A long long time ago, we did the First Ever Autostraddle Audience Survey to figure out who the f-ck you are and what the hell you want and how/if, exactly, we can monetize your existence in order to maintain our existence! It went really well — over 3,000 of you responded within the first few days, which our Special Marketing Consultant Meredydd said was an unprecedentedly spectacular result.
Anyhow, so then we got the results, and you wanted us to make a post about it, and so we had all the numbers and we gave them to a new designer person, but then that fell through, and Alex was super busy, and then someone else was supposed to do it but wasn’t able to do it either and THEN, finally, HERE WE ARE, ten billion lifetimes later, with the most visually inconsistent post of all time. Just little bits and pieces of what everybody was able to do. I mean seriously, if you’re a designer or something, you probably shouldn’t even read this, your head might explode.
Anyhow, I’ll be writing our second State of the Autostraddle Union any minute now, in which we’ll talk about some of the things you want from Autostraddle as revealed on this survey. Also, we shared some of the results with you already — namely, the “words you used to describe Autostraddle.”
Lez do it, homos!
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WHO ARE YOU?
60.9% are between the ages of 18-24
27.8% are between 25-34
6.5% are under 18
6% are over 35
When I told our den mother, Vikki, in August that there were just as many 35+ readers as there were 18-or-less readers at Autostraddle, she was surprised: “I literally thought it was just me,” she said. [Interestingly enough, in the section asking for what you’d like to see more of on Autostraddle, equal numbers of readers requested “older writers” and “younger writers.”] I was surprised too — but I thought there would be more 35+ers. And Meredydd thought there would be more under-18ers. Anyhow, to all ye children under the age of 35, I hope you’ll still need us and feed us when we’re 34, because that’s precisely how old Laneia and I will be before you know it!
We conducted this survey in June, and we suspect some things have changed since then, like maybe we have more transgender readers.
Also hot damn you aspirational humans — firstly, none of y’all dropped out of high school, apparently (the number of readers who haven’t finished high school is equal to the number of readers under 18, so), and most went on to complete at least some college stuff. Nationally, about 9% of the population over 25 has a masters/professional degree, but 20% of Autostraddlers are getting there. You’re a very studious bunch.
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60.2% identify with the term “lesbian”
42.% with the term “queer” and 19.3% with “bisexual”
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Letting you pick multiple labels for your sexual orientation and gender identity probably eradicated any meaningful deductions from this, but I’m wondering how many people picked “queer” on top of another label and how many picked it as their only label, aren’t you? I wish I could eat statistics for breakfast.
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Oh and — where do you live?
Shit You Like to Do
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What you like to Read About Online:
LGBT Issues – 96.8%
General News – 64%
Arts/Entertainment – 32%
Food – 23%
Tech – 21%
Fashion – 19%
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Other Blogs/Magazines You Visit Regularly:
AfterEllen
Jezebel
Feministing
Bitch
The Advocate
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Another interesting result was how many of you participate in some kind of philanthropic activity. (I think donating to Autostraddle counts, doesn’t it?) In any event, 77% of Autostraddle Readers participate in some kind of philanthropic activity. That’s so many!!
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Oh Right And Also… You Sure Do Like to Drink!
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When it comes to visual entertainment…
83% enjoy LGBT-themed movies, 74% like indie films and 68% like documentaries
… and 30% of you watch Educational TV programs regularly, 28% watch Sci-Fi, 26% watch Reality TV and 23% Watch Cooking Shows
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How You Feel About Us
49.3% of Autostraddle readers never comment
22% comment weekly or monthly
6% comment every day
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How Did You Get Here?
38% found Autostraddle by a link from another website or blog
12.4% found Autostraddle via Riese’s blogs/recaps
16% were told about Autostraddle by a friend
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Some of my favorite write-in responses to “how did you get here”:
1. “Someone handed me an Autostraddle business card on the subway in NYC. I thought it was porn and was creeped out (straddle?!), but thankfully I was wrong!”
2. “Googled ‘lesbian sex'”
3. “Seriously I just googled dyke haircuts”
4. “My girlfriend’s Professor suggested it in one of her online media courses”
5. “I was high, but I do remember link hopping around other sites until I came upon Autostraddle.”
6. “Looking for other cooch-smoochers south of Northampton.”
7. “My mom suggested it (yes, really)”
8. “Someone tweeted about ‘catching up on Autostraddle'”
9. “One time Snarker tweeted something about the girls over at autostraddle’s heads exploding over something”
10. “Your Tegan & Sara Sainthood review… Well this is off to an embarrassing start.”
