03-05-2003, 11:46 PM | #1 |
Quasi Evil
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The Tolkien Fan: male or female
I used to always think that the "normal" Tolkien fan was a male of better then average intelligence between maybe 14-24 and who is into stuff like role playing games and ren fests and things along those themes. I guess I thought this because this described me and the only other people I knew who were into Tolkien when i was young. But in the past few years and on this message board it seems like there are more females then males. And my picture of the average Tolkien fan is now becoming a quiet bookish girl who likes horses and nature and is passionate about her Tolkien books. And the age range seems to be 13-aging hippie. So am I just over generalizing here or are there really significantly more pure Tolkien fans that are female then male now?
Note: Im talking about Tolkiens work meaning the books. Not just the movies. That would be Jacksons work. Important distinction.
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03-05-2003, 11:51 PM | #2 |
Domesticated Swing Babe
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Do you think both sexes enjoy reading equally? You have to be "bookish" to want to read Tolkien!
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03-05-2003, 11:55 PM | #3 |
Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster
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Hmm, yes, 'bookish' is sort of a prerequisite.
I'd bet my bottom dollar there's more female Jackson fans than male. Well, maybe not my BOTTOM dollar... But about Tolkien, I don't really know which gender would be more 'Tolkienish'.
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03-06-2003, 02:19 AM | #4 |
Elven Warrior
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I would guess that there are more female readers of Tolkien currently than there have been, since his works are in the zeitgeist again. In the 1960s, pretty much everyone in the counterculture adored Tolkien, male and female. Now I guess all the bookish types are into him. During the last thirty years, though, I would think that the primary audience for Tolkien was indeed geeky D&D playing males. Generalizing, I admit, but it seems to me that elves, wizards, swords, and dragons would appeal more automatically to a male geek sensibility than a female. But obviously that's currently changing.
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03-06-2003, 05:03 AM | #5 |
Greatest Elven woman of Aman
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I don't think you can draw any conclusions about the average Tolkien reader from what people you see on boards like this one. Young people tend to use the internet more than older people, and boys more than girls. But when girls are online they tend to chat, while boys are more into games and such. All this is generally speaking So Insidious Rex, if you see an overweight of young girls here (I can't tell where you've got the 'quiet' from though) I think that's the reason.
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03-06-2003, 07:55 AM | #6 |
im quite stupid
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i would never describe myself as been bookish but i am amazed how many women are really into books its opens a whole new to women to me was sat in the pub the other day having a long drawn out conversation about the first age of middle earth with this really attractive woman. i only went to chat to her for my mate and we going on for hours!
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03-06-2003, 08:29 AM | #7 |
The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator
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I suppose the fine collection of male specimen in the movies draws a lot of girls into Tolkien. Although fantasy as a whole usually tends to attract more male fans. Or at least that's the impression I usually get.
When I started to get interested in fantasy and science fiction I got some weird looks because it was unusual ( at least around here) that a girl should be interested in space ships and stuff like that. Female fantasy fans seem hard to come by here. Or maybe I'm not looking hard enough.
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03-06-2003, 09:09 AM | #8 |
Doughy Elf
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Not quite. Maybe bookish. Likes horses and nature definatly. Not 13. female. Ah, I don't think that I fit your description too well. But I agree with some one up there (sorry, I forget who) that there are a bunch of young females on the board and most probably because of Jackson. I will now be quite. Thank you.
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03-06-2003, 11:40 AM | #9 | |
Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster
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Quote:
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03-06-2003, 11:46 AM | #10 |
The Precious
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I read the hobbit when I was seven, with my dad. After that, the LotR just seemed natural.
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03-06-2003, 12:51 PM | #11 | |
The Elven Queen Of All Pyros
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Re: The Tolkien Fan: male or female
Quote:
girl..yes bookish..yes quiet...not in my lifetimes horses...yes nature...yes 13..yes well, i tried reading the hobbit in 4th grade...and i thought it was so boring, but then i read it again when i heard the movies were coming out, and i loved it! i think alot of people here heard about the movie, then read the books, then loved the books
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03-06-2003, 01:22 PM | #12 |
'Sober' Mullet Frosh
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I'd say that fantasy fans are predominantly male-but people into Middle Earth as a literary work, and who would discuss at in this type of forum are not necessarily (or usually) D&D type fantasy "geeks" (who are more into gaming-I know, I was into Diablo for a while) but rather people with a more literary bent-which in today's society seems to be women.
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03-06-2003, 03:57 PM | #13 |
Long lost mooter
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I think that many people of both sexes (pallindrome! ) like fantasy! Here's my theory: when females get to a certain age they are expected to act in a certain way, and being into fantasy is considered immature for them -- they could be labeled as "weird." Guys end up having a little more leeway in this regard, although they can get that "geek" label, but not necessarily (I knew a lot of "stoner" types that were very into fantasy) -- it's seen as a hobby, not a quirk. So that is why you see very few females above a certain age (like, out of college) who are avid fantasy fans. (Yay Lizra, SGH, Elvet, et al!) They exist, but in fewer numbers. I am thinking of rousing some latent fantasy lovers in my neighborhood (wait, that could be read the wrong way... )
Summation: I think most people who are voracious readers are also Tolkien fans, at least a little. Hey, The Hobbit was just voted one of the top 30 most popular children's books -- someone's reading it! |
03-06-2003, 04:11 PM | #14 |
The Buckleberry Fairy/Captain
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For my part (and I am female, btw, for those of you who are still confused), I love Tolkien not because it is Fantasy, but because it is great literature. I'm not into Rpgs, or Starwars--I love Dickens, Macdonald, Lewis, and Austin. So I guess I fit your classification, markedel.
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03-06-2003, 05:22 PM | #15 |
i don't know what i am talking about either, so don't ask
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in response to your original post, Insidious Rex...
you basically just described me! except i am 14! But in my limited experience, it seems that guys are more into science fiction (my favorite genre)than girls are, and that girls are more into fantasy.
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03-06-2003, 05:59 PM | #16 | |
Mirthful Maiden
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Re: The Tolkien Fan: male or female
Quote:
But I rarely meet girls who are interested in Tolkien. (except for this moot). The majority are all guys and unfortunately they tend to be labled geeks. Now the movies.....that's a different story. This actually reminds me of a question, maybe I'll start a thread. |
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03-06-2003, 06:57 PM | #17 |
Lady of Westernesse
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I don't really think gender matters about how much you love something. I think it's mainly the personality. For some reason, I can easily picture a female like Tolkien, but with boys, it's a bit harder. To me, there's three kinds of boys:
Skater boys (boys who are into skate boards and hackey sacks and Eminem, and sometimes team sports) Anime boys (boys who love video games and trading card games and anime and manga, and can usually be seen wearing a hoody or Japanese overshirt) All-around boys (boys who like a little bit of everything, and they're the kind of boys who I think to be the most likely to enjoy Tolkien's works) But that's just my opinion, so it doesn't count.
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03-06-2003, 07:12 PM | #18 | |
Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster
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Quote:
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03-06-2003, 08:24 PM | #19 |
the dumb stoner canuck
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i think that male used to be bigger tolkien readers because back in the 60s and then on it was more males who were in to fantasy(thats just my opinion)
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03-06-2003, 09:41 PM | #20 | |
Empress of the Writewraiths
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Quote:
But the statistics would be misleading. |
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