Why DO women like prog?

I will contribute to this based on what my wife (a hopeless mainstream music lover) tells me when she hears my music:

"It's too complicated"

or

"The songs are too long!"

or

"When are they going to start singing?"

Those are the things that prevent her from getting into progressive music.  She prefers the simplicity and catchy-ness of pop, although she has been known to like the occasional hard-rock (Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Guns & Roses, etc) type of songs.....but the main thing she always comes back to is it seems that my wife is attracted to songs that have a strong chorus or lyrical hook. 

Longer, complex, or symphonic music fails to maintain her attention, although, to her credit she is very supportive of my efforts with my own projects.
 

^ Hm, well, my wife has no objections to progressive music. She’s just extremely picky when it comes to voices, and she doesn’t like the sound of Gabriel, Collins, Jon Anderson etc. She loves Hammill’s voice, though, so she actually enjoys Pawn Hearts (but of course no talking while we play that kind of music). Kate Bush is one of her favourites, and she thinks that most of the mainstream pop music is crap.

As a girl myself, here's my theory:

Women tend to feel more the need to be able to share their musical tastes with others(basically liking the music and at the same time connecting with other people through it).

That might explain why, in general, you see more "fangirls" of a particular artist than "fanboys"(there are often almost as many, but men are less prone to admit being fanboys of something, at least from what I've seen).

Basically, since the genres that gain more exposure are miles away from prog, it's tougher for girls to find that social aspect in progressive music.

Also(again from what I've seen), and as stated by others, men tend to focus more on one particular aspect of whatever they listen to, while women focus more on different aspects. Therefore, the latter might pay more attention not just to the music, but also to other aspects of the band/artist, like their image, their history, their fanbase, what the media says about them... Since most prog bands put the emphasis more on the music and not on the other aspects, it is maybe less appealing to some women who would have otherwise liked it.

Of course I'm making generalizations here, but that is all my opinion, and I could be completely wrong.

Also, it's kind of cool being in the minority (I know it's a bit stupid, but that's how I roll).

Interestingly enough, though, now that I think about it, my wife LOVES Neal Morse's voice, but I've only been able to get her to regularly listen to a few select Spock's Beard tracks:

"June"
"Wind At My Back"

Those two she absolutely adores

refugee wrote: ^ Hm, well, my wife has no objections to progressive music. She’s just extremely picky when it comes to voices, and she doesn’t like the sound of Gabriel, Collins, Jon Anderson etc. She loves Hammill’s voice, though, so she actually enjoys Pawn Hearts (but of course no talking while we play that kind of music). Kate Bush is one of her favourites, and she thinks that most of the mainstream pop music is crap.

I agree with your wife actually, though I dislike Hammill as well. There is something in their voices that makes my ears bleed and that can be pretty exausting.
I prefer the lower and more male voices of Greg Lake, David Gilmour and Justin Hayward.

This made me think about the difference in hearing abilities between men and women. Here's a quote from a site I just found.

Females tend to hear better than males (have less acute hearing), and this difference only becomes more pronounced throughout life. For example, eleven-year-old girls are distracted by noise levels that are approximately 10 times softer than the levels that boys find distracting.

• If you are working with girls, keep the room as free of extraneous noise and distraction as possible, and avoid raising your voice (if male presenter, speak more softly). Small group learning can be a good strategy for an all-girl group.

• If you are working with boys, speak up, especially if female presenter. Avoid small-group learning situations. When in small groups, boys are often rewarded by their friends for being disruptive.

• If you are working with boys and girls in the same classroom, put all the boys in front and the girls in the back of the classroom. This can help boys to hear better, while the sound of the teacher’s voice will be more comfortable for the girls.

Quite interesting and may explain certain things, like why I dislike most metal sub genres for instance.

Edited by silverpot - November 21 2011 at 15:07

Redug wrote: desistindo wrote: Sean Trane wrote: Redug wrote: desistindo wrote: Let me tell news: there is no difference between women and man. You should meditate about that. This is a false statement rooted in oblivious idealism.   let alone complete biological and psychological ignorance       I'm glad women are differen t, coz if they were not, I'd feel completely gay!!       So, do you think a difference of chromosomes can change the musical taste between the genders? This is so absurd as Scientology. What im trying to show is that in substance you can find some differences "under the sheet" betwen women and men, but music is about soul and there is no "male soul" or "female soul". But if you still thinking about it in terms of a empiric-materialist view of hystocial-cultural context of female listenning, so i think you wasting your time, cause the only music that matters is the music for the soul (and im not talking necessarily about Motown and stuff like that). Although there is a great deal of variation within members of both species, the male brain in general operates differently from the female brain so of course males and females are going to perceive things differently. Cut the pseudo-scientific soul nonsense please.

