What decks do men buy the most?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 21 May 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

divinerguy	21 May 2003
We have a great thread started by Kiama on the decks that we all have, and I think I see a trend in decks owned by men and decks owned by women. I know that some of you have been doing database work with that thread. Has anyone broken down the list by popularity of decks owned by gender??

Khatruman	21 May 2003
~singing Men men men men, men men men men....~ Hah, we men buy manly man decks, not girly man decks... plenty of breasts, fine figured women, none of that Motherpeace nonsense... (hoping everyone sees the tongue planted firmly in cheek). Honestly, I don't see myself as being manly biased, though I do have an aversion to men-bashing agendas. That doesn't necessary include decks that exclude men, for the most part, just those whose only male visions are those of power-hungry, angry hateful males. I like a balance. One of the great things about having several decks is having various points of view. If I have an issue which would benefit from a feminine stance, then I will use one with a feminine feel to it.

Mimers	21 May 2003
I am not male bashing here,seriously, I LOVE men, but........ I think it would be interesting to see how many males vs females own some of those erotic decks, like Casanova, Erotica, etc... I will confess to checking them out on line, but would never buy one. Anyone willing to fess up? Anyone want to bet that the amount of males owning such decks will far outnumber the amount of females? Khat? ;) I did the data base for the what decks do you own thread. I still have it in Excel, but it is in great need of an update. I do not know what the gender is of the owners. Mimers

divinerguy	21 May 2003
In light of the possible disparity of males to females on the boards, it might be better to express the conclusion in terms of per centage ownership, rather than a straight tally.

Mimers	21 May 2003
I see your point Divinerguy. The problem is there are some where it is not possible to be sure of the Gender. What would we do in that case? Hmmm...

jlbvt	21 May 2003
would it be possible to pm the ones you're not sure about, and add that info to the database? (sounds like more work...) It would be fun to find out!

Sobeknofret	21 May 2003
I'm a woman, and I own the Tarots of Casanova and the Manara Erotic deck, and I deeply covet the Lori Walls erotic deck. I really do like erotic art in general, and when combined with tarot cards, it seemed like a natural thing for me to collect. Manara is almost impossible to read with for me, but I do use the Casanova frequently when I'm reading for relationships. Oh, and as of today, I DON'T own the Motherpeace, lol, although I am a feminist. Bad art and man bashing don't really grab me. On the other hand, my husband prefers the artist decks-- Durer, Blake, and now he's drooling over the forthcoming Leonardo da Vinci deck. All of those decks strike me as vaguely masculine actually, but I couldn't say why.

divinerguy	21 May 2003
I think men like the art decks and renaissance decks because they want people, women in particular, to take them seriously. We feel self-conscious about our gender's reputation for being oversexed.

Mimers	21 May 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Sobeknofret I'm a woman, and I own the Tarots of Casanova and the Manara Erotic deck, and I deeply covet the Lori Walls erotic deck. I really do like erotic art in general, and when combined with tarot cards, it seemed like a natural thing for me to collect. Manara is almost impossible to read with for me, but I do use the Casanova frequently when I'm reading for relationships. Oh, and as of today, I DON'T own the Motherpeace, lol, although I am a feminist. Bad art and man bashing don't really grab me. On the other hand, my husband prefers the artist decks-- Durer, Blake, and now he's drooling over the forthcoming Leonardo da Vinci deck. All of those decks strike me as vaguely masculine actually, but I couldn't say why. What I find interesting about you and your husbands preferences is that I too am drooling over the Leonardo da Vinci deck as well. I also love the Renaissance themed decks too. For me the erotic decks just don't fit with how I percieve Tarot. I also don't go for the feminist type decks, because I think the masculinity is just as important as femininity. In all things. I don't care for anything too one sided. In all honesty, teasing the men aside, I believe the reason I would never buy an erotic deck even if just to enjoy the artwork is due to my upbringing to be quite honest. It would not be what I was raised to believe was 'ladylike'. I have 5 brothers. If my parents found a Playboy magazine under their bed when they were young, they would have maybe had a little 'talk' and the Magazine would have been thrown away. If they found had found a Playgirl magazine under my bed, I would have been locked in my room until my 21st birthday wearing steel panties, the key to unlock these panties would have been buried by my father in an undisclosed location until my wedding day. That, I think, is why men may be a little less hesitant to purchase decks such as these. Diviner Guy, I always take men seriously. Especially the ones that show their true colors. :) Mimers

Khatruman	21 May 2003
Wonders if men like to have bigger decks.... Heh heh...check out the size of my Rohrig, baby... LMAO :P

divinerguy	21 May 2003
Big hands = Big Deck, eh?

