Girls and flying -- an interesting experience with the Kiwi

It's not playing games that puts girls off ... it's the type of game.
Girls as a group don't like violent games, first-person shooters, and
games with all sorts of high-speed movement. They are just as
intrigued as anyone by intellectual games, games that involve people,
and so on.

While I believe this is true, video game makers have spent years and
billions trying to figure out why girls make up something less than 10%
of the total video game market. Interestingly, this figure is pretty
close to the percentage of *real* pilots.

There's either a social stigma for girls, or they are just wired
differently -- but I'm glad the Kiwi seems to have crossed that line,
at least with early teenaged girls.

It would be interesting to gather this same group of girls in five
years, just to watch the dynamics as they fly the Kiwi Version 5.0, and
see if their enthusiasm have changed with age.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
It's not playing games that puts girls off ... it's the type of game.
Girls as a group don't like violent games, first-person shooters, and
games with all sorts of high-speed movement. They are just as
intrigued as anyone by intellectual games, games that involve people,
and so on.

While I believe this is true, video game makers have spent years and
billions trying to figure out why girls make up something less than 10%
of the total video game market. Interestingly, this figure is pretty
close to the percentage of *real* pilots.

There's either a social stigma for girls, or they are just wired
differently -- but I'm glad the Kiwi seems to have crossed that line,
at least with early teenaged girls.

It would be interesting to gather this same group of girls in five
years, just to watch the dynamics as they fly the Kiwi Version 5.0, and
see if their enthusiasm have changed with age.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

..................

Well many of my male friends like to have a go at FS, but I'm yet to find
any female friend that is interested in FS. Most tell me it is "too
boring". But most of these females will always have a go a car racing! And
love crashing!

"The Old Bloke" wrote in message
...

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
It's not playing games that puts girls off ... it's the type of game.
Girls as a group don't like violent games, first-person shooters, and
games with all sorts of high-speed movement. They are just as
intrigued as anyone by intellectual games, games that involve people,
and so on.

While I believe this is true, video game makers have spent years and
billions trying to figure out why girls make up something less than 10%
of the total video game market. Interestingly, this figure is pretty
close to the percentage of *real* pilots.

There's either a social stigma for girls, or they are just wired
differently -- but I'm glad the Kiwi seems to have crossed that line,
at least with early teenaged girls.

It would be interesting to gather this same group of girls in five
years, just to watch the dynamics as they fly the Kiwi Version 5.0, and
see if their enthusiasm have changed with age.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

.................

Well many of my male friends like to have a go at FS, but I'm yet to find
any female friend that is interested in FS. Most tell me it is "too
boring". But most of these females will always have a go a car racing!
And
love crashing!


They sound like an entertaining group. But there's no way I'd with them!

Peter

"Peter Dohm" wrote in message
news:Tayhh.279$_X.206@bigfe9...

"The Old Bloke" wrote in message
...

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
It's not playing games that puts girls off ... it's the type of game.
Girls as a group don't like violent games, first-person shooters, and
games with all sorts of high-speed movement. They are just as
intrigued as anyone by intellectual games, games that involve people,
and so on.

While I believe this is true, video game makers have spent years and
billions trying to figure out why girls make up something less than
10%
of the total video game market. Interestingly, this figure is pretty
close to the percentage of *real* pilots.

There's either a social stigma for girls, or they are just wired
differently -- but I'm glad the Kiwi seems to have crossed that line,
at least with early teenaged girls.

It would be interesting to gather this same group of girls in five
years, just to watch the dynamics as they fly the Kiwi Version 5.0,
and
see if their enthusiasm have changed with age.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

.................

Well many of my male friends like to have a go at FS, but I'm yet to
find
any female friend that is interested in FS. Most tell me it is "too
boring". But most of these females will always have a go a car racing!
And
love crashing!


They sound like an entertaining group. But there's no way I'd with them!

Peter


There's nothing quite like ruining a quick remark....

That was supposed to read: "There's no way I'd ride with them!"

Peter

The Old Bloke writes:

Well many of my male friends like to have a go at FS, but I'm yet to find
any female friend that is interested in FS. Most tell me it is "too
boring". But most of these females will always have a go a car racing! And
love crashing!

Maybe they like car racing because they've actually driven a car,
whereas they don't like flying because they have no familiarity with
piloting. To some extent you have to be able to relate to an activity
before you can enjoy it in simulation. The more accurate the
simulation, the more true I think this becomes.

I know a couple of women who really enjoy car racing games. I met one
who enjoyed Tomb Raider not long ago, which surprised me a bit more.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

There's either a social stigma for girls, or they are just wired
differently -- but I'm glad the Kiwi seems to have crossed that line,
at least with early teenaged girls.

I wonder if they would have been as interested had it been a mixed sex
party.

Jose
--
"There are 3 secrets to the perfect landing. Unfortunately, nobody knows
what they are." - (mike).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Jose writes:

I wonder if they would have been as interested had it been a mixed sex
party.

If they are younger than puberty, I'd say yes, although they might
have been much less likely to admit it. If they are past puberty,
they definitely would have been less interested, as the mating
instinct (in both sexes present) would tend to override many other
considerations.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

I wonder if they would have been as interested had it been a mixed sex
party.

There were two boys in the group.

They were into it, too -- but that's not surprising.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck writes:

While I believe this is true, video game makers have spent years and
billions trying to figure out why girls make up something less than 10%
of the total video game market.

They are probably 10% of the market because they are less than 10% of
the game designers and developers. Boys write games that are
interesting to boys.

There are spectacular exceptions, such as The Sims (which is also
among the best-selling video games overall, even though it's still
only a tiny fraction of the market).

Interestingly, this figure is pretty close to the percentage
of *real* pilots.

Piloting also seems to be something that appeals to mainly boys.
Operating machines and vehicles always seems to appeal to boys more
than girls.

There's either a social stigma for girls, or they are just wired
differently -- but I'm glad the Kiwi seems to have crossed that line,
at least with early teenaged girls.

They are wired differently, as a group. However, individual
variations in personality are much larger than the wired-in
differences between the sexes, which means that, while it's always
true that large groups of girls and boys will show the same
preferences, you cannot depend on this to predict the preferences of
an individual boy or girl. Thus, there are always a few girls who are
just as enthusiastic about flight as any boy--but they always
represent a minority of girls overall.

Early teenaged girls are awash in testosterone, which can slightly
alter their behavior. Girls younger than puberty are not yet worried
about finding partners, which can also alter their preferences.
However, this is just speculation. I don't know why early teenaged
girls would enjoy simulation, but as long as it's true, perhaps it's
best not to ask any questions.

One does wonder how many of them might feel inspired to actually
pursue flight in real aircraft, though.

It would be interesting to gather this same group of girls in five
years, just to watch the dynamics as they fly the Kiwi Version 5.0, and
see if their enthusiasm have changed with age.

It probably will have changed. My guess is that they will be less
interested, but time will tell.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

"Jay Honeck" wrote:
While I believe this is true, video game makers have spent years and
billions trying to figure out why girls make up something less than 10%
of the total video game market.

Um, according to the Entertainment Software Association, your 10% number is
way off:

"Thirty-eight percent of all game players are women."

From: http://www.theesa.com/facts/top_10_facts.php