Feature request - women's section

It is in process, a script is drafted, discussions are on-going about how best to produce it. Watch this space - no time frame for delivery however.

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@Jenndye429 Jenny I encourage you to make the leap from the audience in OM XI to the stage at OM XII but donā€™t feel that I am pressuring you to do that, when you are ready in your own time. I donā€™t want to open the ā€œpressureā€ can of worms again. :worm: as weā€™ve put that one to bed I hope !
:sunglasses:

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I hope to! I need to troubleshoot the sound and all that, but as long as I donā€™t have any conflicts with the date/time, I should be able to :grinning:

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Totally agree with this elenathanasiadou.

As a female and a totally new community member and new to guitarā€¦ My own personal opinion is that I like a community without segregation.

I posted an intro and I started a learning log my first day here (only this week) and everyone has been very warm and welcoming. In my learning log I said that my first issue was my nails and I had to cut them to be able to get the chord without muting other strings. Maybe that is an issue that more women have, maybe men have it too, I donā€™t know but no one said anything to make me question it. Either way, maybe someone can learn from my mistakes in the future.

It is always difficult to put yourself out there in a new community and as a beginner.
I think the site does a good job of welcoming you also, I got that friendly little bot messaging me some tips at the start and a system message to guide me to fill out my profile or start a new topic.

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(At the risk of diverting the topic, which is not my intention)

I certainly do.

I also have a similar issue with my plucking hand when playing bass; if my fingernails are not well-trimmed it sounds all scratchy.

Cheers,

Keith

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She did put in there about moving it as it was the wrong place.

You are velcome about zere entertainment :stuck_out_tongue:

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Moved and with a little edit to the topic title
:slight_smile:

Shame the old forum cannot be accessed now.

I recall a very interesting thread about nails with questions from both genders. Us geezers got some really useful tips from the members who had more expertise on the subject. Yes our female members coached us on nail care. How to cut how to file, which direction and why. Which nail files were best and what care products should be used. Priceless !

I am sure some of the old timers will recall that post and it shows us men are not the experts here in all matters indeed not many and we need your help !

:sunglasses:

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Hello everbody, and, wow, what an interesting discussion :smiley:.
I havenā€™t seen this thread earlier, so to me, I think more or less everything important has already been said. There is no aspect left for me to mention :sweat_smile:.
To make it short: I absolutely love this community. Itā€™s such a wonderful place to be. A bit like extended family (in a positive sense :hugs:).
Of course, Iā€™ve noticed that the majority of the members are male. But Iā€™m here to learn how to play the guitar. So sex/gender really doesnā€™t/shouldnā€™t matter. I never felt intimidated at any time.

And with regard to the OMs - I will definitely change my place from the audience to the stage when I feel ready :smiley:.

Nothing more to add :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:.

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So trueā€¦ since joining this community as a beginner guitar player Iā€™ve learned a lot from the females posting in the community and have a lot of respect for themā€¦ Iā€™ve learned from the questions they have raised, the responses they have given to questions, the feedback that I have received from them and from watching their AVoYP performances.

This reminds me of a question raised on the forum a few months ago:

I did refer the OP to have a listen to Bonnie Raitt and Susan Tedeschi after doing a bit of research but it would be good if maybe the learn more page included a list of other blues artists to have a listen to such as Bonnie and Susan as it would be particularly useful if youā€™re not familiar to the genre.

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Hi Richard,
I feel a sense of achievement for having plucked up courage to offer an opinion in a forum :joy:

Iā€™ll try to take part in other forums too.

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As a newbie woman, I have never felt marginalised. Quite the opposite. I was dead scared to come on here and I soon realised I had no need to be. :grinning:

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Iā€™m a new player, a woman and an old dog! Triple whammy now I consider it. But it never crossed my mind not to use the forum and Iā€™ve certainly not noticed anything other than encouragement and welcomes. As Iā€™ve said before on the forum this is my 3rd attempt to learn. Iā€™m so happy that this time its happening and a lot of it is thanks to Justin.
Happy strumming one and all :guitar::blush:

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Triole whammy indeed!
Too funny.
:rofl:

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Wow, everyone! Very cool points here - and itā€™s great to see you support a unique, diverse Community! Thatā€™s the way to go.

Instead of thinking about gender or whatever ā€˜segregationā€™ it is, which could cause even more intimidation, maybe we should brainstorm which discussion areas deserve more attention and ā€œfuelā€ here in the Community!

Maybe we need some new threads discussing issues that werenā€™t still raised here and addressing specific struggles. Maybe we still have a lot of work to do to encourage more students to start new threads!

Please keep your thoughts and feedback coming! Iā€™ll count on our super guides @Richard_close2u, @LievenDV, and @DavidP to organize all the main points so we discuss them when Justin is back from Italy.

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Thatā€™s a fantastic comment @larynejg :slight_smile:

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This is an interesting topic, but I donā€™t agree that a separate group for women is the answer. I understand the feeling of intimidation only too well. But that intimidation, at least in my case, originates in my head. I lurked on the forum for a long time and when I finally asked a beginner question, the amount of support, encouragement and advice I got was really gratifying. Iā€™m way too intimidated to post a video or do the OM events. But thatā€™s nobodyā€™s issue but mine, not the fact that there are more men than women. I admit I like to see other women on here. At least then I feel that Iā€™m not crazy thinking I can learn to play at this stage in life.
Iā€™ve also noticed that a lot of questions that are asked also pertain to me as a beginner, without them having to be gender specific. Some of them have been questions I was too intimidated to ask , in case I sounded stupid. Participation reduces the intimidation.
So no. No womens section. Weā€™d lose so much camaraderie and knowledge to have the forum divided by gender. Besides weā€™re all here for the music, the joy of learning something new, conquering the dreaded F chord, all the myriad little victories. The frustrations and victories are genderless, as should be the forum. Sorry I got a little long winded. Itā€™s just that I totally understand the OPs question.

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This female says please please do NOT go for segregation. Can we not just all be human beings trying to learn guitar, some better or worse than others, but thatā€™s the same with everything in life. Either on this or the old forum Iā€™ve NEVER seen anything designed to intimidate women, and personally I hate to see how men are so quickly vilified nowadays - Iā€™ve met plenty women in my life who like to intimidate and bully other women, itā€™s not a ā€˜maleā€™ trait. I feel that in most cases we feel intimated not because someoneā€™s doing anything in particular, but because we feel inadequate or lacking ourselves, but even though weā€™re living in a period when people tend to think the wider world should bend to their needs, I believe this is actually not helpful, and a much better and healthier approach is to develop oneā€™s own mental resilience such that you have a strong stable sense of yourself and build your own self-confidence. If the road outside is covered with stones we donā€™t demand that somebody comes and changes it, we put shoes on and walk on it anyway. And feeling a bit out of your depth skillwise on a forum such as this is a good incentive for working harder to improve your skills, if you do feel self-conscious about asking anything.

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I think you make excellent points, @lindamc, and very well-said. I know youā€™ve been around for a while (since the old forum!) but I just wanted to say welcome in making your first post here :slightly_smiling_face:. Hope to hear more from you!

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I echo the above comments. I am female and just learning guitar at 58 years old. It can definitely feel intimidating, but Iā€™m having a great time and learning so much. I enjoy reading comments/blogs from everyone. For me it makes for a more fulfilling experienceā€¦ but itā€™s also great to see other female comrades out there sharing in the enjoyment/ challenges of learning a new hobby.

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