Believe our addictive hobby is primarily male dominated. The technical aspects seem to appeal more to men. Or is that in and of itself sexist. There are now a few knowledgeable and astute women reviewers. I am always intrigued by the comments off the few women who identify themselves by name on the Forum. One in particular is quite long winded. I'm sure this has nothing to do with her sex. Although he/she has a name which could be male or female. I always love it when my wife comes to look at the record sleeve of the vinyl playing and rely on her opinion of the fidelity. Not to mention desire and count on her approval of new purchases. But is she also addicted? I don't think so. Does that have anything to do with being a woman. I don't think so. Does she care about the fine nuances? She says not. I would love to hear from women and anyone on this. WAF? I care a lot what things look like. HAF?
Isnt is not a real word and DeKay are my my initials "sounded out - HOOKED ON PHONICS"...
However, we recently discovered that our rescue cat (from Monrovia, CA) who has lived with us for 5+ years speaks fluent French, so with this new info...
If it helps, I identify as a 24 year old Scarlett Johansson. Its a royal hassle. I'm on my third trip to the DMV. For some reason they just cannot get the photo to look right.
Charles Rodriguez audiophile cartoons from the 1970's were often themed around the WAF in one way or another. I imagine many of us can see ourselves in them. I own a pair of speakers (currently in storage) that no woman would accept!!
"WAF" is a well know international scale that defines the relationship between form and function. If an audio component functions at a high level and look really good in the home decor, it is deemed to have a high WAF. Most males who purchase audio equipment to be used in a common living space with no regard to decor, are typically single or divorced. Unlike Bigfoot, WAF is very real
Who really cares if WAF is sexist or not? There aren’t many complaints about this, so why Even bring it up. In our house, my wife has always accommodated my equipment in the living room, perhaps I am lucky. Over the years, I have had some Godawful ugly speakers in the living room and never a peep from her. At that time it was all about the “sound”, but now it is the sound and astethitcs.
In my circles, a "wife" is female. A "spouse" can be any gender, but attached by marriage. And "partner" is the most inclusive term.
As @testpilot says, many audiophiles are clueless when it comes to decor. I doubt that's only the male ones. Surely, letting enthusiasm for an interest blind one to other factors is a *human* characteristic.
The phenomenon is real. "PAF" is what I'll use from now on.
Its not necessary to violate any rules. All you have to do is trigger some special snowflake, SJW or Karen and boom, the mods race to see how fast they can take it down. Half the people here are NPC so pretty much anything qualifies.
WAF isn't sexist al long as the "W" isn't gender specific. If a partner doesn't like the look of a pair of speakers your hobby required to the degree that they gripe about 'em, it's utterly personal how you deal with that. Be kind or move out.
23k posts and poof, gone. Erased. Well, not quite. Beholdhttps://forum.audiogon.com/users/geoffkaitWill they now remove his whole posting history? If we can't mention his name that would be the next Stalinist, er I mean logical step.
It is not sexist. It does not make any claims about one sex being superior to another. The term does depend on there being more men in the audio purchasing world than women. If and when that ever changes, then it will still not be sexist, but it will be less relevant and possibly replaced with HAF. :)
glubson: "It is not speakers, it is you they have strong feelings about" I appreciate your perceptive comment. Although and more precisely, it is my CHOOSING of such speakers that is the concern. Thank you again. 😄
Off course it is sexist. Every difference between people can have a positive or negative connotation (all in the eye of the beholder). I like being a sexist between the sheets. 😜 But for audio... I don’t care and the stereo doesn’t care either.
It can be a good thing. My spouse has a better ear for harshness and she has a deeper understanding of value/cost. So WAF is a good thing in my opinion.
Is there a MAF/TAF/GAF/LAF factor in audio btw (to be inclusive)? Like a Male Acceptance Factor? (only accepting ugly equipment, it must have a macho look with a lot of blinking leds, it must be big, bold, and impressive etc...) Or are we just happy nerds that need to be convinced with a good technobabble story to appreciate something.
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