Opinion: Women can have hobbies, despite what men might say

As girls and women take their place in the world outside of the domestic sphere, they inevitably find hobbies that have historically had a male audience.

Women now comprise 53 percent of all comic book readers, 46 percent of Super Bowl watchers and 53 percent of digital music consumers.

And, as nearly every woman who expresses her interests in these hobbies will tell you, men aren’t always so thrilled.

Walking around with a Green Lantern shirt seems to be an open invitation for men to ask you to list all Green Lanterns in order by years of publication.

Having a SubPop sticker on your laptop apparently means that any guy can interrogate you on every band that has been on the label since its creation.

Heaven forbid you wear a Rams hat and are unable to recite Todd Gurley’s collegiate stats for any man who demands it.

This phenomenon of policing a group (here, women) to discourage their entrance into a community is called “gatekeeping.”

Originally a fairly complex communication theory, gatekeeping now can span different contexts, but it is most often used when men deny women access to previously male-dominated communities.

Gatekeeping is part of a lineage of keeping women out of larger communities. Society has taught women that they must be excluded from certain communities, that they don’t belong in certain rooms.

While women as a whole have made great progress in the past century, they’ve still had a harder time breaking through less obvious cultural walls.

When we talk about how it’s difficult for women to navigate historically male spaces, we often hear that women are being whiny or that they just need to “grow a pair.”

But when some men specifically target women and try to demean them about their knowledge of a community, women both feel that they can’t branch out in their hobbies and that they aren’t worthy of those communities.

But men don’t face those same questions and condescensions when they enter new communities.

And when men let other men enter their communities but not women, those communities stay male.

Of course not all men interested in sports or music or geek culture question women’s motivation, but those who cling to gender-specific exclusivity ruin the community for the rest.

And women aren’t the only ones who suffer; communities that exclude diversity never grow and never change.

Communities need larger audiences to survive and thrive, and women yearn for new outlets. Men who do try to keep out women from their communities should critically examine why they do, and those men who don’t should speak up for inclusivity.

The same argument could be made for typically all-female spaces. But some feminist groups, like the He for She campaign, have actively worked to include men in their collective efforts.

The reinforcement of stale gender roles should not keep people from pursuing their hobbies or passions. Everyone should be allowed to enjoy something without scrutiny.

It’s hard to beat a gatekeeper from the outside, so keep an eye out.