And there you have it. So basically most of you are super-smart, often drunk and quite compassionate/charitable. We hope our readership will get more diverse as we go on, and we embrace all members of all demographics with open arms! Go get a new t-shirt! Onward Ho!
this seemed like a funny picture to put here
Newly 35 and still love you guys. That’s ok right?
Hope so. I just turned 35 last month.
YES PLEASE!
high five for being over 30.
(I do this more for myself than for you because sometimes I feel like the oldest old dyke ever even though clearly I am not but it’s the internet and everyone on the internet is 12 [and by 12 I mean between 18 and 24].)
The Autostraddle reader survey happened just after my birthday and thus was the first time I had to check the “35 to 44” age category. I was so traumatized that I did actually briefly have an argument with myself over the ethics of lying about a few days’ worth of my age on an anonymous survey.
Everything is better after 30! Nothing could make me do my twenties over again.
yrmv, my 30s thus far have been some of the worst years of my adult life.
So things can only get better from now on, right? ((hugs))
I think everyone’s twenties last about ten years too long. I know mine did.
So what I’m getting from this is that we’re fucking awesome.
more or less
mhm
I love AS. I read it on the daily since I discovered the website by accident (I was looking at pictures of boobs… and was kinda high too).
60% of lesbians drink beer 43.3% of the time…
Yep, sounds about right.
No, wait…
43.3% of the time, 60% of lesbians are drinking beer? :)
60% of the time, it works every time.
and cheers to that!
49.3% of Autostraddle readers never comment – LURKERS COME TALK TO US WE LOVE YOU OK?!
okay hi. my name is krissy, too, but i spell it differently.
HI! I like your spelling too <3
phew. i was afraid we were going to have a highlander moment.
Okay, I never comment. I’m scared that I’ll say something dumb and all the other lesbians will pick on me!
I haven’t seen stuff like that. If anything, everybody is pretty friendly.
Statistically speaking you probably aren’t going to say something dumb since we’re all educated ladies (and some men and some gqs) up in hurr.
Hey now, didn’t you read the stats? This is a very welcoming site. All the lesbians, gays, bisexuals, queers, sexually fluids, straights, pan sexuals, AND no labels (?) will pick on you.
But seriously, from a girl who got into a random comment-thread youtube clip showdown using polar bears, I’d say that there’s nothing wrong with absolutely ridiculous comments. And there’s a total difference between saying something dumb ((Seriously, I thought the carrier pigeons were a one-time thing) and saying something ignorant. Even then, if you’re willing to let your fellow Autostraddlers teach you a thing or two (Annika and Sebastian come to mind), hopefully, you’ll grow and so will our community.
But it doesn’t happen if you don’t join in!
I think I won a comment award once for saying I was going to marry my airconditioner.
I just thought I’d leave that here.
you totally did
I’m not sure whether to be flattered or concerned that someone remembers that…
it’s my job and/or i really like googling things to procrastinate on homework
Air conditioner love. Never forget.
We have an ASS group for that! http://www.autostraddle.com/groups/keep-comments-classy/
Basically if anybody ever picks on you, you tell me and I will boob-bomb the HELL out of that thread. Like this:
( . )( . )
I like this one:
( . Y . )
oooh, nice cleavage :)
Why thank you.
So I am pretty much a typical Autostraddler, except that right now, what I am drinking is gin.
p.s. and damn, so many Aussies! We be representin’.
Gurrl I’m drinking wine yay diversity!
<3<3
High five for wine.
Diversity? I’ll drink to that :)
What is not represented there is how often we WISH we were drinking beer. Because put me in that box right now, work is hurting this week.
I know, so many Aussies! That surprised the hell outta me. And also, Singaporeans! That makes me super-happy, somehow.
Surprised to see Singapore on the list! We should totally have a Autostraddle meetup here! I’ll bring the beer.
yeah and actually the data about locations, unlike all the rest of the data here, isn’t from the survey (honestly going through 3,000 write-in answers to that was a bit daunting) but from Google Analytics for the entire year of 2011. So it’s really really true.
1. How are there more SINGAPOREAN readers than BRISBANE readers (and how many of those are actually from JB)?
2. OI BRISBANITES WHERE ARE YOU
i don’t know about google analytics but the few i know certainly read the hell outta autostraddle and reread and so on! i’m guessing we’re just…quieter? once i wore my Auto-Straddle This shirt out and didn’t think that the stares from the ladies in the cafe could possibly have been stares of recognition…UNTIL I READ THIS.
