It could also be when you face the plum in your  plam.

The meaning is not so plaim, oops sorry, plain to me. 

Dean wrote: refugee wrote: Dean wrote: "Why does prog attrack more males, not females?"   *faceplam*   Attrack.  what's that mean? Attack+Attract? And what does "faceplam" mean? I'm dyslexic, I can spell, but I sometimes get the letters in the wrong order  (so it's really an anagram for you to solve)

Or you mean he didn't get the joke?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facepalm

Why do face plams attrack cricitism?

Dean wrote: "Why does prog attrack more males, not females?"   *faceplam*   Attrack.  what's that mean? Attack+Attract?

And what does "faceplam" mean?

It's simply that as in many other spheres, men outnumber women in absolute terms so people also tend to associate the 'greats' with males.  Seriously, Barbara Dennerlein, Rhoda Scott, Annie Haslam, Minnie Riperton..if these are not amazing performers, then I don't know who are and they can kick several of their (overrated) male colleagues in the butt.  Taste indeed! It's quite difficult to take socio-cultural generalizations to explain this phenomenon seriously.  I say, give it time, things will change.  There's also the not entirely unfounded perception that rock is a sausage fest which probably keeps talented female musicians away from rock and by extension prog. I have noticed a lot more female artists in jazz and classical. Almost the whole violin section in a symphony orchestra performance I attended was made up of women. 

That being said, what I'd love to hear is a female songwriter in the same league as Lennon-Macca, Stevie Wonder, the Floyd etc.  I am not fully acquainted with Joni Mitchell's work but that's about the only thing I felt came close.  There have been really good female songwriters like Kate Bush or Tori Amos but not quite in the league I speak of...don't know why this is the case (or what am I missing) because there have been some great female writers before, so it's not a question of imagination.

Edited by rogerthat - April 25 2010 at 03:26

Let me present this question. Has anyone observed this elsewhere?  I have never been to a concert outside of North America, in particular, the West Coast.  Admittedly my observations are very limited.  Perhaps it is entirely different elsewhere.  I was a little surprised that there weren't more replies saying it's not that way where I live.

You have to realize.  The only time I am among fellow proggers is when I attend a concert.  It has always been that way.  When I told people at work that I was going to San Francisco (from Seattle I might add) to see Transatlantic, all I got was a blank stare.  I work for a big company BTW.  Most of the people I run into have never heard of any of the groups I listen to.  The concert was far from a sellout.  The best concert I have possibly ever been to out of hundreds, was not even sold out in a 1000 seat theater.  Perhaps the economy has something to do with that.

One of the coolest things about going to prog concerts is that I feel I am among friends, family.  There's a certain warmth, comfort zone in knowing these are my people.  I do not like crowds but at prog concerts I am at ease.  I don't know these people personally, but I know we will connect because of our strong emotional ties to this form of music.  I feel the same way about this web site.

My daughter and I  watched the Transatlantic live in Europe DVD yesterday and we observed that there were plenty of females in attendance.  This was back in 2003 I believe.  The concert took place in the Netherlands.  Perhaps it's different in Europe.

I'll end with this note:  Both my wife and daughter are going to go with me next time, if Transatlantic ever returns (I can only hope).  Now how cool is that!


Edited by Ethos - April 25 2010 at 03:02

^ I don't know why, exactly as I do not have all the answers...However one can assume that women, having been used to being subservient for the most part in our cultural past, are easily made to feel insecure even in today's world, as old stereotypes still linger in the minds of many. Thus, ultimately, those who are weaker willed will turn to what they assume will bring them popularity, security. In the music world, the popular, secure genres are such things as pop and indie. That is how the musical divide is so and that is why, overall, men are inclined to have better taste. Men tend not to play it safe when it comes to thier individualism to the same degree. They tend not to worry about what other people think of them when it comes to such trivial things as dress and music taste.

FusionKing wrote: Beacuse overall men have better taste. (I'm female by the way)