Why are there so many women Wiccans and so few male Wiccans?

Question

I have noticed in reading and on these forums that there are mostly female Wiccans and very little male Wiccans.

Technically wicca started with worship of the god and goddess as equals. And thats what I practice.

Well the town I live in has churches on every corner. And isn't pagan friendly.

Answer 1

Well it has both a male and female deity, you can see why that would attract women when the big three religions are all heavily male dominated. It simply attracts more women than men. Actually it's funny, from what I've seen a lot of the women in wicca almost completely ignore the male deity and focus entirely on the female. A bit hypocritical, really.

Answer 2

Many Wiccans do focus on the worship of the Goddess, the female Deity. I've met quite a few male Wiccans.

There are many male Pagans aswell.All the gatherings I've been to have been 50/50.

Answer 3

I think it's due in part to a lot of women being drawn to it because of the recognition of the Goddess, either as an equal to or in lieu of the God (Dianic Wicca is an example of the latter), which is a welcome change to traditional, patriarchical religions.

I think that there are men who are reluctant to pursue a Wiccan path because of the recognition of the feminine - they may feel that it's not "masculine" enough (?!?). Also, the word "witch" tends to promote images of women instead of men.

However, I do believe that more and more men will find and follow the Wiccan path, as more information comes available and it comes "out of the broom closet". Some of the most outstanding reading I've found about Wicca has been by male Wiccans - Mike Nichols comes immediately to mind, as well as much of the content of Daven's Journal. Consider also that the recognized
"founder" of Wicca was a man. Gardnerian, Alexandrian, and Seax-Wicca are all traditions that were founded by men.

Answer 4

Because Wicca, as practiced these days, is primarily a narcissistic feminist 'religion.' Traditionally, however, Wicca has always been mostly female, because they had the time to study it. Women kept house and garden, men hunted and fought. And, because the Lunar cycle figures heavily in any study of growing things, the Moon or 'Goddess' is mostly commonly associated with the faith.
Also, because true Wicca is pretty much a passive faith, it has little appeal to the male animal.

Answer 5

I am a female yet I have been uncomfortable with the imbalance of female over male in some Wiccan-based groups. In my area females seem drawn to eclectic wicca or wiccan-based paths while there are more males than females who follow paths of shamanism, druidism, and reconstructionism. My husband and I are both recons though and have never practiced Wicca.

Answer 6

I quote Crow T. Robot:

"Get a bunch of women together, it's either witchery or a wedding shower."

I think it's because most men don't want to be like Stevie Nicks.

BTW, regardless of what Wiccans tell you, their religion has NOTHING to do with any ancient pagan beliefs or rites. Modern paganism and/or Wicca is a hodge-podge of herbalism, folk tales, modern fantasy and 60's hippie-ism.

That's not to say that it is not a legitimate religion of course. It 's just not as ancient and venerable as most Wiccans would have you believe.

Kinda like the Freemasons.

Answer 7

I believe it's because wicca offers a goddess-centric religion (or a male-female god-goddess balance, depending on the particular flavor of wicca). Women, particularly in the United States, are fleeing the patriarchial God that they perceive in Christianity/Judaism/Islam, and they're seeking a religion that embraces them and empowers them. Their perception is that the God preached in the average church is hierarchical, patriarchial, dicatatorial, *male*, and distant. Wicca, by contrast, says that power is shared, the earth is a deep part of spirituality (and tends to be cast as feminine), and religion is profoundly present in nature (and therefore with us).

By the way, I'm a Christian. ;)

Answer 8

because, in today's neo-pagan society, wicca is focused on the goddess and either ignores or downplays the role of the god. I believe the popularity of many neo-pagan groups, like wicca, lies in the fact that the feminine divine has been systematically supressed by Christianity for thousands of years. because many females have been deprived of the feminine divine, they are drawn to wicca more than are men. true paganism honors the role of both the feminine and masculine divine & worships both a god and a goddess.

Answer 9

Women, in general, are more involved with matters of spirituality than men.

Men tend to focus on what they can see, feel, taste, and smell. Women have a special ability to look beyond human senses and search for something more. It might have something to do with being part of the creating force... having the ability to grow another person within them.

As for men being involved in pagan religions. There are many. I think many just choose to not be terribly public about it. Many more simply feel their spirituality is a private matter.

Answer 10

A lot of it depends on where you are. In Colorado it's mostly women but in the Washington area it is pretty much split 50-50.

The Neopagan religions also tend to appeal more to intuitives and free thinkers. I think on average adult men tend to be more rules based.

By the By I'm an Isian Witch and my genotype and phenotype is XY.