Why are so many women into the turtles
 

I really hope I won't be destroyed for asking this question, but I've noticed that there is an unusually high number of females on this forum. Compare it to sites like comic vine, comic book resources etc which are hugely male-dominated.

I'm happy about this, as the more the merrier, and the wider variety of people the merrier, but I was wondering why this is. Some people might say it's because the turtles are seen as more 'kiddy' than Marvel or DC, but I find that hugely demeaning and intellectually insulting towards women. Some of the most intelligent posters on the forum seem to be women, particularly academically speaking. There are a few women on this forum who seem to have a major academic background. I won't name them but it's pretty obvious who one or two of them are.

So what's the reason(s)? Why do the turtles attract more females than Batman or the Avengers etc?

I feel like I probably like it for a lot of the same reasons most guys do. Why do you like it?

I'd have to write an essay longer than my uni dissertation to explain properly - and I just can't be bothered at this moment in time since it's only 7 am.

Most of it boils down to the family themes, as well as my love for clandestine ninja clans and street level battles. I love Daredevil as well.

Lol, that's what I figured. It's a big question to ask, but I feel like the answers would be basically the same for anyone from anyone.
There's action, drama, emphasis on family, dealing with being outcast, relatable personalities... TMNT is full of universally appealing themes.

It's not the only fandom I'm into, but at the moment it's my favorite. I'm a long-time fan of X-Men for a lot of the same reasons.

That's true, it has a very wide set of qualities which appeal to a wide variety of people. But the same can be said of other franchises which are male dominated.

I suppose we could extend this to ask why anime is so popular with girls and women? In fact, it seems that the majority of anime viewers are female.

I wouldn't be able to answer that. I'm not a fan of anime.
Perhaps the nature of the TMNT fandom is more accepting to women? Perhaps it was popularized by a cartoon which took the world by storm, basically turning the characters into household names so it was simple to ease into.
I guess I'm the wrong person to ask, because I'm involved in a lot of fandoms/communities that are male-dominated like the FGC, MtG, Kaiju, etc. And I find them just as appealing.

I kinda just like well-written, fun characters....and big stompy monsters.

Fair enough. I can understand why women care for the property, it's just a nice departure to see a forum which seems almost 50/50 split in terms of gender.

I don't know what any of those acronyms stand for though.

I am in a minority in some fandoms myself - I'm a male who watches Once Upon A Time. And I really enjoy it too, and make no apologies.

A few of them are in it for the more bizarre reasons, like pairing the Turtles up with their brothers. Don't go to deviantart whatever you do, you don't want to see drawings of Leo kissing Raph or nonsense like that.

*shudders*

As soon as I saw you had posted I knew that laughs were imminent.

You know, I didn't even know that was a thing until I made the horrific mistake of googling "TMNT Slash Fanart" trying to find a cool IDW Slash-themed wallpaper...
Yea... I'll have to live without a beefy Slash wallpaper.

Google "The Slut from Channel Six".

I'm good....

I also notice most female fans don't like April, and I'm talking any incarnation of her. 80's April, 4kids April, Nick April...I remember talking with them when those shows were airing.

Their opinion on April was always, "Eh" or "I don't like her much."

Kinda odd since April is supposed to be aimed at female fans in every incarnation, yet female fans don't care for her.

:):):):):):):):):):)

To add to that area, I discovered another reason why a few women would be infatuated with the Turtles also. :lol:

I dunno, it's kind of like answering that question for why I like anything else that I do. I just do? I agree it's probably for a lot of the same reasons. Without that human man/woman part in the way as a factor to relate to we're just free to see them for their varying personalities, how they live their lives together, and relate to them on those deeper levels.

Granted I'm probably not the best to be able to make comparisons since I was never really into any other 'superhero' stuff.

It's just funny to me though that I relate a billion times more to a mutated male talking turtle than I ever would to any superhero woman with superpowers. These guys are just special like that. :D

And no, I don't think because it's "kiddieish." I was a kid when I first got hooked on them, they were fun kid stuff back then. But my like of them is a different perspective and level of respect now. The Turtles themselves have continued to grow over the years as admirable characters worthy of more respect than they tend to get from the general public.




And the one who brings that creepy stuff and those sites up the most around here is...

Deviantart is not a bad site, in fact there are a lot of awesomely talented people on there....you just have to avoid looking for stuff you don't want to see.

Well then your view on that may be just as mistaken as the creator's. People who think "how do we attract female viewers - just stuck a woman into the mix" are not trying hard enough. Maybe I know enough real like women and have spent a lifetime as one that I don't really need a fictional one to try to relate to. I don't dislike her, but she's never been interesting to me and don't relate to her personality. Perhaps had there been more woman around all the time there might have been one I related to more.

Because it's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

:lol: Had no idea that turtles were hung like horses.

Good post. I'd love to add to it, but I'm seriously flagging in terms of tiredness.

