Recently Pinterest has been touted as a promising social network that may even upstage bigger networks like Facebook and Twitter if things go as predicted.
The image sharing network that has almost become the mainstay of retail stores trying to push their products in a social atmosphere is however dominated by a more female audience. About 58% of its user base is female and much of the stuff that is shared on Pinterest are designer stuff, fashion accessories and DIY projects that may not interest that uber-macho men, who believe in the profession of being ‘manly’. With that in mind, Glen Stansberry and his pals launched Gentlemint, a Pinterest-like site that is devoted to all things socially constructed as ‘manly’. The image sharing social network is very similar to Pinterest and operates on similar themes.
However, what is different is the explicit message that the site is targeted not just at men, but at manly men who do not like to see frilly and colorful images of products, people and places on the homepage. Predictably, the site’s homepage has a number of images that are socially constructed as manly. One might find pictures of trucks, moustaches, boxers, gadgets which look less sleek than the ones seen on Pinterest and other products and situations and even art that can be considered as masculine.
In fact, Gentlemint is almost like a rebellion against what the co-founders thought was dominance of products and gadgets that are not manly enough. Glen Stansberry insists that it is all meant to be a joke and that women can join the website too. At this point in time, membership is limited to those who have invites, and just like Pinterest, you would have to request for an invite. Even the site didn’t take very long to be born, and the web designers published Gentlemint just one day. Gentlemint looks like a fun place to check out what the self-assumed manly men of the world like to share with other manly men in the world, while protesting against female dominance of the world.
Having used Pinterest myself, it never occurred to me that the site was particularly frilly or girly. Even if it were, so what? Social networks are all about who you follow, and what you decide to share. To decide what is manly, and what is not manly is to encourage gender stereotypes that are never pleasant and encouraging. If it is all just a joke, then Gentlemint can be a great way to share a few laughs after getting drunk. However, if it has a gender-related agenda, Gentlemint may not be very funny. You might also want to take a look at the 10 Facts about Pinterest, which was listed sometime back.
