How do we get the women on board?

[Johnny Pizza]

Johnny knows what the ladies like Treat them right and the bitcoins will flow freely

[1713983268]

1713983268

[1713983268]

1713983268

[Xephan]

Johnny knows what the ladies like Treat them right and the bitcoins will flow freely

Hmm does that mean my idea of a secured intra-uterine bitcoin wallet for women and a corresponding 8 inch secure roll-on transaction key which communicate using low frequency physical waves wouldn't work?

[BitcoinBabe]

Here's an idea: maybe stop acting as though women are some completely alien thing, and then all but the bravest won't run screaming?

+1

Alas, this is how most insecure people deal with "otherness."

[Tasty Champa]

forum.bitcoin,
sometimes i seriously question your dedication to sparkle motion!

[Mousepotato]

I'm going to say we shouldn't get the women onboard for now.

First impression makes a big difference and if the first few women decides the experience's awful, you can be sure the power of the Women's p2p network will pretty much give Bitcoin a stinking reputation that would take years to overcome.

There's nothing wrong with Bitcoin right now.  However, we lack the infrastructure to make online BTC transactions as seemless and user-friendly as using Paypal, let alone buying things at B&M shops.  I think one big piece of the puzzle we're missing is a Paypal-like entity to serve as a kind of escrow-slash-exchange which will encourage people to actually use their Bitcoins to buy things without fear of getting scammed. Add to that a secure, easy to use mobile app for POS transactions and we're almost "there".  That's it... so simple, but yet as with many other things in life, simple doesn't necessarily mean easy.

Whether you're a guy or a girl at this point in the game is largely irrelevant IMHO.

[jgraham]

but there's a reason why stereotypes exist

I thought that reason was ignorance?

[LastBattle]

Yeah, we need someone to make a new site for money storage, bitcoin buying, etc like paypal (though PP rips people off and is being boycotted, hence why we need a new one).

I distrust regular banks and would prefer to be able to buy bitcoins with physical cash, but failing that it would be good to have a safe website to transfer money to for bitcoin purchases.

Also, attracting women shouldn't be too hard. A bitcoins-for-kitchen-appliances store should suffice.

[AngelusWebDesign]

but there's a reason why stereotypes exist

I thought that reason was ignorance?

Oh, come on.

Tell us why few women are here. If women are equal to men in every way, then WHY aren't they represented equally on this forum?

Is the big bad European white male keeping them off forum.bitcoin.org?  I doubt it.

Obviously there are gender differences that go beyond "plumbing". To deny that is to deny reality.

He's right -- stereotypes exist because they're true 90% of the time. Plain and simple.

If I started stereotyping Americans as people that like to drive their cars into trees, the stereotype would die pretty quickly because A) it's stupid B) it has no basis in reality.
So it wouldn't catch on.

[jgraham]

but there's a reason why stereotypes exist

I thought that reason was ignorance?

Tell us why few women are here.

I did.

If women are equal to men in every way, then WHY aren't they represented equally on this forum?

I'm not sure what "equal to men in every way" means. 

He's right -- stereotypes exist because they're true 90% of the time. Plain and simple.

Including most racial stereotypes?
Seriously how do you determine 90%?  What sample did you use?  Was it well randomized?  What is the size of the population?
Congratulations, this is one of the reasons I think stereotypes exist.  People's brains want to see patterns and they suck at statistics.

If I started stereotyping Americans as people that like to drive their cars into trees, the stereotype would die pretty quickly because A) it's stupid B) it has no basis in reality.
So it wouldn't catch on.

So in your mind, because one potentially false stereotype fails, most stereotypes can't be false?  Outside the US there are plenty of stereotypes about Americans - are all those true?

[AngelusWebDesign]

So in your mind, because one potentially false stereotype fails, most stereotypes can't be false?  Outside the US there are plenty of stereotypes about Americans - are all those true?

If they hold any water, yes.

Too many people today are brainwashed by "political correctness".

Think about it RATIONALLY -- why do stereotypes refuse to die? The one about women liking to shop? The one about software engineers being male? The one about "boy bands" having vapid lyrics? The one about sports fans not being deep-thinking philosophers? The one about Americans being smug, not learning other languages, and being materialistic and taking on too much debt? I could list dozens of them.
If they had no basis in reality, they would die quickly. But they have quite a basis in reality.

They're a shortcut to complete analysis, yes. But a shortcut that works MOST of the time, with few exceptions.

We make all kinds of assumptions all day, every day. You don't always have the time for a fair, objective, in-depth analysis of everything.

I'm sorry, but if were a hiring manager, and there were three people applying for a software engineering job, named Amanda Jones, Deshawn White, and Wolfgang Wattenburg, and I didn't have access to any information than their names, I'd probably do the "un-PC" thing and choose the German-sounding guy. True, he might be the one exception to the stereotype, and the female might be particularly good at programming -- but it's usually smart to go with the odds.

And remember -- the exception proves the rule. Just because you can show me a single female computer programmer will not cause me to throw my hands in the air and say, "You're right, there's no pattern. Programmers are male and female." No, you merely showed me an exception, which is remarkable because it's an exception to the rule.

[Mousepotato]

Me rockin a shirt I helped design.  I'm an avid Bitcoin miner, hardware enthusiast, and mediocre as hell Starcraft2 player and even worse MW2 player.  And yeah I love shopping

[cypherdoc]

I am the Bitcoin Queen! Bitches...

Maria.

and i thought you were sweet.

[Bitcoin Swami]

They want shinies, they want fast transfers, they might won over by ideology, but probably not the ideology of libertarianism. They want to use the system that their favorite site uses, and they want to use the system their friends use. This by the way probably describes how mainstream males think too.

