Wired: Women In Magic

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Wired: Women In Magic

Postby P.T.Widdle » February 27th, 2015, 10:59 am


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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby Brad Henderson » February 27th, 2015, 4:20 pm

that's certainly a theory.

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby Aaron Sterling » February 27th, 2015, 5:41 pm

On the topic of women in magic:

In 2014, I attended several magic conventions with a woman who left home at the age of 16 to become a professional variety artist, and who now owns a theatrical production company that specializes in circus and magic. Prior to this, we both had stayed outside the magic convention circuit for many years.

At these conventions, about eleventy billion people asked if they could work with her. (We had to have an official meeting about this, and we decided that we had to "be Switzerland," owned by nobody, and helping everybody.) I doubt she would have gotten that level of attention if she were a guy. Some of the people who offered were also romantically interested, but I think most people saw business potential in a woman who hadn't just opened a magic book for the first time. Right or wrong, a lot of people were thinking: female performer = $$$.

My perspective about all that is that it's a fragile sort of attention, unless there are deep fundamentals involved as well. Lots of "talented girls" can be famous for 15 minutes. Staying power requires chops. The women who take the 7 Veils of Mystery seriously will do a lot better than the ones who don't.

In Dec 2014, I mentioned an interesting historical fact to my friend, and she asked me how I knew that. I said that I had just joined the Genii Forum, and people posted a lot of history. She said she had been on the Magic Cafe, and the private messages got really gross really fast, so she left. That's something the mods here might want to consider. I've never seen a woman post here, and I am certain my friend never will unless it's possible to create a profile with PMs disabled. (That's a strength of Twitter btw: not possible to PM unless you're both following each other.)

We've both read the Wired article, but we haven't discussed it yet, so I'll just say that I'm glad it appeared.

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby Bill Mullins » February 27th, 2015, 6:14 pm

Aaron Sterling wrote: I've never seen a woman post here


Even accounting for the fact that there are many more men than women in magic, women are scarce here. There is certainly something about the internet (and trolls, and anonymity, and pervs, etc.) that keeps women off magic forums.

Aside from a few random people who join, post once or twice and leave, the only "regular" participants here that are ladies are Lisa Cousins and Julie Eng (at least, that I can think of offhand -- probably more, and someone else will name them or they will name themselves and embarrass me). And neither of them are particularly active (which is unfortunate, as they both would be a welcome addition to any serious conversation about magic).

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby Richard Kaufman » February 27th, 2015, 6:36 pm

You can turn off PMs if you like.
Everyone is welcome.
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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby P.T.Widdle » February 27th, 2015, 8:25 pm

And then there's this:

http://www.marvinsmagic.com/mizz_magic_C152.html

If any woman happens upon this thread, I ask you, does this magic set help or hinder?

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby I.M. Magician » February 27th, 2015, 8:56 pm

Tenyo released several really adorable versions of some of their classics which were geared towards little girls. I believe they were only available in the Disneyland in Japan. Perhaps Marvin's Magic borrowed their idea.

How can there be anything wrong with that? It just may create an interest in girls to make magic their hobby. Some of them may stay with it and become magicians. Sounds great to me!

By the way, about a million years ago, I worked at a magic shop and I don' t remember ever seeing even one female ever come in to buy any magic. Guys sometimes brought their girlfriends or wives but that was it. So to me, things have changed considerably over the years.

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby Richard Kaufman » February 27th, 2015, 9:21 pm

Tenyo did a Trick-of-the-Month Club for women through the online retailer Felissimo in Japan. They molded a bunch of their existing line in pink or purple and put them in small drawstring bags. I have no idea if it was a success or not, but I'm happy to have a set!
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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby P.T.Widdle » February 27th, 2015, 10:17 pm

I.M. Magician wrote: How can there be anything wrong with that?


It may surprise you that there are people who do believe there is indeed something wrong with perpetuating the stereotype that pink and purple means it's for girls. Lego Friends is another example. Used to be Legos just meant Legos. Look at their old ads.

Making something pink seems like a lazy and insulting way to entice girls to magic. A low bar. Can't we do any better?

-------

This article reminded me of what Ricky Jay recently said (in the thread about his American Masters premiere), when asked why there weren't more women in magic. He mentioned that despite being very good with cards, his wife dropped performing magic because she didn't enjoy fooling people. Can that sentiment be generalized to some extent for that sex?