Brief and 100% accurate. I like it :)

Well naturally the TMNT are the stars, but April is there for female fans to identify themselves with.

Which is why I find it bizarre so many females don't care for her. And I'm talking about all the different versions of her, 80's, 4kids, Nick, Mirage, etc.

I can understand not liking one version of April but to not like any of them?

It's pretty simplistic to assume that a female is in the show simply for women to identify with. That's not the primary purpose of female characters in fiction, & it's pretty patronising to suggest that it is.

I'd bet that women identify far more with the guys than April - see the personalities of the likes of IndigoErth and Warhorse, who feel that Leo and Raph respectively are kindred spirits. Two people being the same gender doesn't necessariy mean that they share anything in common.

In nearly every version of the turtles, April is the one who needs to be saved. I don't identify with that.
I've always identified more with Donnie's empirical nature and support status. He's the medic, the engineer, and the defense.

I probably like the IDW and Mirage April the most because they're scientists, for the most part.

Because they want the D...


Donnie.

I don't think this forum has "so many" women. Women make up about half the world's population, and I don't think those same proportions carry over to this forum's active userbase.

Just some food for thought.

For me, I feel that there's more to them then meets the eye. Once you got me convince me that they're real and write them as believable people, it becomes hard to go back to thinking them as 2 dimensional constructs with a A.I of a chat bot.

Never noticed such a thing. Also, everyone is on the internet these days so it's not really surprising that there's some women who are big Ninja Turtles fans in this place.

You mentioned that many women are into anime... well anime is a medium. There's plenty of anime genres, including a couple that target girls/women.

And speaking of anime, Sailor Moon has quite a sizable male fanbase. I'm a guy and I do like Sailor Moon. By CyberCubed's logic, my favorite character is probably Tuxedo Mask or any other male in the series... well it's not.

I know this is going to come as a shock, but...

Because Women/Girls are people, and people like things that they like.

Feel free to clutch your pearls now.

(Also, a minor pet peeve of mine: the words you're looking for are women and girls, not females. )

:lol:

I like how every one of your posts is laced with condescension. I've actually been very complimentary towards women in the OP, so don't play the sexist card.

I used the term 'females' for some variety. I also used the word women. I rarely use the word girls, because any female (sorry) over 16 is not a girl.

As an aside, I thought it was a bit strange that you said you'd be interested to hear my thoughts on Gotham Central after I read it...then when I did read the series and offered a few sentences, you neglected to reply.

My point was that comic books and their animated/film spin-offs tend to be male dominated - proportions don't matter in that respect. Half the world is male as well, as you imply - I still wouldn't expect to see a 50/50 split on a make-up or fashion forum.

Women are unusually highly represented on here. Which is a good thing.


Compared to places like comic vine there are a fvck ton of women on here. It's refreshing, but that doesn't mean it isn't somewhat of an anomaly.

Yeah...I'm female, and I like this character (when she's not being a damsal in distress...what? After 15+ kidnapping, you'd think she'd learn how to properly defend herself...). I don't really get why most female fan dislike her.

You're accusing me of playing the sexist card, when you're the one asking the board to justify why women like a thing. My replies are condescending because when faced with condescending questions I tend to answer in kind.
It's great that you're being polite, but the premise of your thread here is objectionable.

Here's the problem the way you're using female.
"Any female over 16..." any female what?
Female chinchillas? Female narwhals? Female Australopithecus afarensis?

You find it strange that it's possible I haven't seen your response?

Why not?
Could it be some sort of ubiquitous gender stereotyping leading you to make those conclusion?



The anomaly isn't that women are into things like comics and video games and Sci-Fi, the anomaly is that we're not equally distributed online, and that's 100% due to fanboy gatekeeping.

I can think of at least 10 friends I have elsewhere online who are as into TMNT as I am, but won't come within arms reach of this place because of the sexist treatment they've experienced here. They're honestly shocked that I "waste my time" there, because they wouldn't. Fan spaces are toxic for women...usually.
So we make our own elsewhere, which are then mocked repeatedly back in the fanspaces that drove us out to begin with, which only galvanizes why we left in the first place.

So yeah...I'm tetchy when yet again I'm asked why I'm here. No matter how politely the question is framed.

Plastroncafe: You honestly don't understand that he's referring to humans when he says "female TMNT fans?"

I think he means don't you check your visitor messages. I remember sending some messages on there a while ago but you don't seem respond.:-?

You're taking a thread which is intended to say how refreshing it is to see women feeling confident enough to post here, and twisting it into something which it's not. Your previous history with misogynists is colouring your judgement here - I'm not them, don't worry.

I don't see how it's condescending. You've taken it way too personally. I had a feeling someone would see it as a "pat on the head" type thread...a sort of "awww isn't it nice that these women are joining in with us male experts now?". However, that's really not the way it's intended. It's not meant in that spirit.