Way to stereotype, much! lol.

I'm a female who was actually drawn to bitcoin for the ideology of libertarianism. But yes, I also would like to see it used in my favorite sites, would like my friends to use it (though this wouldn't impede my own use of it if they didn't) and, yes, what I quoted from your initial post above pretty sums up over 90% of men as well.

To this end, while women will certainly play a role in getting bitcoin to go maistream, I think bitcoin needs more of an air of familiarity. Websites that have attractive, rather than just functional designs, would be a good start. More merchants selling more than just gadgets (though I do know a few female gadget fiends) - Bitcoin World Market will probably get a decent female following once bitcoin takes off as it sells beauty therapies, scented candles, gourmet and organic food items, chocolate... OK, now I'M stereotyping, cos I can easily live without chocolate. lol.

Incidently, BWM it will also probably get a really decent gay following. THAT's a fringe market that might be worth soliciting before the mainstream gets in on the act - particularly 30 something+, professional (whether in the arts, corporate or other business sectors), with no dependents.

Quite frankly, I think an air of exclusivity coupled with sophistication is what bitcoin needs. Bitcoin-only offers to special events, one-offs or limited editions that can only be purchased with btc... Basically, something that will make people have to buy bitcoins in order to take part in this special offer/event/promotion/exclusive service would be a good idea, something that makes them feel like trendsetters rather than geeks. This would be my idea, I guess, of the "shine" you mention women want.

There is an adult site that sells some "gadgets" that women might like for bitcoins.  Thats a start maybe. lol

[Yuusha]

Think about it RATIONALLY -- why do stereotypes refuse to die? The one about women liking to shop? The one about software engineers being male?

Because they are repeated so often that people feel obligated to fit into the stereotype. People adjust to the stereotypes because they don't want to be "weird".

[Jack of Diamonds]

If they hold any water, yes.

Too many people today are brainwashed by "political correctness".

Stereotypes can be profited from due to some reasons you listed (grain of truth, etc)

If women want to buy shoes, purses, jewelry, makeup etc... Then let them. I'm not arguing women aren't different from men; They are like day and night when it comes to purchase patterns.
Men don't give a shit about purses and makeup, and women don't give a shit about electrical stuff or hardware.

Sell female-oriented products with easily obtainable bitcoins and you're in for a massive market.

From a business persp., nobody should care  'why' they opt for those products as long as they have money to pay for it.
I for one don't care whether the revenue comes from someone with a dick or someone without. I don't care about the evolutionary psychology behind it.

The only relevant thing is they have enough money to pay for something marketable with bitcoins, which makes women an untapped market worth a lot of money.
If bitcoins were easier to obtain than Paypal funds or credit card payments, ordinary women would use BTC every day.

[cypherdoc]

thanks - I changed it in the op.

no! no need to deposit anything that's the beauty of it.

you simply can implement it on the merchant checkout and it will give the customer the total in BTC and the address where to send it to with an graphic step by step guide.

As a customer you only need to be able to handle your client or online wallet - everything else will be shown to you step by step!

You see, where's the customer going to get her wallet full of bitcoin? You want to teach the average person (nevermind woman) how to put together a $1K rig and mine for 1 month to buy that US$30 item?

Or ask them to go through the whole mess of buying from an exchange?

That's what I mean by an extra step. We're missing that easy step from cash already in the bank to bitcoin payment for the average person. Like I said, Paypal could had been a good partner and make it easy for the average person to buy bitcoin. But since they see bitcoin as a threat and has unacceptable chargeback policies for the nature of bitcoin...

we're close:  http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=31181.0

[Bitcoin Harbor]

As a woman and an avid bitcoin user, I do take exception to the casual assumption that Libertarian ideology or the obvious advantages of bitcoins for internet purchases do no appeal to women.  

Of course part of the problem is that bitcoin adherents at the moment are almost exclusively part of the tech industry in some way and that industry is (for whatever reason) largely dominated by men, so of course men hear about bitcoins and are involved first.  That does not by any means suggest that women interested in tech or even libertarian women cannot and do not find something of value in the currency (witness the ladies who have commented on this thread).    

One thing that would help with mainstream appeal, which is what OP appears to actually be addressing, rather than women specifically, would be a larger range of items that people can actual buy with Bitcoins.  Even at Bitcoin Harbor, we find that the most common items for sale are tech products, though we have been reaching out to a variety of merchants in the community.    

Also I feel that the explanations of bitcoins out in the internet tend to be too tech heavy.  The average consumer doesn't care about mining, cryptography or even avoiding government scrutiny.  They want to know how to get bitcoins, how to spend them and how not to get them stolen.  Until newbies to bitcoins can find that information in a non-threatening and easy to understand way, it's always going to be difficult to sell.  

Christine

[payb.tc]

Whether you're a guy or a girl at this point in the game is largely irrelevant IMHO.

some guys being more largely irrelevant than others

[Mousepotato]

If women want to buy shoes, purses, jewelry, makeup etc... Then let them. I'm not arguing women aren't different from men; They are like day and night when it comes to purchase patterns.
Men don't give a shit about purses and makeup, and women don't give a shit about electrical stuff or hardware.

I find myself unfortunate to love ALL that stuff.  I got as excited at the $189 5870 at NewEgg as I did when I found out that Dillard's started carrying MAC cosmetics (Lip Glass ftw!!) lol that just means that I'm always going to be one broke mouse.

[payb.tc]

Me rockin a shirt I helped design.

no link in your sig... what store is it from? you look hot by the way.

also... i must be *really* out of touch with women's fashion these days... never heard of this:

Lip Glass ftw!!