I've been involved in the local sff community (uni clubs, cons etc) for about ten years, and find it somewhat ungendered, and I do prefer that a lot of the time to the rather girly vibe of this fanficcy bit of fandom.
My brain mixes some very feminine traits with some very masculine ones, so I always feel out of place in groups which don't have a mix of both. I find the complex social hierachies and rules women build rather scary and incomprehensible, but I also can't stand the macho posturing and aggression a lot of men exhibit. Thus, depending on context, I identify with either men or women(*), but mostly with "people who work rather like I do", and such people can be found in both genders (and presumably in the continuum in between)
That said, the sexism inherent in our society means the situation is not symettrical. I have the advantage of being the right mix of nonthreatening, intelligent(**) and pretty-but-not-striking to be taken reasonably seriously but not seen as a threat/possible lay, I have seen other women have Serious Issues with men in fandom if they were seen as too aggressive or too ugly, or had to fight off lots of sleazes.
I get the impression a lot of female fans have had Very Bad experiences with entitlementy men online trying to take over or invalidate their girly spaces, so I can understand their defensiveness. I think the boys have as much or more of an "Us vs Them" attitude than the girls, but that doesn't mean I have to like it in either case. Especially when, as has already been stated, there is this tendency to go "fandom=women=fanfic=slash=porn" which is a little annoying as a gen-reading woman who is more involved in the non-fanfic parts of fandom.
On the other hand, there are things which really only seem to get discussed in female dominated spaces, either online or in subcliques of the larger multigendered fandom, and I have really enjoyed having my mind opened to things like feminist theory as I discover and engage with these spaces.
So I shall enjoy my ungendered discussions where I can get them and try to be open to the not-female voices in this branch of fandom, and speak up for the non-male POV in the others.
(*)That said, I am a woman and mostly take a fairly female-gendered-stance, if not always the one all the other women are taking (**)I used to have men in fandom not take me seriously, but this happens a lot less since I got a Phd in maths :D
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My brain mixes some very feminine traits with some very masculine ones, so I always feel out of place in groups which don't have a mix of both. I find the complex social hierachies and rules women build rather scary and incomprehensible, but I also can't stand the macho posturing and aggression a lot of men exhibit. Thus, depending on context, I identify with either men or women(*), but mostly with "people who work rather like I do", and such people can be found in both genders (and presumably in the continuum in between)
That said, the sexism inherent in our society means the situation is not symettrical. I have the advantage of being the right mix of nonthreatening, intelligent(**) and pretty-but-not-striking to be taken reasonably seriously but not seen as a threat/possible lay, I have seen other women have Serious Issues with men in fandom if they were seen as too aggressive or too ugly, or had to fight off lots of sleazes.
I get the impression a lot of female fans have had Very Bad experiences with entitlementy men online trying to take over or invalidate their girly spaces, so I can understand their defensiveness. I think the boys have as much or more of an "Us vs Them" attitude than the girls, but that doesn't mean I have to like it in either case. Especially when, as has already been stated, there is this tendency to go "fandom=women=fanfic=slash=porn" which is a little annoying as a gen-reading woman who is more involved in the non-fanfic parts of fandom.
On the other hand, there are things which really only seem to get discussed in female dominated spaces, either online or in subcliques of the larger multigendered fandom, and I have really enjoyed having my mind opened to things like feminist theory as I discover and engage with these spaces.
So I shall enjoy my ungendered discussions where I can get them and try to be open to the not-female voices in this branch of fandom, and speak up for the non-male POV in the others.
(*)That said, I am a woman and mostly take a fairly female-gendered-stance, if not always the one all the other women are taking
(**)I used to have men in fandom not take me seriously, but this happens a lot less since I got a Phd in maths :D