rule 30

This is also an issue with psychedelic conferences in general. The vast majority of speakers are male.

I wonder if this disparity is a regional thing, as where I am, there are plenty of women who love psychedelics. One of my best friends is cisgendered female and she's a far more experienced psychonaut then I.

It still doesn't let me, maybe because I have an ad blocker.
But it's okay! I just wanted to state that I was a female. lol

^..it's a woman! omg! ..actually, i know six female members of this site, only one ever posts, and hasn't been that active lately..i think perhaps (due to either nature or conditioning) that women are less involved in the unrelenting quest to categorise intellectual information..they more feel it..
perhaps, also, the entheogenic community (conferences especially) has a bit of an ol'boys' club look that needs a new look to be more encouraging for women..

interesting figures, though..

I've heard this stated a few times but I don't think it's a super productive way of looking at the issue. The percentage of women in higher education might suggest otherwise.

^..you could be right, i haven't seen the figures, but i remember a lot of women during higher education..

i can't see any kind of blatant discrimination here..

it is probably cultural conditioning, though most of my female friends bore more easily at lengthy displays of intellect..

perhaps it's a male displays it's bright feathers behaviour..

I think this has been the funniest thread I have read in a long time. The amount of semantics distinctions and cultural diatribes is astounding to say the least.

I thought the question was simple. Maybe it should have been phrased, Do you have a penis or a vagina?, you know just to clear up any confusion. Though I'm sure the hermaphrodites on this forum would feel very left out. . And I know that there may be some transgender folks on this forum and I'm sure it's a frustrating subject to say the least but let's not complicate a simple matter. Of course I say that but it's already too late, .

Likewise on the discussion of male and female differences, whether men are more spiritual than woman or vise versa. All I have to say to whoever started that idea on either side, What the fuck!?! Spirituality is not a gender specific thing, at all. Sometimes cultures mediate spiritual roles in society such as having male priests, but that says nothing of the spirituality of an individual. Why people try to make non-gender issues into gender issues astounds me.

Also on the subject of a "male dominated" society. I want to clarify that this role exists for a reason. It's the biproduct of the evolution of our society. In more primitive societies women were traditionally kept at home so they could be protected, because let's face it, women are more vulnerable, especially when pregnant. That should be common sense. Men are on average stronger physically than women, that is not up for debate. Men did the dangerous work such as hunting and fighting wars. Also men are the more expendable of the genders, such as one man can impregnate multiple women to keep a population going so it is a biological necessity to protect women. Sure this has lead to some women being oppressed, and that is a tragedy, I know, but oppression was just the negative of being overly protective. In this modern society we tend to lend ourselves to more androgynous roles because the gender roles of a more primitive society are becoming less and less relevant.

Likewise lets remember what "culture" is. Culture is a divisive beast that separates people from each other. There is a reason "cult" is the root word for culture. I think Terrence McKenna has a quote about this, and I think he's right. I know I could rant more on this subject, but I'm sure you can fill in the gaps. Peace.

I suggest you read Psychedelic Anthropology by Allan D Coult. By the end of the book you may have a different opinion on the matter. It's a fascinating read regardless.

If nothing else, I think this thread shows us something about the world- even the simplest, seemingly black and white topics start to get awfully complicated under enough scrutiny. All the semantic wrangling here has mostly been an attempt to establish concrete reference points within the discussion... And even that is difficult.

Global, thanks for the link- refreshing at this point in the conversation.

I was going to continue to stay out of this thread, but so many people seem confused that I just can't. Gender identity is not just semantics. period. Physical sex/sexual organs ≠ gender. If you want to talk about "astounded"...I'm astounded that a community that has so much experience with non-corporeal realms has such difficulty in understanding that gender identity is not necessarily bound to physical organs. It's really not that complex.

There have been numerous comments about transgendered people and hermaphrodites...and again...I'm struck by the fixation on the physical in relation to gender. It was already brought up, and agreed that a clearer/more concise framing of the question was "what legal sex are you" in order to focus on the physical organs and avoid applying a binary to the spectrum of gender; that's why the poll question was changed from "what gender are you".