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby I.M. Magician » February 27th, 2015, 10:27 pm

I still say that there is nothing wrong with it. It's a form of fashion. Males tend to like certain things and the same goes for women. Those colors appeal more to females. You don't have to believe me. Ask a fashion designer.

Tenyo didn't market that line as "for females only". Further, anyone could buy that line.

What's wrong with designing something especially for males or females anyway?

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby Bill Mullins » February 27th, 2015, 10:56 pm

P.T.Widdle wrote: It may surprise you that there are people who do believe there is indeed something wrong with perpetuating the stereotype that pink and purple means it's for girls. . . .

Making something pink seems like a lazy and insulting way to entice girls to magic.


It may seem lazy and insulting, but have you ever wandered the toy section at a Target
Image or Walmart?
Image Hasbro, Mattel, Playmobil and others sell hundreds of millions of dollars of pink toys to girls. It isn't just a stereotype -- it works.

Girls like pink stuff and boys don't.

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby P.T.Widdle » February 28th, 2015, 9:08 am

I.M. Magician wrote:Those colors appeal more to females.

Bill Mullins wrote: Girls like pink stuff and boys don't.


Any science to back that up? Or are you going to cite marketing as evidence of those extraordinary claims?

"gender was primarily learned through social and environmental cues."
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-cult ... 97/?no-ist

Pink vs. Blue Gender Myth
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/2014111 ... ender-myth

"IT ACTUALLY WASN’T UNTIL THE 1940S THAT THE COLORS BECAME SET IN STONE."
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1672751/how ... r-specific

http://www.npr.org/2014/04/01/297159948 ... -always-so
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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby Bill Mullins » February 28th, 2015, 10:05 am

P.T.Widdle wrote:
I.M. Magician wrote:Those colors appeal more to females.

Bill Mullins wrote: Girls like pink stuff and boys don't.


Any science to back that up? Or are you going to cite marketing as evidence of those extraordinary claims?


From the fact that the big toy companies spend billions on marketing pink toys to girls, I infer that they have data to back it up. Or do you think that they are wasting their money?

I just asked my 8 yr old son: "Do you like pink toys?" He said: "NO! They are for girls."

The six-year old girl who lives across the street wears pink cowboy boots every time she comes out to play.

Maybe the pink = girls is a artificial construct that could just have easily been pink = orange if society worked that way. But it doesn't. If you are a toy company trying to convince girls to buy magic sets as well (or more realistically, trying to convince the parents of girls to buy magic sets for them), coloring them pink is a reasonable thing to do, and an efficient way to signal to your customer base what you are doing.

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby P.T.Widdle » February 28th, 2015, 10:24 am

Bill Mullins wrote:
From the fact that the big toy companies spend billions on marketing pink toys to girls, I infer that they have data to back it up.


Data or science?

Refer to the many links I supplied in my previous post to see how the "Pink Is For Girls" myth developed through marketing, not evolution.

Now, if you think that it's OK for marketing executives to decide what color girls should like, then that's your preference. Just don't call it science.
I have an 8 year-old son as well. And he also believes pink is for girls. But I'm not stupid enough to believe that that's an evolutionary preference rather than a manufactured social one developed from billions of dollars worth of marketing efforts.

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby I.M. Magician » February 28th, 2015, 10:49 am

Why would companies care what color they make their products for children? Because they want children to want them. Period. I am sure it's not a conspiracy by companies to get boys and girls to like what they want them to like.

History dictates that girls usually like pink and boys usually like blue and that's OK. What's the big deal?

Not to change the subject but would somebody please go to the link for the FSH Magic Wagon The Four Elements and buy it! It's not pink or blue but a beautiful teak wood color and includes four chips in blue, red, green, and yellow. No pink! Thank you... :)

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby Brad Henderson » February 28th, 2015, 10:49 am

girls love magic and learning it - if that magic is intelligent and speaks to more than just tricking someone.

I've taught magic to tens of thousands of kids for over 25 years. My classes are as popular if not more popular with girls as they are boys.

it's not about appealing to colors. It's about appealing to their intelligence and transcending mere 'fooling'.
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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby mrgoat » February 28th, 2015, 10:50 am

I.M. Magician wrote:Tenyo released several really adorable versions of some of their classics which were geared towards little girls. I believe they were only available in the Disneyland in Japan. Perhaps Marvin's Magic borrowed their idea.

