IS prog a mainly male pursuit?

Well my mother was a prog fan back in the seventies(and to a lesser extent still is), and she brought me to a jethro tull concert when I was 10, and although ian anderson had lost his voice (this was 8 years ago) and i wasnt all that impressed, it was my introducion to prog rock, seven years later i bought my first proggish album, aqualung, because i saw a tull concert and was interested. So my mom introduced me to prog! a female introducing a male to prog, imagine that.

Roan's Lady wrote: I discovered prog all by my lonesome, when I was about 13, in the form of Yes on the radio. Back when FM radio was good. I've since come to love and appreciate a lot of prog bands, and Yes remains in my top 5. Why not a lot of women? I think a tremendous amount of it has to do with our Western, "civilized" society, which assumes women want to be concerned with appearance, and, ultimately, pleasing others. So we are continually fed with the "glamor" magazines and the weight-loss plans, and TV shows like "The Swan",  "Bachelorette", "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire" (I don't know if these are exactly the right names, as I haven't watched a single episode of any of them), etc., etc. The attempt is to make us feel inadequate and the need to pit ourselves against each other for the "prize" of the "handsome" and wealthy male. Is this different from the caveman days?? Our culture sees to it that women are not given much encouragement in breaking away from what has been expected of them for thousands of years. We are still expected to cook, clean, take care of the children, look good,  and listen to "music" with little more than a beat and some ridiculous, shallow lyrics. And who says you can't dance to prog? I do it all the time. Men, on the other hand, are for the most part encouraged from the start to be independent, have their own minds, blaze their own trails, be experimental, go deeper (no jokes, please  ), be less concerned with their appearance so that they can turn their attention elsewhere (girls, can you imagine that?? ) - and I think appreciating prog music requires those characteristics. I think women are made to believe that those characteristics are undesireable, and isn't life all about being desireable?? The last six words of the above question would be sarcasm, by the way. It's all too bad, really. Luckily, I have managed to steer away from the norm in this regard. Not only do I listen to prog, but my house is a mess and I only know one way to cook chicken. And I look good without makeup, as all human beings do.

Yeah, I know a lot of girls at my school like that. They're always priss-priss and high-maintenance. A lot of guys go for them 'cause they're "hot", but I pity them. Sure, they're sexy, but if/when they marry these girls...bleechh. I've already seen some results of two people with nothing in common getting married, and they're my best friend's parents. They argue, they separate, on and on and on. And guess what -- they're both extremely focused on their appearances and social status and blah blah blah. They're also hypocrites! And their poor son, my friend, has twisted values and is almost a perfect picture of the Pink Floyd song "Dogs." He has to come out on top, that's what he was taught to do.

'bout the stuff highlighted in red....no, you're wrong. Guys have just as many chains as girls. They must like football, must be stronger than most (a strange paradox, as all can't be stronger than all), must keep appearance up somewhat (I'll admit not as much as girls do), must be jerks to get "hot" girls (not really a problem for me, because I don't want any of those whiny high maintenance losers anyway), etc, etc.

Actually, I've noticed more girls into prog than guys. They seem smarter than most guys I know, some of them. You know, when I think about it, it doesn't matter if you're a guy or girl: only about 10% of either gender is intelligent enough to appreciate prog, and even then they have to know it exists. And not many do. Prog needs to get it's name out there!

*whew*

yay... warm fuzzy feeling inside. its something about prog rock that really attracts sophisticated people... and i don't mean sophisticated in the way of social status or education or any of that, but sophisticated on a personal level. they tend to be people who are secure on the inside about the way they are, and i think prog rock is a way for them to really relish in self-expression and a really intelligent, intriguing artform.

as to the whole girl/guy thing, i think what has been said is largely true. although it was intended as a joke, most of us here are greasy nerds. We think synths are cool. Sometimes the music is a little flowery. Our heroes are often ugly, obese, old, or just crazy. So, it follows that mostly guys follow prog rock because we tend to be, i think, not just loners, but more comfortable being loners.

its sort of works in the way that high school cliques do. whenever you join a group of friends, you usually have to sacrifice some of your individuality in order to be accepted into the group, whether its the preppy group or the goth kids. girls tend to feel safer in groups- they like having lots of friends for emotional support, and they'd rather spend the weekend out with the girls. guys, generally speaking, are less willing to sacrifice their individuality, so that individual nature lends them to diversify their interest and go out and do things. Why? well maybe as Roan said its the social climate in today's society... maybe its nature... really, who knows. I'm obviously making huge generalizations, and everybody to some degree follows their own path, but in terms of addressing the guy/girl difference in interest in prog, i think those generalizations make for strong cases as to why most of us are male computer geeks who like to play with electronics and expensive instruments.

^  Not many female instrumentalists in rock (never mind prog) though, Vibe....

Interesting topic -- vive le difference!

I was introduced to prog by a female relative who gave me "Pictures At An Exhibition" and the Indian Summer album when I was 13 and then the sister of my best friend when I was 14 who introduced me to Genesis and Pink Floyd so I was initiated into prog by not one female,but two! Both of them had much better and far more advanced taste than any of my male friends,who were all complete idiots as far as music was concerned. I remember nearly getting into a fight with a guy because he said there was no essential difference between Village People and Pink Floyd!! Even after I,patiently while really fuming inside,had explained the difference,he still maintained his position.  I very nearly lost it then if it hadn't been for the fact that the difference in sizes between us was like that of a mouse and a gorilla and I preferred to live to see another day.

But those two girls/women are the only ones I have come across in my life that have not only appreciated prog,but actually felt passionate about it. My current girlfriend likes "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" but when I played "Tempus Fugit" she called it pure noise. And she's a music teacher! Prog definitely seem to fall into the same category as many other pursuits that signify the male of the species as the sad,sorry gits we are,like stamp collecting and train spotting.

Well I must hang out in different places then.. cause I've loved prog since I was about 13 also.  First time I heard ITCOTCK.... I thought King Crimson ruled, then I heard the Yes Album... and then ELP's first album.. and "Lucky Man"... couldn't get any better than that....

And lately I've been to quite a few prog concerts... in NYC and London and there were quite a few women there enjoying the shows... altho last night Fish was making fun of tolerant wives... but they were all screaming... no we love you, Fish... and it ain't because he's a pretty thing... Gave an excellent show tho!!

I also saw 2 prog bands this weekend with female lead singers... Amon Duul II and Magenta.  I wasn't too keen on Amon Duul.. but Chrissie from Magenta did a great job.

There are lots of women who love prog... you just have to find us.

threefates wrote: And lately I've been to quite a few prog concerts... in NYC and London and there were quite a few women there enjoying the shows... altho last night Fish was making fun of tolerant wives... but they were all screaming... no we love you, Fish... and it ain't because he's a pretty thing... Gave an excellent show tho!!

I was at Progfest last month and from what i can remember i'd say it was probably only about 10% of the audience that were female and most of them did look like 'tolerant wives'   hanging at the back of the hall. Such a shame too cos when Peter Nicholls (IQ) sang 'Red Dust Shadow' i was only a few feet away from him and he was looking directly at me it was magical  they dont know what they missed out on.

Roan's Lady wrote: B) - some of those musicians up there are definite "eye candy".

I'd say that was the way it is with Jadis... that other band containing IQ members.  Their lead singer/guitarist.. is definitely eye candy... and had half the women in there crawling over each other to get at him.... except me (I was already in front)....