Beyond that, this thread as a whole engages in a lot of generalization and a lot of essentialism that seems, to me, to be wildly conflicting with the entheogenic experience, or at least, what I have encountered (and that's not counting the patriachal views that have been espoused by some). Homogenizing groups of people based on claimed "defining traits" has laid the foundation for countless systems of domination, oppression, and abuse throughout time and space.

If you look at our membership...or entheogenic conference presenters...or entheogenic speakers, I would bet that the majority of them are white, male, middle-/upper-middle class people. Given the global constructs of patriarchy, classism, and white-supremacy (much of which linger from and have been perpetuated since feudal and pre-feudal times), it's not surprising that these are the individuals who find it easiest to gain authority/legitimacy within our communities (or gain access to the resources that allow for them to gain legitimacy/authority). These structures are not always visible to people as blatant discrimination because they are woven to the very fabric of our societies. To point to singular examples that seem to contradict these structures does little more than point to an exception...the problem is not individualistic, it's systemic.

I seriously consider making the poll answers "I have a penis.", "I have a vagina.", "I do not have either a penis or a vagina.", and "I have both a penis and a vagina."

I decided against it in case it would have insulted people. Perhaps I was wrong and it would have insulted less people. Maybe that's what it should have been... Any eunuchs or hermaphrodites in the house? <- That is sarcasm. I apologize if anyone takes offense.

Snozzleberry, I hope I didn't offend you. That wasn't my intention. Though I will say this, your personal interpretation of the meaning of the word gender is not the same as the poster of this threads interpretation. Words have meanings based on the person using them, no matter what the dictionary says, such is the case with the word gender here. So yes, that is a semantics argument.

For what seems like an innocent looking thread, people seem to bring an entire weight of emotional baggage to the table and yes I do find that laughable. To turn a simple question about whether there are more boys than girls on the site into a diatribe about various roles in society is hilarious to me.

Likewise if you want to look at a male dominated white society you can take solace in the fact that those cultural and "gender" distinctions are dissolving under the weight of this modern society. The US has a black president, more women serve roles in government and the roles of "gender" (which have always been quite flexible) are trending towards more androgyny. its the progress of our society. Sure sexism and racism exists but its less than it has been for sure. What constitutes feminine and masculine is typically only a cultural thing as the only thing that really separates the genders are the physical distinctions. Maybe the question should have been do you have XX chromosomes or XY or do you have a genetic disorder. The question is about the male/female ration in this site. It is a very very simple question.

Global, I would love to read that book, however I saw it on sell for 175 $ and that's kind if steep. You have peeked my interest though. If it wouldn't be too much trouble if I could ask that maybe in a personal message if you could give me a gist of the hypothesis set forth in that book that would be helpful, though of course you don't have to. I will say in my earlier post I did not go into more details about the dynamics involved with the "male dominated" society as there are too many different types of societies and gender roles to be covered in a single paragraph. I was speaking generally.

I am from a time and place where the worst insult one could hurl was to call a guy a faggot. Over the years I realized that if I wanted to be accepted as a scruffy insane hippy I needed to be able to accept others for what they are too.

I will admit that when I see males acting in an extremely exaggerated flaming way I find it odd and amusing, but I also find that sort of over the top demeanor odd in women. I also have met some very burley macho men who turned out to be gay.

I am hetero in my sexual desires, but Love and inclusive awareness of everyone's differences should be our goal. Hatred is what scares me, not what other's choose to do with their genitals.

Here ya go....

For anybody interested in reading further into gender and sex I found the following two works to be delightfully insightful.

Stone Butch Blues [book]
M. Butterfly [play & film]

Below are a the ends of the respective afterwords.

Thank You

This was a strange one I found too...

cavnar_ayahuasca_gays_lesbians...

go figure..!!

The link was a bit further down the thread I linked too, but either way, I recommend it.