How can there be anything wrong with that? I


It's the same 'wrong' as making 'little miss' tool sets, or anything else generally associated with males.

Women should not and do not need to have 'male' things marketed at them by making them pink and sparkly. It is patronising and inherently sexist.

--

"Why it Matters

Why does gender-stereotyped toy marketing matter?

Kids should decide for themselves what they think is fun. Why put these limits on play?
Play matters. Children need a wide range of play to develop different skills.
Marketing matters. Directing consumers in this way is restricting children’s play.
The real world has moved on. These gender stereotypes are tired and out of date.
It’s easy for retailers to make a positive difference, and they should benefit too.

Play matters


Play is crucial to how children develop and learn about the world. In education it’s recognised that children need access to a range of toys and play experiences. Toys focused on action, construction and technology hone spatial skills, foster problem solving and encourage children to be active. Toys focused on role play and small-scale theatre allow them to practise social skills. Arts & crafts are good for fine motor skills and perseverance. Read more about toys and learning.

Boys and girls need the chance to develop in all these areas, but many stores divide toys into separate boys’ and girls’ sections. Action construction and technology toys are predominantly marketed to boys while social role play and arts and crafts toys are predominantly marketed to girls. Both boys and girls miss out this way.

Marketing matters

How toys are labelled and displayed affects consumers’ buying habits. Many people feel uncomfortable buying a boy a pink toy or a girl a toy labelled as ‘for boys’.

Other buyers may simply be unaware of the restricted choices they are offered. They may not notice that science kits and construction toys are missing from the “girls” section, or art & crafts and kitchen toys from the “boys”. If they’re never offered the chance, a child may never find out if they enjoy a certain toy or style of play.

And children are taking in these messages about what girls and boys are ‘supposed to like’ They are looking for patterns and social rules – they understand the gender rule ‘This is for boys and that is for girls,’ in the same way as other sorts of social rules, like ‘Don’t hit”. These rigid boundaries turn children away from their true preferences, and provide a fertile ground for bullying.

Stereotypes

Children don’t pop out of the womb with expectations about their future careers, or beliefs about what their work is worth, but the stereotypes we see in toy marketing connect with the inequalities we see in adult life. By late primary age, research by Welsh organisation Chwarae Teg shows that children already have very clear ideas about the jobs that are suitable for boys and girls; ideas that are very hard to shake later on.

Themes of glamour and beauty in toys and playthings directed at even the youngest girls tips over into a worrying emphasis on outward appearance. Stereotyped attitudes about boys are equally harmful. The constant assumption reinforced in toy advertising and packaging that boys are inevitably rough, dirty, rowdy, interested only in action and violence tells calmer, more sensitive or more creative boys that they’re getting this whole ‘boy’ thing a bit wrong, and feeds low expectations of boys that undermine their performance at school.


It’s easy for retailers to make a positive difference, and they should benefit too

We are not asking retailers to change the toys they sell, but to organise toys by theme and function rather than gender. There’s no need for ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ aisles: take down the pink and blue signs in stores and on packaging, and instead let toys be toys. Is a doll really harder to find marked ‘dolls’?

It’s an easy change to make. See our before and after gallery to see how stores have changed, and our good practice gallery for examples of toy store layout and signage.

It’s a win-win: we’re talking about retailers offering consumers more, not less.

Find out more about why gender marketing of toys matters from our recommended reading list."

http://www.lettoysbetoys.org.uk/why-it-matters/

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby mrgoat » February 28th, 2015, 10:52 am

"I.M. Magician"
History dictates that girls usually like pink and boys usually like blue and that's OK. What's the big deal?


No it doesn't. History dictates that companies market stuff to boys using blue and girls using pink.

However, if you have some citations to your suggestion that history dictates that girls like pink, I'd love to read it.

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby I.M. Magician » February 28th, 2015, 10:58 am

Why do companies do that? Are those colors less expensive to use?

Do you really think that toy companies are pushing certain colors on children?

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby Richard Kaufman » February 28th, 2015, 10:59 am

It really doesn't matter why companies market specific colors to each gender, only that they do, and only that it works.