Keslynn	21 May 2003
Too bad one of the biggest decks is Inner Child. Somehow I'm not seeing that as manly. I could be wrong though... your fairy queen sure is hot baby... ;) Kes

Kiama	21 May 2003
Khat, Divinerguy... You've brightened my day. ;) I'm female (Shock, horror) and I have a penchant for erotic decks... I always have done. I own the Manara Erotic, and Black Tarot, and will be getting the Decameron shortly. I also lust after Lori Wells' Tarot Erotica, and the black and white Tarot Erotica which is... interesting. (A search for it on Tarot Garden will reveal why). The men I know IRL, who own decks, have chosen decks which fit in with their other interests... One of my best friends got himself the Celtic Dragon because he adores dragons. My other friend is a Hermetic magician, so he got himself a Thoth deck. Kiama

Khatruman	21 May 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Kiama Khat, Divinerguy... You've brightened my day. ;) I'm female (Shock, horror) and I have a penchant for erotic decks... I always have done. I own the Manara Erotic, and Black Tarot, and will be getting the Decameron shortly. Hey, good for you!!! Since I don't use tarot primarily for divination, I find some other uses for erotic decks. Perhaps if I want to work on writing with a more erotic feel to it, I will use one of them to spark some creative flow. Or if a character needs an erotic aspect to their personality. Also they can be fun to experiment with.

Sobeknofret	21 May 2003
LOL! Khat that was hysterical! I'm shopping today for decks, and I won't be able to get that out of my mind now... I can totally see your point Mimers. It makes sense that you would not care much for erotic decks then. I am the child of two Berkeley ex-hippies, and erotic art and literature were no big deal in our house. I love my erotic decks, and I love to read with the Casanova deck--it sure livens things up lol!

WolfSpirit	21 May 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Mimers For me the erotic decks just don't fit with how I percieve Tarot. I agree with this. I have the Manara tarot and I don't really see it as a tarot deck, more as a collection of pictures based on tarot. The artist is certainly very gifted, but I would like the deck more if there were more naked men and less naked women in it to make it more even :D Yes, I'm female how did you guess. And if there was a football tarot I would get it ! It would be cool for predicting matches.

CompassRose	21 May 2003
Well, I'm a chick, and I'm very fond of an erotic deck... Though I can't see myself EVER purchasing the Baseball Tarot, even as a curiosity. I mentioned in another thread, the only thing I've noticed about male readers that I know is that a lot of them use the Thoth, either as their prime deck or at least with regularity. I can't think of a single woman I'm personally acquainted with who uses it, and during a (completely informal and unscientific) chat with a bunch of Tarot-using people last summer, all women present (six or seven?) basically said, "Thoth -- blech!"

azuremariposa	23 May 2003
i think it's rather interesting that the first thought seems to be "men would have lots of erotic decks" simply b/c ppl think men are "oversexed" (i think divinerguy mentioned that ppl think this way, no?) and YET...it is women who seem to have all the erotic decks, or want them at least (not all women, i'm just saying, from the comments, it's women that have these decks)....which proves my (often scoffed at) theory that it is WOMEN that are oversexed, or perhaps "undersexed" is the right statement? i dunno...but i DO know that i want the Manara (i love his work, used to get "heavy metal" magazine just for his artwork alone!)...:D and i will say this, i know alot more lascivious women than lascivious men...:P and speaking for my hubby, he likes those ugly renaissance decks (he wants da vinci reeeeally bad) and he loooooooves the Black tarot and H.R. Giger tarot (but mainly b/c he likes the art from those two artists)...he also likes my Victoria Regina alot (which i originally got for him)...i think he'd like Durer too (it's on my wishlist for him...hehe) but i think that's about it...oh! and he liked the Robin Wood deck as well (go figure)...so, there ya go! :) many blessings, ~azure edited to add: i agree about the Thoth...it's on my wishlist simply to see if i'd feel differently in person, however i think it is quite ugly...as well as that awful Haindl & Rohrig...blech...:P

Macavity	23 May 2003
Well, I'm with your hubby - Wait, I'll rephrase that! :laugh: But I just find the word "Erotic" is overused these days - and, in the Tarot context, about as relevant as the expression "Erotic Pizza"? But perhaps it's the male thing to restrict these things to context, whereas the Female mind is just... more imaginative? ;) Hmmm, there might be a closet voyeurism here (joking) - A lot of "classic" decks contain a FAIR amount of nudity. ISTR that in those times, such art WAS hung in bedrooms (It's only these days they're relegated to galleries) Wait didn't some guy hang the Mona Lisa in his bathroom... which is why it's all uhm... crinkly? The mind boggles :) Macavity

Noubaguy	25 May 2003
Females are VERY "oversexed" lol I dont understand why us guys have such a bad rep. But anyways in response to the question: I use the Rider Waite deck. Of course this may be because it is the ONLY deck I have lol But looking around at the other decks, I think this will always be my favorite to use :)

all78degrees	25 May 2003
I thought I'd better answer this me being a man. I have about 27 decks. I was considering listing them all but I'll list the ones I love and use. Vision Quest Shining Tribe Medieval Scapini Halloween Universal Waite Haindl Minchiate (BW) Origins Comparative Dante Alchemical Sephiroth So i don't know that that list makes me! :) I think its harder for blokes to read with decks like the motherpeace or whimsical but not imposible! My 2pence gav.

The What decks do men buy the most? thread was originally posted on 21 May 2003 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.