Is it true that there are more Pagan women than men?

[Willow]

Re: Is it true that there are more Pagan women than men?

It may also be that women tend to be more public about this kind of thing, or possibly they are more likely to be "joiners" than men. In that case, there would be a relatively silent group of male pagans, somewhere out there, where you'll never find them...

I'm not saying that either of these are true, just that they are variables which might have a bearing on the matter.

This basically sums up my thoughts on the matter. How do you prove there are more women than men in any group? A voluntary census of everyone. How can you prove it's accurate? It's voluntary, and many people will lie about their beliefs (or ethnicity or whatever) if they feel it's not anyone else's business or they don't want to be singled out for whatever reason. Forums really aren't a good indicator either, as different people are brought to different communities (and visuals, and options, etc...) for different reasons.

[SPhoenix]

Re: Is it true that there are more Pagan women than men?

I think the large prevalence of women on 'pagan' boards may have a lot more to do with how much we tend to love to talk!

Men as a generalized population don't like to talk. I mean, even when they're sad or upset and they're together, they tend to have conversations that go like this:

Guy 1, 45 minutes into a movie: I hate Rachel. I can't believe she cheated on me.
Guy 2: Grunt
Guy 3: Yeah, she's a real b****
Guy 1, after the movie: Well, I'm going home
Guy 2: Don't let her get to you, man. She ain't worth it
Guy 3: Grunt
Guy 1: Thanks for your support guys
Guy 2: Get out already, girlieman
Guy 3: Grunt


LOL, Okay, that's an exaggeration meant to be fun and teasing (in a loving way). But seriously, men just aren't "talkers" as a general populace the way that women are. I suspect that has a lot more to do with it than honest numbers of "pagans" of either gender.

[Wednesday]

Re: Is it true that there are more Pagan women than men?

I've found that there are a lot more males in heathenry. It's almost as if heathenry is the male equivalent of paganism and I'm actually quite interested in discovering how the more structured and social basis of heathenry appeals to men and how the wilder and more feral basis of paganism (read: wiccaesque) appeals to women on a gender instictive level. (Not to ignore nonbinary gender identifications, because obviously both heathenry and paganism have a healthy mix of gender.)

[thalassa]

Re: Is it true that there are more Pagan women than men?

Its also been my experience that males outnumber females in Druidry as well, and (from what I have observed online, since I don't know many IRL) in Roman reconstructionism.

[callmeclemens]

Re: Is it true that there are more Pagan women than men?

I've attended now Three "Pagan" festivals, and have found the majority was largely female. I've thought about this a little bit and considered that maybe "mainstream" Paganism and Wicca tends to be more feminine in it's expression and approach. The art, dancing, rituals. Though I have seen men as a majority when it comes to heathrney and Norse Religion. I assumed that was because a lot of those call for a greater masculine approach.

[Yazichestvo]

Re: Is it true that there are more Pagan women than men?

I think this is especially true of Wicca. The pagan group at my university was predominantly Wiccan, and yet the only straight male pagans were non-wiccan (One Asatruar, one Druid, and myself.) I think Wicca has a message that is inspiring and empowering to women, as well as a mysticism that many find appealing. A lot of the more culture-based and polytheistic traditions tend to have a greater appeal toward men. Possibly this is because they still have some of the old-fashioned patriarchal/ warrior culture mindset. Or at least many people unconsciously make that association. So perhaps when men are drawn to paganism, it's often for different reasons. Of course, if you look at historical paganism, they had their woman-dominated cults as well, so perhaps this is natural.

[Lennaboef]

Re: Is it true that there are more Pagan women than men?

That's probably in part to do with the circles you're moving in, the whole gaming community is dominated by a very strong, militantly atheistic outlook, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone openly admitting and discussing spiritual beliefs there. At least that's been my experience. A lot of late teens - early 30's men who had shitty childhood experiences with religion and sought refuge in science and logic.

You may have a good point there. but the few girls I know are gamers and roleplayers too. can you explain why they are religious, when the only difference between them and my other friends is the gender?

[Aeran]

Re: Is it true that there are more Pagan women than men?

You may have a good point there. but the few girls I know are gamers and roleplayers too. can you explain why they are religious, when the only difference between them and my other friends is the gender?