The Tenyo line of tricks was indeed marketed directly to women.
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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby mrgoat » February 28th, 2015, 11:08 am

I.M. Magician wrote:Do you really think that toy companies are pushing certain colors on children?


Of course they are. Do you *really* think little girl babies are born liking pink?

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby mrgoat » February 28th, 2015, 11:10 am

Richard Kaufman wrote:It really doesn't matter why companies market specific colors to each gender, only that they do, and only that it works.

The Tenyo line of tricks was indeed marketed directly to women.


I disagree, I think it matters hugely. I really don't want my little girl to think there is such a thing as girls' toys, girls' colours, girls' clothes, girls' hobbies and especially girls' jobs.

I will do absolutely everything in my power to challenge gender stereotypes.

Right, going to read her "That's not my dinosaur", "That's not my truck" and "That's not my robot" now, all of which I got out of the library this morning for her.

Fortunately, many retailers are changing

http://www.lettoysbetoys.org.uk/retaile ... retailers/

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby Aaron Sterling » February 28th, 2015, 11:18 am

Bill Mullins wrote:
Aaron Sterling wrote:the only "regular" participants here that are ladies are Lisa Cousins and Julie Eng (at least, that I can think of offhand -- probably more, and someone else will name them or they will name themselves and embarrass me).

Sorry, I misspoke. I actually had seen that Julie Eng posted in the poker deal book thread. But she is wiser than I am, so I haven't seen her (or any other woman) post an opinion that it's possible to disagree with. That's really what I meant. That's what got my friend "in trouble" on the Magic Cafe, I believe -- attempting to give advice.

About a year ago, when I was new to the Magic Cafe, I saw a book recommendation thread that I thought was off point. I posted something like, "If you want to create material for the modern audience, it's a higher priority to read the Books of Wonder and Maskelyne and Devant than it is to read books by Harry Lorayne." Perhaps you'll agree or disagree. I thought it was an uncontroversial statement at the time. Whoops. My point in bringing it up here was that it produced pages of long, angry posts about how wrong I was. And, if I had been a woman posting with a female username, there's a high likelihood that "offers" of various nonconsensual activities would have appeared in my inbox. Instead, no one PMed me at all.

I see that as the biggest difference between men's and women's experience in online communities: the level of escalation when a disagreement happens. Some people react much more personally. The worst that might happen to me is that my feelings might get hurt. But no one has ever threatened me with violence, much less sexual violence, because they didn't like something I typed.

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby I.M. Magician » February 28th, 2015, 11:26 am

They used to say that there are three things one should not talk about because of people's strong opinions concerning those subjects: religion, politics, and sports.

Nowadays, you can add many other topics of discussion which one must tread lightly.

It's like the internet version of road rage.

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby P.T.Widdle » February 28th, 2015, 12:07 pm

Maybe a good first step to this particular forum being more inclusive to women would be to stop posting "Naked Magic" threads.

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby Tim Ellis » March 6th, 2015, 7:06 pm

I guess this "marketing ploy" has been very effective for many years. I'm 50+ now and almost all of the women I know LOVE buying almost anything in pink. They think it's great they can buy gardening tools, kitchen appliances, hardware products in their favourite colour now.

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby Tim Ellis » March 6th, 2015, 7:47 pm

One thing I do find fascinating is the way a woman (magician, entertainer, speaker, etc) will be judged immediately by appearance and clothing by both men and other women.

Take a look at this review of Lee Cohen's show where the reviewer begins with what she is wearing..

http://theclothesline.com.au/fairy-magic-show-fringe-review/


On the other hand, Simon Coronel is reviewed and, other than his rolled up sleeves, they don't discuss any aspect of his appearance whatsoever.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/entertainment/adelaide-fringe/adelaide-fringe-review-2015-glitches-in-reality/story-fninty47-1227247608421

http://theclothesline.com.au/glitches-in-reality-fringe-review/

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby P.T.Widdle » March 6th, 2015, 8:08 pm

Tim Ellis wrote:I guess this "marketing ploy" has been very effective for many years. I'm 50+ now and almost all of the women I know LOVE buying almost anything in pink. They think it's great they can buy gardening tools, kitchen appliances, hardware products in their favourite colour now.


That's funny. Almost all the women I know don't "LOVE" pink, including my wife.

