I am currently researching the possibility of a male only forum here on psychcentral, if you are interested, or not, please vote yay or nay

this is open to everyone to respond to but would like to see the responces of our male members, new and old

[nothemama8]

there are some things that relate to males only and I believe a male forum is necessary

[radio_flyer]

I think a male forum would be a great idea/

[Wants2Fly]

I'm a female, so I can't know, but if males want it, I certainly have no objection.

[jlove973]

IMHO-I agree with you Mellors. I think there may be some things that you(a man)feel you would prefer a male's advice on rather than a womens advice. There is nothing wrong with that at all!!

bump

[bipolar_bear]

I think an all male forum is a good idea. Go for it.

thanks bp, jlove, wants2, radio f, and nothe for your words of encouragement,

i am keeping the thread/poll open for a week to get has many replies has i can, good or bad

i am going to ask for it to be pinned so i dont have to chase it around the pages lol

[Sarah116]

Yep, that sounds like a great idea. There are some things guys want to talk with guys and Psych Central could use more organization of posts.

[bebop]

I voted yes!

[Greenleaves]

I think it would be discriminatory to have an all male or all female forum, so I voted No.

I don't think there are many differences between the sexes. Also, what if I don't wish to reveal my sex? We're all human here, no need to exclude anyone.

[drunksunflower]

How about a female only forum to balance it?

this site is predomanantly female with a approximate ratio of only 1 in 10 being a male, every month there are on average 40 new male members join and of them 2/3 rds leave without posting, as opposed to 200+ females joining the site per month so you could say you already have your female only forums

[bebop]

I think they guys need a place they feel they can share with other guys. I completely agree with mellors. men have a harder time communicating with as it is with us women and this is an outlet for them to share with other men. call it the male bonding place.

thanks greenleaves for you honesty and opinion, so far you are the only one that has had the bottle to vote no and give a reason why on the boards, for that i thank you

[Wants2Fly]

Mellors, you've made a good point using statistics. I voted yes bec. I didn't have any particular objection, but now I see the reasoning behind the request and the wisdom of it.

[Greenleaves]

I don't have a problem with a forum aimed towards males. We already have forums aimed towards those with depression, anxiety, etc. It the exclusion that bothers me.

I would have no objections to a forum called Male Issues for example, as long as it doesn't limit itself to males posting. I would imagine that there would be females who post in that forum to ask for a man's perspective etc.

you could and still can ask for a mans opinion in any forum, but show me a link to any forum on this site that does just that.

i can show you a link via pm of a woman asking for men not to reply to her thread yet i dont class that has discriminatory towards men, it is a womans issue, do you get what i am trying to say yet? we have men only issues also that only a man would be able to relate to, so therefor we need a men only forum to be able to discuss these issues.

[Monty_girl]

I think a male forum is an awsome idea !!!!!

There are some things that I as a woman can't identify with. I can add my thoughts, but I can't completely understand, were as another male could. I think that it would be extremely helpful with issues such as being an abuse survivor. I don't feel as though male survivors get as much support IRL as do women. Think having a male forum would be a great place for men to find support.

[lenjan]

I think you're headed down a very bad path here.

I know the thread you're talking about, and there is absolutely no reason a man couldn't do the same thing -- post in the subject line that he would prefer men only read the thread.

I'll support a men's forum if you also create one for women only, teens only, and people whose favorite color is red only. You see what I mean? It's endless and will create too much ill will and too much factionalization.

As usual, I'm in the minority here, and as usual, feel free to ignore me -- everybody else does. But you asked for opinions.

[Greenleaves]

I'm Chinese American/Canadian, would it be OK for there to be a Chinese people only forum? There are certain issues that only Chinese people can understand, but would it be OK?

I say it isn't OK.

Yes there are a lot of women here, but we don't exclude men anywhere. Why would it be OK to exclude women? What about people without mental illness? Should we exclude them as well because they "don't understand" our issues?

greenleaves, i believe that mellor's idea for a male only forum is perfect. there are many times in the health forum that the women will put something in the subject line to indicate "women only".......

i cannot imagine why this would bother you......

haven't seen you here in a very long time......pat

[radio_flyer]

a lil idea.. maybe you could have a men's support chat in one of the support rooms once or twice a week...that way the guys could get together and discuss "male" issues.. and then maybe nobody would be offended or feel left out... because it would be a chat just for the guys.. just a thought...

That way it would even be more private.. As you prob know women will be peeking in a forum just to see what you guys would be talking about. and some women may even add their two cents. u know how women are.. smile..And if you didn't want that... a chat room would be more private

Candy this entire website is predominantly female, my idea of creating a forum just for men is to try and keep the men that join he site by giving them someware to go for the support off another male, why is this so threatening to you?

Now you are trying to bring race and creed into the issue greenleaves? You have no valid argument, you are just repeating what candy said, badly. As for people without mental illnesses they come to this site daily to learn about mental illness that affects a friend or relative or are just curious and want to learn more, doesn’t that help us all in some way?

Radio flyer I get what your saying but why should we be restricted to what equates to a backroom with no way of saving or posting any of our responses for other male members to see, who cant make the chat for whatever reason, has you know you cant post what is said in chat on the boards, so it would be a futile limp wristed gesture to consider that has a option.

[Greenleaves]

There is no need to put me down. I thought you really appreciated my opinion, but apparently you just want to put me and my feelings and opinions down.

I want people without mental illness to feel free to post here. I don't get what you mean.

I just want everyone to feel like they are welcomed. EVERYONE. Maybe I'm idealistic. In my ideal world, no one would be excluded from anything.

I'm hurt. I feel upset.This is making me cry.

I need some hugs. Anyone?

I need some comforting words. I feel bad. Can someone make me feel better?