desistindo wrote: Sean Trane wrote: Redug wrote: desistindo wrote: Let me tell news: there is no difference between women and man. You should meditate about that. This is a false statement rooted in oblivious idealism.   let alone complete biological and psychological ignorance       I'm glad women are differen t, coz if they were not, I'd feel completely gay!!       So, do you think a difference of chromosomes can change the musical taste between the genders? This is so absurd as Scientology. What im trying to show is that in substance you can find some differences "under the sheet" betwen women and men, but music is about soul and there is no "male soul" or "female soul". But if you still thinking about it in terms of a empiric-materialist view of hystocial-cultural context of female listenning, so i think you wasting your time, cause the only music that matters is the music for the soul (and im not talking necessarily about Motown and stuff like that).

There are many physical and psychical differences between male and female body, brain, thinking, behaving ... music listening is no different.

However, I can tell you one stupid example: I have a friend, male like me - he couldn't care less about Prog music. He prefers radio-music (listening music from radio rather than buying records). His radio station of choice is mainstream one.
On the other hand, I have a girl. Girlfriend to be exact. She shares my love for Prog, even she cannot handle as strong stuff as I can. Well, cannot handle is too strong, let's rather say that she prefers more melodic music. After all, I prefer the same.

She is female and do what the male do not, she listens Prog. Of course, that's just an example.

What I am trying to say that you can find examples in both genders, people who listens what call here Prog. Woman perceives music differently than a man, but after all, I perceive music differently than you and all of you. Each person is unique.

Redug wrote: I am not asserting that male's have a "superior" brain, as I believe that much to be false. However if you believe(edit) the idea that there is not a scientific basis in how the human brain works you are genuinely foolish, unless you also believe that neurology is an art form.

No, neurology is a science, but I just hope you are aware about some experiences in the 2000's, using IRM.
The difference isn't between the brain of men and the brain of women. The difference is between each individuals.
Two women would have completely different ways to use their brains to resolve a mathematics problems, for example. In fact, it had even been shown that people can also use differents zones of the brain to solve the same problems.

By the way, the book "Men are from Mars, women are from Venus" was already obsolete 15 years ago.

abnormalist wrote: As a girl myself, here's my theory: Women tend to feel more the need to be able to share their musical tastes with others(basically liking the music and at the same time connecting with other people through it). That might explain why, in general, you see more "fangirls" of a particular artist than "fanboys"(there are often almost as many, but men are less prone to admit being fanboys of something, at least from what I've seen). Basically, since the genres that gain more exposure are miles away from prog, it's tougher for girls to find that social aspect in progressive music. Also(again from what I've seen), and as stated by others, men tend to focus more on one particular aspect of whatever they listen to, while women focus more on different aspects. Therefore, the latter might pay more attention not just to the music, but also to other aspects of the band/artist, like their image, their history, their fanbase, what the media says about them... Since most prog bands put the emphasis more on the music and not on the other aspects, it is maybe less appealing to some women who would have otherwise liked it. Of course I'm making generalizations here, but that is all my opinion, and I could be completely wrong. Also, it's kind of cool being in the minority (I know it's a bit stupid, but that's how I roll).

Then tell me why, whenever I go to a jam band concert, or a jazz concert; which are both very far away from the mainstream, are there usually tons of girls there?

darkshade wrote: abnormalist wrote: As a girl myself, here's my theory: Women tend to feel more the need to be able to share their musical tastes with others(basically liking the music and at the same time connecting with other people through it). That might explain why, in general, you see more "fangirls" of a particular artist than "fanboys"(there are often almost as many, but men are less prone to admit being fanboys of something, at least from what I've seen). Basically, since the genres that gain more exposure are miles away from prog, it's tougher for girls to find that social aspect in progressive music. Also(again from what I've seen), and as stated by others, men tend to focus more on one particular aspect of whatever they listen to, while women focus more on different aspects. Therefore, the latter might pay more attention not just to the music, but also to other aspects of the band/artist, like their image, their history, their fanbase, what the media says about them... Since most prog bands put the emphasis more on the music and not on the other aspects, it is maybe less appealing to some women who would have otherwise liked it. Of course I'm making generalizations here, but that is all my opinion, and I could be completely wrong. Also, it's kind of cool being in the minority (I know it's a bit stupid, but that's how I roll). Then tell me why, whenever I go to a jam band concert, or a jazz concert; which are both very far away from the mainstream, are there usually tons of girls there?

Maybe it's because jazz has been around far longer than prog and has more of a tradition of listeners (it has had the time to become more widespread without necessarily turning mainstream)... I don't really know, to be honest.
Anyhow, it bothers me to no end that there are not that many women who are avid prog listeners, especially since prog is so diverse and can appeal to a lot of people. Sometimes I feel so aloooone...