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby Richard Kaufman » March 6th, 2015, 8:13 pm

The "pink" thing is mostly aimed at girls.
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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby P.T.Widdle » March 6th, 2015, 8:36 pm

Richard Kaufman wrote:The "pink" thing is mostly aimed at girls.


True. Except for the NFL. My wife was horrified by the use of pink in their relatively recent marketing efforts to women. And she's also disturbed by the way pink has been co-opted for breast cancer awareness.

Tim Ellis wrote:One thing I do find fascinating is the way a woman (magician, entertainer, speaker, etc) will be judged immediately by appearance and clothing by both men and other women.


Or lack of clothing.

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby Brad Henderson » March 6th, 2015, 8:37 pm

and many of these 'girls' have grown weary of the stereotypes and are speaking out against them.

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby Tim Ellis » March 7th, 2015, 12:22 am

P.T.Widdle wrote:
Richard Kaufman wrote:The "pink" thing is mostly aimed at girls.


True. Except for the NFL. My wife was horrified by the use of pink in their relatively recent marketing efforts to women. And she's also disturbed by the way pink has been co-opted for breast cancer awareness.


"Pink is often used for breast cancer campaigns, but researchers at Erasmus University Rotterdam found that when women were shown adverts dominated by the colour pink, they were in fact less likely to think they’d contract breast cancer themselves or to donate money to a cancer charity. The authors don’t believe this was because they hated the colour pink, but because when they were reminded of their gender so overtly, the adverts felt so personally threatening that it set off denial mechanisms."

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20141117-the-pink-vs-blue-gender-myth

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby Tim Ellis » March 7th, 2015, 12:32 am

P.T.Widdle wrote:
Or lack of clothing.



That's quite a statement. Inferring that it's just women who try to get us to watch their magic by showing a bit of skin....

http://artsreview.com.au/the-naked-magicians-adelaide/


My point was that reviewers (and audiences) first assess a female performer based on appearance rather than skill.. which I think makes it much more difficult for a female magician to succeed even before she performs her first trick

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby P.T.Widdle » March 7th, 2015, 9:38 am

You're right Tim, it's not just (some) women who take off their clothes to get us to watch their magic, but those are the ones who get their videos posted in "More Naked Magic" threads.

--------

A NYT article about sexism in the video gaming industry appeared today: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/08/movie ... .html?_r=0

I'm not by any stretch implying that the field of magic contains the horrible harassment and sexism that the video game industry does, but the article made me wish there was a documentary or at least an in-depth article exploring the question of women in magic. If the latter were to appear in Genii, as a cover story, that would be a big step forward in my opinion, instead of leaving it to Wired to touch upon the subject.

The general tone I get from a thread like this is one of, "Eh, what are you gonna do?" or "Hey, we've got some pink magic sets, what else do you want?"

I think the subject deserves more thought, and action, from the leaders in the magic community.

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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby submariner » March 7th, 2015, 11:58 am

I have 6 year old triplets. ( Women typically respond "How wonderful." Men typically respond "I'm sorry for you." either verbally or by their expressions.) Two boys and one girl. I can tell you, at least based on my limited experience, that there are definite differences in what my girl likes versus what the boys like. To the greatest extent possible, my wife and I treated them all the same. Actually, the girl probably has more "boy stuff" than most girls and had to play more "boy games" than other girls. Nevertheless, she prefers quieter activities, dolls that don't fight, anything with glitter, likes pink, and is very aware of whether her clothes match. As far as I am concerned, my experience with triplets has convinced me that there is an inherent genetic difference in certain preferences between the sexes.

Now, you can say that this is because we treated them differently and caused these differences. All I can say in response is that we attempted to treat both the boys and the girl the same and allow them to make their own choices. Although my experience is limited to only my case, my personal experience with triplets has convinced me of the inherent differences between boys and girls with respect preferences. Undoubtedly society magnifies and exploits those differences but I think the differences in preference are already present.

My boys are definitely more interested in magic and fooling people than my girl is. Of course, the boys also find great joy in annoying people in order to be the center of attention while my girl does not. Whether than will continue to be the case remains to be seen.
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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby Aaron Sterling » March 7th, 2015, 12:01 pm

Tim Ellis wrote:My point was that reviewers (and audiences) first assess a female performer based on appearance rather than skill.. which I think makes it much more difficult for a female magician to succeed even before she performs her first trick

While I agree with you, I think a lot of that is due to a lack of character definition. You may remember that Chris Kenner clarified his "treadmill" comment by saying, more or less, "If you want to be famous you either need a unique character (like Penn Jillette) or you need to lose weight."

