't have more women tiers on this site because they're offended by the content, then we don't need that kind of "Everything's-an-insult-to-somebody" attitude.

Bless you! 

[Poopdeck 0]

I for one don't understand the infatuation with women fly fisherman and tiers. Having a lovely mother, wife and two daughters I would not care to see references to sexual escapades either and I'm not a women. However, I have never seen such content here. In so far as comments on women baking, cleaning, sewing and mother-in law references, it seems to be few and all in good humor when it does appear. There are enough men on this site who get offended at the drop of a hat there's no sense adding more just for gender equality. perhaps women don't join because they don't want to be viewed as an elitist???

[mikechell 0]

27 minutes ago, Poopdeck said:

don't want to be viewed as an elitist???

🤣

[redietz 0]

It's not really a question of being offended; it's a question of not feeling that they belong here.  If I were to find a site where, say, a bachelorette party was being planned, I wouldn't be offended, but I wouldn't feel that I belonged, either. 

[Bill_729 0]

3 hours ago, redietz said:

It's not really a question of being offended; it's a question of not feeling that they belong here.

If you create a population of woman who want fly tying information, then they have a fair chance of locating this site--and I feel confident that most of us will offer them all the help that we can. The chances that they re going to stumble in here out of some sense of belonging, and acquire the interest seems remote. Someone wrote, in yesteryear, that "most women are interested in fishing for anything besides a gall'darn fish...", however, I'm sure there are exceptions in these modern times--yet from my personal observations, not that many.    To be honest, I saw a woman fishing by herself this summer at a state park, and I felt drawn to approach her to find out what "made her tick".  But out of respect for her and my wife, I only said "hi" as we passed by.  Incidentally, she was a "wormer", so not necessarily a ready-candidate for this site. But if you can come up with some solid answers as to why women fish, that may perhaps help you with whatever goals you have of adding some women to the membership list.  Maybe ask a few of the woman  that you know and post some of their answers here?

Bill_729

P.S. I have a feeling that what any particular person wants out of fishing is somehow related to their age, or how hungry they are.

 

[chugbug27 0]

On 9/3/2020 at 3:53 PM, Mogup said:

Was just wondering.  Everyone seems to be pretty accommodating Here and I just don’t recall any ladies on the page. The ones I know locally are

very good tiers.

Maybe it's just best to ask them... And invite them if they're interested.

🙂

[Moshup 0]

After some of these recents postings chugbug I don’t think I would offer a recommendation.  

[Moshup 0]

Here’s a beautiful tie by friend Bob Veverka  of probably one of world’s most recognized fly pattern the “Gray Ghost” created by our very own New Englander “Carrie Stevens.”
 

 

[Bill_729 0]

38 minutes ago, Mogup said:

Here’s a beautiful tie by friend Bob Veverka  of probably one of world’s most recognized fly pattern the “Gray Ghost” created by our very own New Englander “Carrie Stevens.”
 

Lovely streamer.

[jamieofthenorth 0]

4 hours ago, Mogup said:

After some of these recents postings chugbug I don’t think I would offer a recommendation.  

+1

[chugbug27 0]

✌️

[skeet3t 0]

They are too busy tying flies to participate?

[DogtaEff 0]

Just a thought about the sense of belonging.

 

I'm a male and was in my late 20s when I started to fly fish and tie my own flies. A good friend of mine took it up at the same time as me. We would go fishing every weekend and would also take weekdays off from work because the rivers were less populated. We spent hours and hours fly fishing with no skill or technique. 

 

We found that there was a fly fishing group that would get together in an old church in the city every week. We started going there and then found out about other opportunities around the city and we started to attend those fly tying groups as well. Everyone at these functions were at least double our age (no exaggeration) and most were 65+. We weren't able to relate to them and sometimes had to look the other way when comments were made about what was wrong with young people these days. Sometimes we had to ignore comments that were likely more generational than seeded in any real hate or malice. We, luckily, didn't have anything to add when the fly tying group started to discuss their monthly health developments or breakdowns. We didn't know many of the member's last names, but certainly were aware of their prostates, hearts and lungs. 

 

What kept us going back there was the fly tying and getting as good as we possibly could. I think that fly tying is a more attractive pastime to men for various reasons and I would imagine being involved in any sort of internet message forum is more likely a male pastime as well. There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong about looking at ourselves and this site to see if there is something that we are doing to make it less welcoming for women. I do think that anyone that loves the craft of fly tying will overlook some of these mostly innocent comments to get the information they are seeking. 

 

 

 

[Horseshoes 0]

On 9/4/2020 at 11:55 AM, breambuster said:

Helen Shaw was my nickname for her. The older I get, the harder it is for me to recall names, but it finally came to me. The lady who used to participate in swaps here was owner, or part owner, or worked at some place, I think in Nova Scotia, that sold fly tying materials, but they went out of business and I haven't seen her on here since. Her nickname here was "Horseshoes." But I always called her "Helen Shaw" because she really a good tyer. Quality work, no doubt. 

BB

Well, breambuster aren't you good for the soul. Yes I closed up the shop. The market was saturated. I've been selling off by request to my friends. I was doing flies on request, mostly salmon (fishing not classic) for friends. Apparently they attract the eye of many. Haven't been on because my fly tying was packed away while doing renos and well I sort of forgot to make space for it. lol. You know how you get a huge selction of flies, more than you  can use in a life time. I get the itch once in awhile. I do miss the swaps. I have a fabulous collection of quality flies from you and many more members from around the world. I will in the future get it together and start again. My books sit on the shelf torturing me. lol. Stay safe. 

[WWKimba 0]

4 hours ago, Horseshoes said:

Well, breambuster aren't you good for the soul. Yes I closed up the shop. The market was saturated. I've been selling off by request to my friends. I was doing flies on request, mostly salmon (fishing not classic) for friends. Apparently they attract the eye of many. Haven't been on because my fly tying was packed away while doing renos and well I sort of forgot to make space for it. lol. You know how you get a huge selction of flies, more than you  can use in a life time. I get the itch once in awhile. I do miss the swaps. I have a fabulous collection of quality flies from you and many more members from around the world. I will in the future get it together and start again. My books sit on the shelf torturing me. lol. Stay safe. 

Wish I had known sooner!  Just finishing a "Ladies Night Swap" on another site (theflyfishingforum.com) in honor of March being Women's History Month.  Open to guys as well as the ladies and all ties had to be patterns developed by a woman tyer.  We ended up with women from the US (historical to modern day) as well as current women tyers from Ireland and Australia.  There was a total of 9 women represented.  Just waiting for the final pattern to clear the mail so I can wrap things up.

Kim