Is Tarot used more by women than men?

Most Tarot readers that I knew or came in contact with were females. I hardly know (except here on AT) or saw any male Tarot readers in real life.

Does Tarot appeal more to women than men generally?

Thanks

I think they are probably a majority of 'users' as you put it, yes, however, there's a bit more to the story.

You can observe an interesting dichotomy in tarot, as in many other spheres of life: women dominate the more "kitchen-table" or "private" arenas--i.e. small-scale tarot reading businesses, informal readings for friends and family, psychic fairs, etc.-- while men are highly visible in the public arenas (many of the most famous writers, scholars, deck creators, and ceremonial magicians associated with tarot are men, ranging from Etteilla to Mathers/Waite/Crowley in the early 20th century to Paul Huson and Robert Place today.)

This gendered private-public dichotomy is a cultural phenomenon that stretches far beyond tarot (and even Western society). You can see it in many other spheres of life, such as cooking (with the majority of the world's cooks being women but the majority of the world's professional and well-known chefs being men).

And you may find as a reflection of that that tarot as a tool to delve into private-sphere issues is marketed toward women users, while tarot as a tool for ceremonial magick is marketed more towards men. It would be interesting if someone did some research on that.

Again, without the Pew Research Center weighing in, the answer can only be anecdotal.

To answer your topic question, "Is Tarot used more by women than men?", I'd say likely not: in those places where the playing of Tarot is a continuous tradition, it is often a "man's game" - played for stakes in public. Among all the friend's I've taught to play, the males have taken it up with much more enthusiasm.

Within your post, you say, "tarot *readers*" rather than "tarot *users*" - there, my own experience does lean toward more woman. Tarot reading seems "new-agey" - and I don't know as many males into that sort of thing. If they lean in that direction at all, they're more likely to be either be pagan reconstructionists and thus operating in a "pre-tarot" framework; to favor less "subjective" means of divination like astrology or geomancy; or else they're occultists, and, as Chiriku said, using tarot for ritual purposes, not to "read for other people."

Everything Chiriku said seems reasonable to me.

In the archives there are some polls about this that you could bring up in a search, I think. We've had quite a few threads on the topic.

I'm not sure the cards are stacked in favor of females at all. There are lots of men who use the cards, too.

^^ Good catch on "users" vs. "readers," MiketheAltarBoy. Yes, I would expect there to be more male gamers, especially in smaller or more traditional European milieus.

I also agree with the point about Pagan reconstructionists--that is another demographic in which one finds both a lot of men and a lot of tarot-users.

To the original poster: these are all speculative guesses. Granted, they are educated guesses based on demonstrable patterns that replicate themselves across different sub-cultures...but guesses all the same. If you want some sort of 'data,' the best AT has to offer is probably those polls Grizabella mentioned.

I don't know if I believe in built in dispositional differences between males and females or not. But there do seem to be some *resultant* difference in my experience (as a younger adult moving in educated lower-middle-class circles in the US) - whether those are innate, conditioned, or what have you.
One *seems* to be that males tend to favour established "correct" ways of doing things. A female priest I know won't "prescribe" when to sit, stand, kneel, or cross yourself - leaving that up to "one's own personal piety." And the males would then come to me to ask where you're "supposed" to do what - because their personal piety is to do it correctly. Within my Masonic lodge, ritual was always done with *exact precision* - and although guys would * occasionally* ask "why" about what foot you turn on, how many inches from the furthest protruding point you're obliged to walk at, etc.: the answer was always a chuckle and "That's how it's done."
Although there are some "prescriptive" tarot systems - the Golden Dawn's Opening of the Key, or Melanchollic's system on here (which i LOVE for exactly this reason) - much written or presented on tarot tends to be of the "Whatever way you like will work for you; try stuff and go with what feels right" variety, which might be off-putting to more-males-than-females-within-my-demographic. *shrug.*

More good points. (And, according to the copious social science and neurological research with which I'm familiar, all these differences ultimately owe far more to socialization from the earliest ages than to the so-called 'biological' differences championed by 'evolutionary psychologists' --you know, those people always quoted in pseudo-scientific fluff articles in the mainstream media. But I digress).

Yes, formal occult frameworks like the Golden Dawn are a big draw for many men in tarot. In the interest of historical accuracy, I should note that there were several notable women active in the Order of the Golden Dawn. (Actually, Mary K. Greer wrote a book about them---I never finished it, but the half of it I read was interesting stuff).

And, conversely, some of the biggest movers and shakers in more amorphous "New Age" philosophy tarot have been men--James Wanless of the Voyager Tarot (which I happen to like for the imagery).

However, notwithstanding the above, the discussion here is centered on larger patterns among the general tarot-using public.

Thanks for the discussion (And I hope you won't get in any trouble for sharing that Masonic lodge anecdote with us).

Chiriku said:

In the interest of historical accuracy, I should note that there were several notable women active in the Order of the Golden Dawn. (Actually, Mary K. Greer wrote a book about them---I never finished it, but the half of it I read was interesting stuff).

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I have read - and enjoyed - it! (I love the G.D. It's just so *Victorian*. The rise and demise of it would make a great Opera.) The G.D. Ladies though weren't "average" - *they* were bucking social conventions for their time!

Chiriku said:

(And I hope you won't get in any trouble for sharing that Masonic lodge anecdote with us).

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Hah! I'd only get in trouble for sharing *specifics* of the ritual, or passwords, handshakes, etc. (all of which you can find online in any case, I don't doubt.) ;-)

I feel more women use it and it is used differently (our qualia) then men. Why do you ask?

this probably isn't adding much to this disussion - I am only offering my limited experience (in the flesh too, rather than on-line)...I've known at least 40 male & female Tarot readers - but NEVER met a woman who studied the Tarot in an academic way. I've met a dozen men who used the Thoth & were very clued up on the whole Thelemic thing. I've known/know about 20 women who used the Thoth but only one who'd read the Crowley book, and even then, it was very selective what she read.

Curiously, there was a split with the gay men - some chose decks they read intuitively, some were keeping detailed notes on their Thoth studies!

The gay women all read with cards they'd chosen for the art & weren't really concerned with the philosophy behind the illustrations. (except for a dear friend, now sadly passed away, who would only use the Motherpeace or Daughters of the Moon BUT she was an adventuress who died too young & I wouldn't be at all surprised if she decided to explore further in her Tarot studies!)