Nope, it's an interesting question though. The only thing that comes to mind is that militant atheism is very heavily male, and that aspergers/high functioning autism type personality traits, which turn up more in men and are common in the gaming community, have been tentatively correlated with a strongly atheistic worldview.

[Bjorn]

Re: Is it true that there are more Pagan women than men?

I notice that certain pantheons seem to attract more of a particular gender, at least in my experience.

Heathenism/Odinism/Norse: mostly fellows
Wiccan/Witchcraft: mostly ladies
Kemetic: mostly ladies
Roman/Greek Reconstruction: even

I think a lot of it has to do with how the pantheons themselves view the sexes: women were revered in Egypt so Kemeticism can appeal to them/warriors were revered in Heathenism so it might appeal more to men.

Obvious oversimplification, but whatever. XP

[Aeran]

Re: Is it true that there are more Pagan women than men?

You actually make a good point about kemetic, I never thought about it before, but now that I do I realize I've never spoken to any men who describe themselves as kemetic pagans. The closest were Thelemites or members of similar groups which incorporated a lot of egyptian cosmology.

[Loki]

Re: Is it true that there are more Pagan women than men?

I think you've got is spot on Bjorn!

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Is it true that there are more Pagan women than men?

I'm surprised that I didn't see anyone mention the reclaimest movement , which is often cited as Wiccan, which goes with Starhawk and the Spiral Dance or even Z Buddapest or other Dianic type groups. The fact a lot of the Pagan development of the 70's was driven by the feminist movement where the 60's had been driven by the hippie / enlightenment movement. Even today The Spiral Dance is a often cited or recommended book for starters to read. I think that those who follow more of a folkish pathway or Pow Wow practices also tend to be more female dominated and clumped in with the pagan umbrella though they may not consider themselves to be pagans.

From my experience those who claim a Heathen calling have mostly been males while those who claim a Pagan calling have mostly been females. The push to separate Heathen from Pagan (especially Wicca and Neo-Wicca) was a major factor I think in identifying Paganism as mostly female. Afro-Carribbean Diaspora religions seemed to be mostly female though a large percentage of males are recognized. One other factor I used to hear was the eclectic aspect indicated a cherry picking approach which tended to alienate males who were more driven by logical and structured approaches.

While I have no hard evidence from my years in the military I saw many females who were INFP (Introvert / extrovert - Intuitive - Feeling - Persceptual) while many of the males I knew were more ISTJ (Introvert / Extrovert - Sensing - Thinking - Judgemental) under the Myers - Briggs personality profiles.

[Shortstuff]

Re: Is it true that there are more Pagan women than men?

Seems pretty balanced from my experiences in the real world. On forums there seem to be more women yes, but is that just because we talk more?

[Claude]

Re: Is it true that there are more Pagan women than men?

Since the majority of Christian churches today are very liberal when it comes to gender roles I don't think patriarchal vs matriarchal really matters. I've lived in six states and three small towns and I've never been to a church without a woman preacher. Even the most gay bashing racist churches I've been to have included women in prominent positions.

I think women care more about spirituality (and other things) than men do. Once again this is just from my experiences but I've met a disproportionate number of spiritually lazy men than women.

I think the feminist movement in the 60's and the introduction of Wicca to the US happening at about the same time is a big part. That's why things like Dianic Wicca sprang up instead of Herculean Wicca (not real). Now fast forward 50 years later and there still isn't a male Wiccan tradition. Once again I blame men's lack of caring.

An easier thing to explain is why pagan faiths attract so many LGBTs. Unlike women the majority of Christian churches still bash LGBTs and condemn them to Hell. Pagan faiths typically don't. I have to say typically because I've met a few interesting Wiccans Hellenes and Asatruars who have some interesting views on gay rights and gay spirituality.

[Phoenix LeFae]

Re: Is it true that there are more Pagan women than men?

I'm surprised that I didn't see anyone mention the reclaimest movement , which is often cited as Wiccan, which goes with Starhawk and the Spiral Dance or even Z Buddapest or other Dianic type groups.

Just to clarify, the tradition that Starhawk helped to create is called Reclaiming and it is not considered a Wiccan tradition, but rather a Witchcraft tradition and it is most definitely not a Dianic group. In fact, Reclaiming is highly involved with the transgender conversation and movement within the larger Pagan community. Feminist yes, but you can be a feminist and still work magic with people of all genders. Feminist doesn't mean Dianic.