Just a quick check of the last 70 new members reveals that 43 are male and 27 female.

I am less concerned by the under-representation of women (where there are, of course, legal protections) than the under-representation of ugly people. My own survey of blogs and comments for 2017 reveals only myself and Graham Sherwood represent this group. Shame on you, WOL.

the quality of work on this site has been excellent lately. i cant say i am overly concerned which gender it appears from, rather that it is enjoyable to read. poetry as a whole is not under-represented on either side i dont think, i buy several poetry books each month and the divide is about 60/40 female to male. there are a lot of good female writers and a lot of good male writers. for me, its about the standard of work as opposed to what bits the poet has.

not poo-hooing your point at all colin, just giving my subjective opinion.

Oh, I forgot about Stu.

Now you've gone and spoilt it JC!
I'd just gone and got us a part in next year's panto Cinderella. What are we going to do with Stu?

Pumpkin

Graham,
Can I be Cinderella?

( I thought about Principle boy...but dammit man - give us a chance.)

Trust the boys to talk over any attempt to address sexism...

Steven it's that Coopey again! bringing uglyism into an otherwise serious thread. By the way I've got you down for the front of the panto horse if that's okay (still looking for the back).

pleased to say i make a fabulous pumpkin

I despise most blokey rubbish. Consider me an honorary female.

This is really an interesting topic for me...uhhh (as I mentally regroup). This gender divide that you mention seems only barely noticeable when it comes to the intrinsic quality of individual pieces. Admittedly, there are some very male (or very female subjects) that pop up from time to time, but I don't see that there is a lack of balance.

I say all of this, I realize, as a female writer who chooses to pen her writing from an apparently male nom de plume. Yet, I make this choice specifically to avoid being pegged as a "female writer" who is somehow inextricably at odds with my peers through some lottery of conception.

Thanks, John, for your efforts at inclusiveness...you'll go down in history as one who truly knew and fought the struggle...

elP

ps
holy fuck, Colin..take a statistics and/or probability class..either may totally cure your curiosity for numerics (I've tried it, and it certainly did for me)...

From the numbers that you show, I would be interested to find what else it is that "females" are doing that don't involve WoL or poetry?

elP

In the last decade or so, national anthologies of poetry have been much more equally divided gender-wise than they ever were in the past. This applies, it seems, across the board, from 'mainstream' to 'avant garde', neither of which were known before for their equal representation.

I don't believe this is conscious 'political correctness' either; part of it is down to the fact that there are now more women editors, and anthologisers, than ever before. Also, I think there is a lot more confidence among women writers not just in tacking traditional 'non-female' subject matter, but in insisting that no subject matter is out of bounds for great poetry, even subjects traditionally thought of as 'domestic.'

Some of the best books I read last year were from women writers: Geraldine Monk and Melissa Lee-Houghton for two.

Well, Colin, I really wasn't trying to be sarcastic, and I certainly wasn't angry. I found your attempt at finding levels of poetry submission somewhat sweet, truthfully.

I chose my pen name specifically because I am a painter, literally. Not the artistic kind, either. It, coincidentally, is a male-dominated job. My reasons for choosing gender neutrality go even deeper though, because, I have in the past suffered a great deal of harassment. So, I try to keep a low profile.

Anyhow, I would never purposely try to draw you out in such a manner, Colin. I just wanted to put my two cents in, is all.

elP

The recognition flatters me, eiP. I merely want justice for The WOL Three.

Don't bring me back into this JC.

I was just thinking it had got back on course as a serious male/female thread thingy and that our panto run had ended when you go and pick the scab again!

As an aside Colin, your comment "On a local level there is so much of it that I choose not to invest - it seems not so difficult to get a book of poetry published these days as long as you're prepared to flog it down the pub at readings" - not true. At all. Do you know how hard it is to get a book published? VERY hard. There are many publishers, large and small, each with their own unique perspective and wants, and you can spend years approaching them all and fail completely. Have you ever tried to get a book published? Give it a go. I guarantee you will revise your opinion ?

Colin, I keep a blank Word Doc just for this purpose, then cut/paste direct into discussion/comment section.

Laura, self publishing is getting easier and cheaper to achieve these days so to some extent I tend to agree with Colin.

Whilst I'm not a performer, I would think it a reasonably decent investment in oneself to spend £750 or thereabouts to get into print. A business cost if you will.

I think gentlemen are getting older, and bolder, in that order. With a great deal more time on their hands, and brains that need interactive stimulation. I think many contributors are well-educated, and likely bored out of their minds in retirement years. So - they banter. And they are writing poetry more than ever before.

Sometimes, they do get a 'clubby thing' going, even in Poetry Comments, but if they are enjoying their post and riposte, why shouldn't they? No one is obliged to read their slings and slangs but themselves. Most of us ladies may have neither the time nor perhaps the inclination to 'banter' for fun. Perhaps it's a male thing. Besides, it's often highly entertaining to see where the men on our site take any given 'issue'.

I don't see how more male input impacts negatively on female participation. There may simply be more men coming into a new phase of emotional participation, exercised as 'poetry'.

I really do enjoy how men think. Their poetry can be very insightful. And also, their poems often give us ladies more insight into the male psyche, surely a fine result for both sexes.

Graham - self-publishing is a whole other story and a personal choice. I never wanted to do that. I think it's much better to have an actual publisher behind you.

JC and Colin, I think we've just found our Fairy Godmother! How about it Cynthia?

May I express my warmest comment
I think Mr. Colin your survey is somewhat valid/true.
As for my observation, females now a day are the ones working @ field while males are staying home as a "house husband" (I'm not pointing to any one), so males have more time to participate in this kind of activity. Por favor Perdoname this is just my opinion.

*please correct me if I'm wrong
*forgive me if I offended someone

"house husband" for real? wow! I am in a huge amazed! You are such honest writer I ever known so far and I admired you for that. Now you have my trust and loyalty following you here @WOL.
All Lucks be yours!

*forgive me I'm so naive in conversation run out of words to say, I'm an introvert whose hiding in a pen.

But indeed you are correct
‘I went through a pile of over 70 Reviews collected over a two-year period from 2003 up to last weekend. Even I found the statistics shocking. ….. I counted full-length reviews of 66 other new poetry books, but only 10 of those were by women writers. Those 66 books were reviewed by 38 different critics, but only four of those were women’ (from google reading)

remind me to be as active as possible. can't have all the males taking over haha. I will be here a while.