Why don't more women trade?
- Thread starter aphexcoil
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The original question of this thread was "Why don't more women trade?" In itself, that's an interesting and perhaps even important question.
But with the quality of commentary I've seen at the beginning and end of this thread (too disappointing to inspire any interest in reading the interior), what mostly strikes me is how intellectually impoverished much of the commentary here seem to be.
I know that might sound arrogant and insulting, but it's not intended that way. Rather, I say that to highlight how disappointing I find this conversation. I would like to think we could do better than to pull out all the tread-worn one-liners about anatomy and physiology, stuff that might have seemed uproarious when we were 18 or 19 and hanging out with our friends in the dorm, but which among most adults is considered to be evidence of boorishness and stunted development.
For the record, I have been helped immensely by several traders of both sexes. Currently I have about five formal and informal mentors. One of them is a woman. Her contributions to my learning are among the most carefully structured and analytically tractable, which I appreciate. She is also a patient and highly selective trader, and therefore is among the most accurate traders in this group. There is much to learn from her, and her psychological and technical strategies for success may be the most easily transferrable.
Of course, that is anecdotal evidence about the virtues of one woman trader, and doesn't address the question of why there aren't more women traders in general. But I'll save my thoughts on that question for another time when, perhaps, it will be possible to revive this question and make some more useful headway in discussing it.
But with the quality of commentary I've seen at the beginning and end of this thread (too disappointing to inspire any interest in reading the interior), what mostly strikes me is how intellectually impoverished much of the commentary here seem to be.
I know that might sound arrogant and insulting, but it's not intended that way. Rather, I say that to highlight how disappointing I find this conversation. I would like to think we could do better than to pull out all the tread-worn one-liners about anatomy and physiology, stuff that might have seemed uproarious when we were 18 or 19 and hanging out with our friends in the dorm, but which among most adults is considered to be evidence of boorishness and stunted development.
For the record, I have been helped immensely by several traders of both sexes. Currently I have about five formal and informal mentors. One of them is a woman. Her contributions to my learning are among the most carefully structured and analytically tractable, which I appreciate. She is also a patient and highly selective trader, and therefore is among the most accurate traders in this group. There is much to learn from her, and her psychological and technical strategies for success may be the most easily transferrable.
Of course, that is anecdotal evidence about the virtues of one woman trader, and doesn't address the question of why there aren't more women traders in general. But I'll save my thoughts on that question for another time when, perhaps, it will be possible to revive this question and make some more useful headway in discussing it.
Uhhh....you don't live in a dorm?
Boorish and stuntedly developed 777
About 1/3 of new online accounts that I am seeing are being opened by woman, and nearly half of our members are woman, so I think a more appropriate question would be "Why dont more woman interact with the community?" That is not a hard question to get an answer to. You can read the contents of this thread and probably understand why. If the subject of this thread had been "Why don't more Blacks/Methodists/Germans/Asians etc etc" trade and commentary in the spirit of what is here was posted there would be a riot about it. However, the subject is woman which for whatever reason appears to be open to hateful comments.
Brandon
Brandon
I don't think they are hateful comments. As I get older, I realize there are realists and there is politicial correctness run amok. I believe women are wonderful and life wouldn't be the same without them.
However, I also realize there are substantial differences between the two sexes. Yes, it is wrong to stereotype genders -- but let's face it -- we all do it on a daily basis because it is much easier to understand things in life.
I used to defend women all the time -- I thought they were perfect creatures. Then, one by one, I noticed imperfections creeping up. This one would cheat on me, that one would drink too much -- another would only worry about what her hair looked like on a 1 minute interval.
Guys can be jerks, too. We generally don't listen, we are stubborn and we aren't as in touch with our emotions (in general) than women are. Women are vastly superior in this respect.
A fellow a few posts back, in rather eloquent academic prose, brought up how this thread is filled with hatred. No, I don't think it is hatred at all -- I think it is just an online version of the "Men are from Mars, Women from Venus" aspect of life.
Also, it is usually the "nice guy" who ends up becoming a female's shopping buddy instead of getting laid with her. If you want to be a "shopping buddy," then continue standing by on a 24 hour basis when they call you up complaining about the guy they are seeing. Then, when they say, "god, I wish I could just find someone like you!" perhaps a lightbulb will go off that you aren't being enough of a dick to get ass lately.
Sorry, I'm a jerk when it comes to women. I've been burnt enough times to know to keep on my toes with them. However, I do love them and think they are truly magnificent.
However, I also realize there are substantial differences between the two sexes. Yes, it is wrong to stereotype genders -- but let's face it -- we all do it on a daily basis because it is much easier to understand things in life.
I used to defend women all the time -- I thought they were perfect creatures. Then, one by one, I noticed imperfections creeping up. This one would cheat on me, that one would drink too much -- another would only worry about what her hair looked like on a 1 minute interval.
Guys can be jerks, too. We generally don't listen, we are stubborn and we aren't as in touch with our emotions (in general) than women are. Women are vastly superior in this respect.
A fellow a few posts back, in rather eloquent academic prose, brought up how this thread is filled with hatred. No, I don't think it is hatred at all -- I think it is just an online version of the "Men are from Mars, Women from Venus" aspect of life.
Also, it is usually the "nice guy" who ends up becoming a female's shopping buddy instead of getting laid with her. If you want to be a "shopping buddy," then continue standing by on a 24 hour basis when they call you up complaining about the guy they are seeing. Then, when they say, "god, I wish I could just find someone like you!" perhaps a lightbulb will go off that you aren't being enough of a dick to get ass lately.