I'd agree that women are more expected to adhere to a visual stereotype than men are. Even so, there are outliers like Meryl Streep who have long showbiz careers because of their strength at playing memorable characters.

I've seen older, heavier women excel at children's performance -- things like storytelling and puppeteering -- in part because they physically conform to the character of a fairy godmother, or a magical granny. How well those performers do financially, I don't know, but I find their entertainment skills impressive.

Semi-related: it seems appropriate to mention on this forum that if you're interested in this topic, and going to the Genii convention, I recommend Rob Zabrecky's creativity workshop. At least when I took it, he emphasized character definition.

P.T.Widdle
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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby P.T.Widdle » March 7th, 2015, 1:53 pm

submariner wrote: My boys are definitely more interested in magic and fooling people than my girl is.


Have you tried giving her a pink magic set?

submariner wrote: As far as I am concerned, my experience with triplets has convinced me that there is an inherent genetic difference in certain preferences between the sexes.


And based on this highly scientific sampling, are you inferring that boys like magic and girls don't? Or that girls like pink and boys don't, or both?

submariner
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Joined: October 5th, 2013, 10:29 pm
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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby submariner » March 7th, 2015, 5:51 pm

The only conclusion I draw from my personal experience is that there is some inherent difference in what boys prefer vs. what girls prefer. I can't generalize it to all girls like pink or all boys like magic. But, there is, at least in my family of triplets, a difference in preferences and behavior that follows traditional expectations of boy and girl behavior. I believe that these inherent differences are magnified by societal influences and, of course, exploited for marketing purposes.

The boys are more interested in magic right now as well as anything else that focuses attention on them. Perhaps, my girl will develop an interest in magic later. I have not tested it but I am sure, at this early age, my girl would be more interested in the "girl focused" magic props simply because of their look. Later, it may make no difference. And certainly, should she be interested in magic, gender would not play a role in her ultimate skill level.

I also think that role models are a huge factor as kids develop. Almost all role models, either real life or fictional, for magic are male and Houdini is pervasive. Very few are female. I think this has an impact as kids develop and engage in imaginary play. But this influence of role models is an issue in many areas in addition to magic.

In the end, I think all one can do is expose a child to a wide variety of activities and let them choose their interests.
Key Metric of a Successful Submarine Career - The number of dives and surfaces should always total to an even number.

P.T.Widdle
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Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby P.T.Widdle » March 7th, 2015, 7:56 pm

Submariner, your point of view is sensible, especially for a parent (like myself).

Moving on from the discussion of pink, I'd like to look at suggestions on ways magic could be introduced to girls beyond what's currently available. In addition to the Wired article, I'm thinking of this because I am currently hosting an in-school, once a week magic club for about a dozen ten-year olds, half of them girls, which is a first for this club.

Since many adult magicians (amateur and professional) claim they first got into magic after receiving a magic set, maybe we should look at that closer to see what may or may not appeal to girls (beyond it's color) in it's current form. I think one aspect that could be developed is a story element to some sets, not just a collection of tricks. There might of been some Harry Potter sets in that vein, I'm not sure, but that would be the idea. The Holographix set is also a step in that direction, including a female co-lead in the storyline.

By the way, the two best "card men" in my group are girls right now.

submariner
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Joined: October 5th, 2013, 10:29 pm
Favorite Magician: steve valentine

Re: Wired: Women In Magic

Postby submariner » March 7th, 2015, 8:26 pm

I think that getting the right theme with an appealing storyline is important. Its not just the color, its the whole package. For better or worse, in general, U.S. girls like fairies and unicorns (ponies). A magic set with that theme would attract young girls. Even better would be a tie into a television program, movie or book. I think it would be important that the tricks also integrate into a story that the child could tell. I think one of the failings of most magic sets is that it is a box with many non-related tricks so the child starts to think magic is just a presenting one trick after another with no presentation or theme. It becomes just a box of puzzles.

How do you think the promotion of poker as a televised sport has impacted the participation of women in card magic? Since it has opened the door to many women participating in poker, is there a trickle over into card magic?
Key Metric of a Successful Submarine Career - The number of dives and surfaces should always total to an even number.


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