Female psychonauts?

[The Traveler]

From my perspective, the Nexus has always been about radical openness: it’s for everyone, regardless of background, race, identity, or gender.

This indeed, I'm quite surprised to hear these words being used by @Pandora, again and again and again, while there has never been an example where this 'persistent hostility' has actually ever happened. Quite the opposite is the reality.

I'm mildly disappointed with this nonsense to say the least.


Kind regards,

The Traveler

 

[Nydex]

I agree that we have had certain problematic members in the past, and a few incidents have occurred where less than savory language was used in the heat of the moment, but to put the entirety of this community under that common denominator is unfair towards the vast majority of members who have been more than willing to contribute to the Nexus being a safe place for everyone, regardless of genetic makeup.

 

[The Traveler]

the Nexus being a safe place for everyone, regardless of genetic makeup.

We have had all sorts of 'genetic types' make up the mod team, never has been an issue, never will be an issue.

We do not care what reproductive organs a person has when it comes to this, even stronger: why would we ever need that?

What kind of absurd agenda would we have to put any priority on gender when it comes to how we treat people socially on this platform? It's just an insane idea when you look at the history of the DMT-Nexus and how we put so much effort into radical inclusion, as long as you respect our attitude you are welcome in this place.


Kind regards,

The Traveler

 

[The Traveler]

Look @Pandora, we know you can add great content, information and help. And yes, we know you can be grumpy at times, we always take that into account, that's just you, we love you as you are.

But please, when will you finally understand that when stupid people get into arguments they cannot win, they will eventually start name calling on every property you may or may not have, including you being a woman? Over the years, I've seen many idiots trying to be creative with their verbal attacks on other members, and I truly lost count on how many I've banned for these reasons alone.

Just understand that we love you the way you are, we take into account the quirks you may have, due to many valid reasons, though please stop framing the DMT-Nexus as some sort of place where patriarchy is the way we go, that's simply not true and you know it.


Kind regards,

The Traveler

 

[Jowday]

Just understand that we love you the way you are, we take into account the quirks you may have, due to many valid reasons, though please stop framing the DMT-Nexus as some sort of place where patriarchy is the way we go, that's simply not true and you know it.

I hope it's unambiguous that I'm pitching my two cents here in good faith, wishing to antagonise no one, and with due reticence considering I've only recently started actively participating on the Forum rather than lurking.

It is more often than not (both in online and offline communities) that affected parties are for obvious reasons more prone to noticing the systemic issues that befall them. I don't doubt that the admin/mod team here have the best intentions in making this a safe and inclusive community, but organisational philosophy is often foregone or lost in day-to-day realities, and so much more so in online spaces where anonymity unfortunately enables a lot of unpleasant behaviour. Reading Pandora's post, I get the impression she is simply drawing attention to how widespread misogynistic attitudes can rear their heads here much like anywhere else. Rebuking her comments in this way does not feel particularly receptive or conducive to a productive outcome, if not somewhat dismissive.

 

[The Traveler]

Rebuking her comments in this way does not feel particularly receptive or conducive to a productive outcome, if not somewhat dismissive.

Not to be dismissive here,

Though I think you have this view since you probably missed over more than a decade where this same person has thrown around that same accusation once in a while, each time without much merit, and we have discussed this privately and publicly ad nauseum with that person.

So over time, we tolerated it over and over and over and over and over again and again and again... just like this time. Or maybe you did see anything, and I mean ANYTHING, that points towards the staff of the DMT-Nexus being systematically patriarchal?

There comes a time when this nonsense will not be taken seriously anymore and where it's starting to damaging our reputation by mere repetition of the same falsehood, and that time of tolerance has just passed, enough is enough, there is no more patience to babysit this one out.

For you it might look like we are being dismissive, for us however, it's the so manyth time this bubbles up from that exact same person -for over more than a decade- and again I see NOTHING that proves their point, as usual...

Many posts and topics have been written about how people should behave, about our attitude, about how one should never discriminate or you're out forever, we enforce that almost brutally with a no-tolerance policy, we are one of those site where we have a VERY small gray area to move about, overstep it and you're banned, forever.


Kind regards,

The Traveler

 

[Panpsychic]

I am the main active woman here since 2009 off and on.

This place frequently becomes very hostile to women, so they leave. There are also glass ceilings that cannot be surmounted.

Its unfortunate that you feel like that and its not for anyone to dismiss or invalidate your experiences and observations which I am sure have some merit to them as you see it.

This place, like any corner of psychedelia and any community has got its issues yes be it closed mindedness, adherence to favoured views and prejudices of various forms which are most definitely a part. However given the lack of alternatives its fairly decent, and who else are you going to talk to DMT about aside from other users?

It is perhaps curious on the seeming disproportionate ratio of male to female on this site but that may be the nature of forums in general. In the actual real world women are very well represented at every level of the psychedelic enterprise as one would hope and expect which is the main important thing.

 

[TheGreenPhantom]

Browsing here often reminds me of college dorm gatherings and leaves me thinking: "Why is this a hotdog party? Where are all the girls?"

 

[ommani]

Browsing here often reminds me of college dorm gatherings and leaves me thinking: "Why is this a hotdog party? Where are all the girls?"

I think most of the “girls” are at shows, festivals, art openings, group ceremonies, ecstatic dances, breathwork/cacao type events, and other “transformational” style gatherings… not generally spending time on online forums, unfortunately, I don’t think…

 

[EmeraldAtomiser]

Any type of unbending outlook is bound to come up short, and it's easier than ever to reinforce any viewpoint you like.
I've not heard any form of 'news' in 2026, and guess what? The world isn't totally populated by a bunch of knuts, there are good hearts out there that are trying. I'm trying to be one of those.
Yeah, OK, there are a lot of knuts too, but it's a numbers game, innit.

