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This website is misogynistic. I have no doubt it is written, edited, administered and read exclusively by men, and men who likely don’t have girlfriends. These are not medieval times and we shouldn’t be having chivalrous jousts in knight armor, which is what the discourse on this website amounts to. No self-respecting girl in her right mind would spend more than two minutes on this site, if she happened to stumble across it by accident. We men need to wake up and realize the days of foot-binding and arranged marriages are behind us. It’s high time to welcome women into the intellectual fold, and that includes making them feel more at home in cyberspace.

To begin with, the aesthetic of this website is all wrong. There is nothing feminine or even remotely oviparous about the rigid, black, unyielding font in which all the articles and discussions are posted. With hardly an italic to be found and no attempt to include a cursive-inspired text, the immediate impression this site makes is “For Men Only: STAY AWAY GIRLS! UUUNGH.” And aside from the unoriginal graphics depicting typical male scenes that are most likely drawn by men, not even a hint of color is present anywhere in the website. What does it say to the girls when we won’t show some color?

Far be it that I suggest the visual presence of a symbol with which women would identify and even feel welcome, such as a thimble or basting brush, but perhaps the administrators of this site would be willing to compromise by depicting the image of a flower acceptable to both men and women, such as a chrysanthemum or blooming cactus, at the corner of the page? Such an epicene concession would hardly be the end of omninerd. Or, alternatively, instead of the sterile, inhospitable white that is currently to be found, why not adorn the background of omninerd.com with a bucolic nature scene? One of Thomas Kinkade’s pastoral farm settings immediately comes to mind, with ducks and sheep peacefully grazing in the foreground, and an old silo cloaked in a nature-made patina somewhere in the distance. Perhaps a quiet brook is trickling in the lower left corner while a young girl does the wash. A touch of artistry will go far in making the fairer sex feel comfortable on the Information Superhighway.

These points are cursory, however, to the main deterrent this website offers women: content delivery. Flowers and farms might keep a girl browsing for a few more minutes, but without a major change to the way in which information is expressed, Jane is likely to move on before joining in on the academic debate. Currently, the discussions are aggressive and rectilinear and just a little bit boring. Women can appreciate the philosophical content posted here, but they won’t extract the main ideas when the written conversations amount to so much digital shouting. Indeed, the raw aggression and defensiveness to be found throughout much of the site differs only slightly from animalistic marking of territory.

Women like their philosophy to be fun, and maybe even a little interactive. For example, instead of merely writing an article on religion, turn it into a quiz. An example quiz question follows:

"If you could start your own Church, would it be:"

1. sterile and serious
2. fun and frivolous
3. passionate
4. fire-and-brimstone
5. rockin’ to the Lord

After a succession of such questions, you then offer a philosophical analysis, such as “You are Calvinist,” or “You worship the Morning Star.” A great idea is to complement this analysis with a more fun hearted way of expressing the results, to be less tangible and rigid. Such a result could tell the participant what her favorite shape is, what color her aura is, or what kind of dog she would be, if she were a dog. You’d be surprised at how well women respond to this sort of thing.

Once word starts to get out, the female participation in omninerd.com will skyrocket. Here’s an example of how omninerd.com’s word-of-mouth might spread:

This is just an example of how a few small changes to the way in which content is delivered will open up omninerd.com to participation from both sexes.

I also offer the suggestion that you add to your content, if only slightly, a few “girls only” topics that might attract women who are Googling subjects of their interest. Including a “Recipe of the Day” section, or perhaps listing some of Heloise’s more helpful hints, or posting a new one of Erma Bombek’s hilarious social insights each day could go a long way in broadening the initial appeal of the site. The philosophy stays, of course, and that will remain the heart of omninerd.com, but it can never hurt to lure in some of the women by appealing to their more feminine sensibilities.

In conclusion, the time for misogyny is over. The patriarchy has well worn out its welcome in the Twenty First Century, leaving room for only one solution: an equal nation, equal education, more public women’s restrooms, correcting the English Language so that “women” spelled “wimyn” (to show their distinctiveness from men as unique and not derivative), and a World Wide Web that acts as a tempting and satisfying fruit for all sexes, Especially Wimyn.

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