Sorry, I'm a jerk when it comes to women. I've been burnt enough times to know to keep on my toes with them. However, I do love them and think they are truly magnificent.
We are out there and our numbers are growing. We may not be very active on message boards, but do think about it... Why would anyone willingly subject themselves to commentary such as the majority of posts here. We have a lot of obstacles to overcome. We are still fighting for equal pay for equal work. Actually, this is a large reason there have been so few female traders until recent years. Simply put, few women had the money to afford to trade. Not because we spend it all either. In actuality many of us are extremely thrifty and seriously... how many of you grew up in homes where your mother ran the household? Do you think that would be an easy task? Especially when they were never even given a wage to handle that full time job? Even today, we must have a college degree to make what most high school male graduates do, thus putting off by 4-5 more years of earning a living and during that time incurring a debt that must be repaid, leaving little left to spend on things as speculative as trading. I do not think this is something to be overlooked when tackling this subject.
In recent years, however, things have turned around. More and more of us are beginning to earn higher wages and are getting hired into higher positions that, even 10 years ago, we could only dream of. Thus, we have seen a surge in the number of female traders in recent years. We face the same difficulties our male counter-parts do in overcoming our emotions to trade rationally and thus profitably. In mentoring I have found little difference between the sexes in how emotionally they react to the strains of trading. At first, I did find this interesting. I did expect women to react more with weeping and men with violent outbursts (broken monitors and like). Ironically, while I've never met a women that has broken any of her trading equipment, I've meant a great many distraught male traders. I think that on this note, the aforementioned myth can quite quickly be dispelled.
I think, that if this forum were more open to what women had to say about trading and trading discipline, that all parties viewing such discussions would benefit greatly. We all have different ways of looking at the world that are not easily bound by traditional world views and as such provide an excellent opportunity for self-improvement. If we (women) did not feel that every post we attempted to make that may be worthwhile were just going to be degraded into another sexist or immature remark, then you too would see that it is not really a matter of there not being many of us out there, but that it's a matter of us not being known to the rest of you.
"Another question is why didn't all the women you speak of come in and have fun with us? " - Don Bright666
Sitting behind a computer screen, we presently have the luxury of turning on and off the horrid and hateful remarks we've heard all of our lives. If this really the way you would like to see your mother, your sister, your daughter treated? It is not fun to come in and be cut down. We get our kicks from taking our gains from you guys in the market =) This thread is not a two-way street. It has more of a mob mentality going to it. Ironically, it turns on someone that actually had something worthwhile to say on the subject. When you've worked somewhere where your ideas are overlooked and only taken seriously when a member of the other sex agrees, or are in a workplace where it is commonplace for you to be harrassed as you are the only male and thus the person all the women in the company aim degrading remarks and complaints at and this is how you are treated most of the time and you can actually call that fun... well then maybe, just maybe, you can say I am wrong.
In recent years, however, things have turned around. More and more of us are beginning to earn higher wages and are getting hired into higher positions that, even 10 years ago, we could only dream of. Thus, we have seen a surge in the number of female traders in recent years. We face the same difficulties our male counter-parts do in overcoming our emotions to trade rationally and thus profitably. In mentoring I have found little difference between the sexes in how emotionally they react to the strains of trading. At first, I did find this interesting. I did expect women to react more with weeping and men with violent outbursts (broken monitors and like). Ironically, while I've never met a women that has broken any of her trading equipment, I've meant a great many distraught male traders. I think that on this note, the aforementioned myth can quite quickly be dispelled.
I think, that if this forum were more open to what women had to say about trading and trading discipline, that all parties viewing such discussions would benefit greatly. We all have different ways of looking at the world that are not easily bound by traditional world views and as such provide an excellent opportunity for self-improvement. If we (women) did not feel that every post we attempted to make that may be worthwhile were just going to be degraded into another sexist or immature remark, then you too would see that it is not really a matter of there not being many of us out there, but that it's a matter of us not being known to the rest of you.
"Another question is why didn't all the women you speak of come in and have fun with us? " - Don Bright666
Sitting behind a computer screen, we presently have the luxury of turning on and off the horrid and hateful remarks we've heard all of our lives. If this really the way you would like to see your mother, your sister, your daughter treated? It is not fun to come in and be cut down. We get our kicks from taking our gains from you guys in the market =) This thread is not a two-way street. It has more of a mob mentality going to it. Ironically, it turns on someone that actually had something worthwhile to say on the subject. When you've worked somewhere where your ideas are overlooked and only taken seriously when a member of the other sex agrees, or are in a workplace where it is commonplace for you to be harrassed as you are the only male and thus the person all the women in the company aim degrading remarks and complaints at and this is how you are treated most of the time and you can actually call that fun... well then maybe, just maybe, you can say I am wrong.
Actually, I read the entire thread... There were good posts. Unfortunately, they were hard to find and quickly bashed.
"hey, doesn't pay to have your nose stuck up in the air like that..." - limitdown
Thank you, glad that my commentary was taken equally seriously.
"Another question is why didn't all the women you speak of come in and have fun with us? " - Don Bright666
Limitdown's comment is an excellent example of why. Why come in and try to give our side? What's the point? Do all of you guys feel this way?
"hey, doesn't pay to have your nose stuck up in the air like that..." - limitdown
Thank you, glad that my commentary was taken equally seriously.
"Another question is why didn't all the women you speak of come in and have fun with us? " - Don Bright666
Limitdown's comment is an excellent example of why. Why come in and try to give our side? What's the point? Do all of you guys feel this way?
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