 

[Nydex]

I feel like we have, for some reason, assumed that the female population of the Nexus is dramatically low, yet we don't really have a way of knowing. For all we know, the split might actually be much closer to 50:50 than we realize, and many of those potential female members might prefer to never disclose their gender preference exactly because of real-life experiences. Maybe not, though, and ommani is right that women prefer to spend their time in different ways than lurking around online forums.

 

[Jamie01]

I really doubt that it’s even close to a 50/50 split. It’s probly mostly guys. That doesn’t mean that this forum has ever promoted any kind of sexism. Traveler seems pretty damn fair in that respect and had even let female members crowd fund for support etc when that usually wouldn’t happen. To suggest that there has been some kind of underlying sexism honestly comes off sounding pretty damn ungrateful and also just a lie. At least show some appreciation.

 

[universecannon]

I think most of the “girls” are at shows, festivals, art openings, group ceremonies, ecstatic dances, breathwork/cacao type events, and other “transformational” style gatherings… not generally spending time on online forums, unfortunately, I don’t think…

I think this is a big part of it. I've spent time at psychedelic festivals and there is a lot of women there. Men are far more likely to spend time in online discussion forums generally, psychedelic or not (I think it was like 70% male vs 30% female)

 

[ommani]

I would love for there to be more women on this forum, and am open to the possibility that it’s not as few as I imagine.

 

[Voidmatrix]

If we think about it historically, some sense can be made as to why men are more likely to want to discuss things in a place like a forum.

In many cultures, gatherings of people for important discussions was often a male dominated past-time. I think about all of the various groups and organizations that are all men that are still prevalent today, such as certain philosophical groups, as well as groups like The Freemasons and all associated and similar groups. The discussion of things deemed important was seen as a male activity. That's not to say there weren't any female outliers. But the further back we go, the less women we see in certain "interest groups."

I think this also informs the difference of interaction in men vs women, and also informs what we value in our interactions. Some of what they value by virtue of these trends is likely not found here.

One love

 

[ommani]

If we think about it historically, some sense can be made as to why men are more likely to want to discuss things in a place like a forum.

In many cultures, gatherings of people for important discussions was often a male dominated past-time. I think about all of the various groups and organizations that are all men that are still prevalent today, such as certain philosophical groups, as well as groups like The Freemasons and all associated and similar groups. The discussion of things deemed important was seen as a male activity. That's not to say there weren't any female outliers. But the further back we go, the less women we see in certain "interest groups."

I think this also informs the difference of interaction in men vs women, and also informs what we value in our interactions. Some of what they value by virtue of these trends is likely not found here.

While I recognize the potential differences in terms of values, I think the exclusion of women from public forums in times past had a lot more to do with societal structures (namely, more overtly patriarchal societies), while the disproportionality on this forum, and others like it, has less to do with exclusion and hierarchy, and more to do with men being more predisposed to nerding out about stuff online - be it psychedelics, music, or traditionally nerdy stuff like Dungeons & Dragons, or whatever.

 

[Voidmatrix]

While I recognize the potential differences in terms of values, I think the exclusion of women from public forums in times past had a lot more to do with societal structures (namely, more overtly patriarchal societies), while the disproportionality on this forum, and others like it, has less to do with exclusion and hierarchy, and more to do with men being more predisposed to nerding out about stuff online - be it psychedelics, music, or traditionally nerdy stuff like Dungeons & Dragons, or whatever.

No doubt. What I am trying to highlight is the way in which these cultural expectations have woven themselves into the fabric of mind such that it perpetuates itself in many ways without anyone doing anything. There are communities and forums that women could now be a part of but the cultural tide has yet to wash enough of what may sway their interest their way to bring more women into certain types of interactions.

There are still cultural patterns we can see about just being on a computer and interacting here for long periods. The inception of complex computation was dominated by men, and while no one is trying to overtly or covertly disuade women from using computers, it's part of the cultural expectation in many minds that their interests as well as interactions that they find fulfilling are generally not found online.

That's not to say that many women don't go online either, but that also has cultural gender roles baked into it. Based on cultural pressures and conditioning, a lot of women likely frequent and interact on sites like Pintrest.

It's just part of the trend.

One love

 

[Jamie01]

It’s likely a mix of hard biology and cultural conditioning. Like almost everything else, it’s complicated.

 

[TransistorBass]

If we think about it historically, some sense can be made as to why men are more likely to want to discuss things in a place like a forum.

In many cultures, gatherings of people for important discussions was often a male dominated past-time. I think about all of the various groups and organizations that are all men that are still prevalent today, such as certain philosophical groups, as well as groups like The Freemasons and all associated and similar groups. The discussion of things deemed important was seen as a male activity. That's not to say there weren't any female outliers. But the further back we go, the less women we see in certain "interest groups."

I think this also informs the difference of interaction in men vs women, and also informs what we value in our interactions. Some of what they value by virtue of these trends is likely not found here.

One love

My Yoga classes are usually 2-3 men and 7-8+ women.
I was invited to The Freemasons once to give a talk, they were all lovely folks and the invite to join came straight after, I declined the offer politely not telling them that my main reasons were that it was ALL men and ALL white!

 

[ShadedSelf]

I always asume Im talking to a dude in this place, now Im curious how good of an asumption that is.

There was a female member a while back that did point out that we are quite "left brainded". The kind of responses we see in this thread is probably a good representation of that. Im not sure what pandora was pointing to exacly, but I would not be surprised if this is generally not an particularly welcoming place for women.