I had a feeling you'd be the one to take issue with this, due to your feminist views as well as the fact that you're one of the educated women I refer to in the OP.

Come on, don't be so pedantic. We don't have to get into a major sociological debate about the meanings and implications of the word 'female'. You know in what context it was meant. You're getting upset over nothing here and actively looking to take offence.

Well, that's possible. I'm not offended, I just found it strange that you wanted to know my opinions, then never bothered discussing said opinions with me. However, that's your decision. If, on the other hand, you genuinely missed the comments then fair play.



Come on...it's gender stereotyping that I think a site about women's fashion or make-up wouldn't be a 50/50 male-female split? Let's not take things to their extremes.

As for all the stuff about men restricting access to this site and others, I completely agree that that happens on websites and that it is not acceptable. Comic vine appears to be a rougher forum than here, so I will concede that point to you - that perhaps women feel too intimidated to post there and that they don't want their opinions to be demeaned simply because they're women. The same thing happens on soccer forums. Men don't like their little cliques being interrupted by women, because they find it intimidating.

What sexist treatment did they receive? I can only speak for my time as a regular poster here (which is about fifteen months, save a period where I had a break), but I haven't seen much sexism in that time. In fact, women here tend to be pretty well received and respected. Many of my favourite posters here are women and I'm sure that goes for many of the other guys as well.

"So we make our own elsewhere, which are then mocked repeatedly back in the fanspaces that drove us out to begin with, which only galvanizes why we left in the first place."

Finally, I hope you don't consider me a misogynist.

I´m an administrator of a latin american group in Facebook and I´have seen a lot of female members.

All of them like the turtles, one version more than others or maybe some don´t like one specific version.

Depending of the age, the subjects are different, like, 18 years girls and older talk about episodes, movies, like giving their opinions and stuff. Younger ones talk silly things like " i love Leo" or "Rafa is mine" or stuff like that. :lol::lol::lol:

I sincerely hope that plastroncafe tells you off for your repeated use of the world 'female' to describe a human woman, like she did me. But seeing as I'm a man and you're a woman, i'm thinking that's unlikely to happen.

:lol:

To be fair, using term "females" instead of "women" feels too clinical and sterilizing in my opinion. However I don't mind the term "female" as adjective with the word "fans" because that seems to applied that to fans could be anything: gay, lesbian, black, straight, asian and etc.

Again that's just how I feel. :lol:

That's fair enough. But I also used the term 'male' yet she didn't pick up on that. That's evidence of her hypocrisy on these matters.

I'm not twisting, I'm pointing out that the very nature of your question is condescending. It shouldn't be refreshing that I, as a woman, am confident enough to post here, because I shouldn't need confidence to post here.

The women I know who don't come here? It's not because they're not confident, it's because they have better things to do with their time than fight an uphill battle against gender stereotypes, creepers, and gatekeepers.

You're right though, dealing with misogynists has colored my world view, and that's not a bad thing. That's a survival tactic. That's something I'm proud of. I'm not worried that you're a misogynist. I'm not worried at all, actually. If I actually worried about every misogynist on a comic board...well, I wouldn't come to them, is what.

I'm telling you how it's condescending. Your question rests on the assumption that women shouldn't be here in the first place. That it's abnormal that they are, and you're asking for justification for why we like the things we like.

Guilty as charged.

First, I did say "minor petpeeve."
Second, as a good rule going forward: Don't tell people what they can and can't be offended by. It's dismissive.

If you'd like to know exactly what's going on in my life that would keep me from answering messages, all you have to do is ask.

I've moved house for the first time in 15 years, I'm taking a graduate level class in statistics, my grandmother is dying in the ICU, I haven't seen my boyfriend in over a month, I'm in a play that goes up next week, oh and work is slamming me to the floor because our three-year certification on all of our diagnostic magnets is coming up. Plus I've been sick and attended the NYCC last weekend.

All of this is in the last 45 days.
So, I've been busy.

It's gender stereotyping that says men can't like fashion and makeup, and girls can't like comics and video games. It's firmly upon these stereotypes that the question du jour sits.

Or maybe they just don't want to deal with the bull$#!+.

You'd have to ask them, I didn't get specifics. But this place has a reputation that will take a whole lot of change and time to dispel.

For what it's worth, I don't think you're a misogynist.

I will reply to that after I rest. I've been awake for over 25 hours and won't be sleeping for another 5 or 6, then playing soccer. So that will be tomorrow, at some point i.e. probably 24 hours from now.

All I really care about replying to for now is the most important thing you said in that post - that your gran is dying. I'm really sorry to hear that :( I've been in the same position, and I hope she's at least comfortable to some extent. You shouldn't be alone right now.

I appreciate that. We weren't close, so it's more family upheaval and dealing with the estranged, and all that goes with that...than anything else.

But I do appreciate the sentiment. Thank you.