Building - Do More Men or Women do it?

This question came about because someone I know stated that "Men build more than women do in Second Life". I immediately thought to myself, "That is a good question I don't know the answer to". This thread is NOT asking about the value of the builds made by either sex; I am just asking, from your personal experiences, if you have come across more male or female builders.

That can be taken two ways though. Either "More men than women build" or "Those men who build, build more things than women do".

Or 70% of all women who build are really men.....

Well I'm a woman and know quite a few women who build, but I also see tons of men..more men in sandboxes than women, almost always. However.... do you mean RL sex or SL sex?

It's a well known fact that 104% of female avatars are actually men in real life, but that only -16% of male avatars are women in real life.

These are amongst the 17.5% of statistics that are not just made up.

RL Sex
I guess it depends also on how many people you know who play the opposite gender

I'm gathering from the RL ratios, a lot more men are builders. This is just my opinion based on historical, RL evidence and statistics.

Over the past ten years, the big expansion in architecture students in our own Australia has come from a female influx. In 1984 only 21% of architecture graduates were female; in 1996 this had grown to 35%, and the proportion is closer to 40% today. The absolute numbers are more telling. About 300 women graduated in 1984, compared to over a thousand in 1996.

In the United Kingdom 38% of graduates are women. That the three countries have settled on near-identical female ratios we find a little unsettling. It would seem to indicate that a common structural condition is operating in all.
Disappearing women

A prime mystery is: what happens to these female graduates? In the United States, about 55% of professionals are female. Amongst America's doctors and lawyers, 30% are. But only 20% of America's architectural professionals are women.

http://www.archsoc.com/kcas/ArchWomen.html

Not as many as I expected honestly..

But in general, at least publicly, I see male avatars building more often than female.

However, I see more stores that are one persons work from females than males (Bellarose for example)

I build. However, scripting I don't do (I can't be bothered).

I have two X chromosomes, lol.

However I think my perception is skewed, I know a lot of other women who build. That sticks in my mind far more than the ones who don't.

lol scripting is evil in my opinion.. maybe I'll learn it eventually


ANd oh, I also have more females who have asked to learn to build after seeing my work than males. Maybe it's just because they like what is possible or something, I don't know.. but it's true

Some of the best builders I've met in SL were women in RL, they really tend to have an eye for detail.

It's more likely that just as many men want to build, but it's only the women who ask to be taught, while the men just muddle through on their own. Asking for help is a sign of weakness, didn't you know?

Maybe it's because men don't like asking for directions...

lol probably right...

If I see someone struggling in a sandbox though I help them (After asking if they'd like me to of course) lol.. and I've had more men say yes to that then women...then again.. I see not as many women

Given the nature of men to tinker with stuff- I'd say men.

An interesting poll might be, "If you are a builder, are you male or female irl?" check male or female.

I'm female, and thinking back over it, I've had only male avatars ask me for building help. There have been several of those.

There was one female I helped (mostly not to learn building, but just to finish a project, package and sell it), but that was because I nagged her into it!

coco

making prim skirts, making jewelry,making shoes, this is all apart of building alot of guys don't think so but it is it uses the same prims a house or cool car does and some things like the miro prims used in jewelry is even harder to manipulate than bigger prims. so i think trying to make it a sex thing is well misleading.

ok i do like building in SL alot becouse i don't get dirty no sawdust in my hair or grease all over but i think i would feel that way if i was a male as well so thats not even sex based really

A very good point! I think "building" and I usually associate it with motorcycles or architecture or whatever. But you're absolutely right that jewelry, shoes, etc counts too.

I think of it as clothes and such too.. I ask people what style of building they do if we're talking about it, and if I'm asked, I say architectural, with a little furniture and some accessories... I consider it all building, as it is ^^

The majority of 'content creators' for video games is--in my experience--mostly male. This I'm sure will level up (no pun intended) in the coming years...but inherently, I think, men will always be more involved in video games.

Fashion, on the other hand, is more likely to attract women or gay men.

Jewelry and accessories attract mostly women.

Architecture attracts both men and women, but a lot more men follow through with their degrees and training.

Just a few thoughts...

While most of my avatars are female, when I'm in public sandboxes at ground level I will often wear my hedgehog - I've found I'm less likely to be griefed. People in female avatars do seem more willing to ask questions about building, and more likely to start the conversation pleasantly. I've noticed people in male avatars often start conversations by dropping vans on one's head.

Most professional women disappear because biology and tradition take over. Most people cannot handle both children and career, or choose to raise their children instead of continuing on the normal path of their jobs, and assume the primary caretaker role. Many times, their husbands earn more anyway. This results in many women working part-time and not ascending to the highest levels of their profession.

As for SL - since there are significantly more men than women in SL, I would think that just because of sheer numbers, there are more men building in SL. Percentagewise, I have no idea. I do know some folks that took up building after the gambling ban, so there are definitely more men building now than before!

Most times when I build its just random shapes which sometimes become something interesting unless I have a set agenda and object to create.

I mostly build in the Theta sandbox and there seems to be an even ratio of builders from both sexes there. What i find though is that the men that show up usually try out a few new toys they have gotten (planes, cars, etc) and the women build. I see a few women there a lot and they can build some amazing homes/objects.

Not sure, but I'll toss out a little fact I've found.

It's easier to work in a sandbox if you have on a male avatar form. If you go there as a female, you get all the advances and such and it gets irritating after about the first 3 seconds of conversation ofter the "No thanks. I'm just building." *smirks*

~Jessy

I seem to know more Builders with female Avatars than with male ones. And the ones with female avatars tend to be better at it.

But I can't possibly answer as to their RL gender. So many females that I know in SL are people I know in RL are males. And I know some males in SL who are really females in RL as well.

So I really doubt you can come to a meaningful conclusion on this one.