I’m a vodka drinker so… Hard liquor lovers unite! We’re a minority here
i drank gross things like malibu rum and mikes hard lemonade in college, then went on to enjoy vodka from the ages of 22-28, at which point i switched to whiskey, and have been committed to whiskey for two years now. it’s going really well, me and whiskey.
Drinking habits seem somewhat parallel to personal relationships.
In college, it’s kind of a free-for-all of whatever is available/free/nearby, so not necessarily high quality – the important thing is just to get drunk/get some.
After that, you realize that you have options and some amount of standards so it’s time to move on to slightly better stuff, but still you’re young, you’ve got time to play the field, try things out. You’ve just learned some hard lessons, so at least know to avoid the cheap/sugary stuff. Those stumbling, lost panties, sour stomach mornings are becoming fewer and farther between.
And then, eventually, provided you don’t end up addicted/in a gutter/married to a dude for some reason, you find that one, top-shelf beauty that fits you like a glove. And you commit. Maybe it’s a commitment with a little side action, maybe you’re exclusive. The important thing is that you’ve found your match, and even if sometimes it leaves you feeling a little woozy, it’s all worth it for how right you are for each other.
Yes I did just write a lengthy simile comparing people to booze. I’m going to bed now.
time for a nightcap eh
I’ll be in my bunk.
Firefly reference= <3 <3 <3
Firefly <3
…what about those of us who are past the drink until you vomit days but still haven’t committed to anything? I am neither able to commit to a relationship or a drink.
There’s no hope for me. :(
dunno, maybe you’re the Shane of drinking?
I can live with that. At least until I meet the Jenny of drinking.
The Jenny of drinking?! I think Alice’s reaction here sums up my feelings about that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI3FS3RFjI8
That’s a totally appropriate reaction I think.
Tequilla in the summer, brandy in the winter
I like the cut of your jib!
Margaritas in the summer, cognac in the winter!
Constantly tweeting “catching up on Autostraddle.”
….you’re welcome, followers.
thanks bb!
Hah! You! <3
I love it when the internet is a small place.
so 6.2% of readers drink every day? whew
i was hoping it’d be more
I’m sure it is more. The rest of the daily drinkers were probably unable to answer the survey.
I love that we are an educated bunch who do a lot of good things in the world. Autostraddle, home of lady-lovers working on saving the world!
And also drinking and hanging out on Tumblr.
Sorry about that.
I would like to know who the 4.1% of Autostraddlers who don’t like to surf the web are, and what the 3.2% of people who don’t like to read about LGBT issues are doing here.
Also Boston in the top cities YESSS.
But is anyone from Western Mass?
Western Mass o’er here! (by way of Texas, but, I mean, technicalities…)
Technicalities, schmecnicalities. I actually only go to school in Western Mass.
Me too, there’s a sea of us here, apparently
The 3.2% = b00bies!
I was raised in Amherst. I still go home pretty often because I’m not a grown up.
In that case I feel obligated to apologize for the behavior of frat boys from my school. (I go to UMass)
there’s a group for that
My extensive knowledge of statistics and marketing tells me that from these results, the Autostraddle mission statement should be: “Entertaining intelligent but easily addicted and drunken women-who-love-women since aaaaages ago.”
55% of Autostraddlers are single?! You know what this calls for-a giant AS singles mixer/speed dating event, im just saying, you know im right! Also, thanks for compiling all this info, it’s very interesting.
This makes me wish I was single
(image link fixed by riese)
merci riese!
Boston represent!
Woohoo Boston! We should, like, have a thing.
I often feel like there’s only like four of us.
I MISS YOU GUYS/OUR CITY IS THE BEST CITY
Going to Machine is not the same without you in Boston.
i live literally right next to machine, haha. my roommate’s band plays there regularly!
Well, I went from female to bigender/genderqueer since I took the survey, so that’s one more trans reader.
Me too!
“I wish I could eat statistics for breakfast.” YES, YES I DO TOO.
Also, re: the identity section — can’t you tell who put down two or more labels? If you separate them out then you have a multiple label category, plus everyone else who has a single label.
I was about to ask a bunch of other questions, but really my question is: what does the raw data look like and how is it coded?? Did all of the questions just pool without being associated with a respondent? Like you don’t know how person A answered Question 1?
Sorry, I can’t actually remember how the survey looked and I got super excited. I will just simmer down and say: THANKS FOR THIS. Very interesting!
I think the next survey should have questions about illegal(ish) drugs, i’m interested to see how many of us smoke pot vs. pop pills vs. use E etc, etc. Lesbians have reputations as stoners, I want to see if that’s statistically true
Also, almost 10% of us are genderqueer? that’s pretty sweet!
WTH!? i always thought i was the only lesbian stoner O_o
where are all the others??? i need to find them quick! ill pack a bowl.
http://www.autostraddle.com/tag/because-we-got-high/
I guess I’m one of those lurkers that never comments. Wait a second . . .
hi!
Hi back! Huh, this commenting thing isn’t nearly as scary as I thought it’d be.
I know, right? It’s just like Twitter only it’s queers everywhere!
I dunno, my Twitter feed gets pretty darn queer.
It’s like twitter but with more than one hundred and forty characters. Like whole paragraphs even! And hot girls.
“14. Austin, TX”
Yes.
so why is the texastraddlers group so quiet?!
I believe we may start speaking up once Rick Perry gets off the national stage…
we’re not gonna hold that fool against you
let’s hold him against a bear cage, maybe that’ll scare the ass hole out of him…
YES.
IA, it’s tough doing the Texas solidarity thing right now, although I do it anyways, since my life is like a giant Texas flag waving in the middle of Western Mass
for a second i thought you were doing a/s/l.
I was a lurker until AS started automatically logging me into the site, for which I am thankful.
I am a lurker half of the time just because I am either too lazy to sign in or just don’t realize that I’m not… Guess I should log in more and comment more!
What’s the chance that your login name/picture combination is an Arrested Development shoutout?
Yes, yes it is.
OH MAN awesome.
Just awesome.
this is delicious. i know some of my responses have changed since last year though, can we do another poll?
/loves to click the clicky boxes
I would love it if there was another poll! I didn’t get to participate in the last one, and I loooove talking about myself…!
you guys, i really love you, but light-years are a measure of distance, not time.
i just broke my own rule of never starting a sentence with “i love you, but…” so let me add for good measure that this DOES NOT MAKE ME LOVE YOU ANY LESS.
LOVE LOVE LOVE
but seriously. a light-year is distance.
With that kind of attitude you’ll never manage a successful Kessel Run.
Best followup comment ever.
touché.
Blame the booze, not the brains.
i’ve never been good at math or science. actually i’ve been ok at math. but never science.
i think you make up for that with your other talents :)
This right here, sounds filthy… however I am not denouncing that..
AS doesnt dumb down its articles. I have to reread a couple of them but I love You guys you’re awesome that way. I was curious as to how you figured out that some of your readers are addicts. I thought we all were and hopefully we’ll all be here till we are 65 or older!
Live blogging my gay wedding on AS will be a requirement that my future wife will just have to deal with.
I’m surprised there aren’t more readers under 18. This place is pretty much my haven and whenever I’m feeling down I fantasize about this awesome lesbian college paradise where everyone has all the sex toys in NSFW Sunday and I have a super hot girlfriend who reads a lot. But I guess by staying a committed reader, once I hit 18 in March I’ll actually be making your reader pool less diverse. You’re welcome?
i actually think that there are a ton of under-18ers on here, they just didn’t fill out the survey.
You’re still a special snowflake honey. <3
Have you considered Smith?
oh man if I could get into Smith that would be a dream come true. I heard it was very selective, being the most prominent of the seven sisters and all. :’c dreams shattered
Don’t lose hope! Yes, Smith is selective but they take about 600+ students each year! I guess that’s pretty selective, but still, YOU CAN DO IT!!!
You should come visit and take a tour and do an overnight! *breath* You get to be a prospy! Everybody loves prospies! Seriously, my prospy situation basically went like this:
Friend: “Hey _____ this is my friend/prospy”
Person: “OMIGOD!!! PROSPYYYY!!! ARE YOU HAVING FUN? DO YOU LIKE SMITH? YOU SHOULD COME TO SMITH!!! OMIGOD!!! DO YOU WANNA HANG OUT?!?!
Me: “It’s nice to meet you too…”
With EVERY person I met.
So, you should come to Smith, We love Smith, I’m assuming you love Smith, little old granny ladies love smith (no lie), and Smith will love you! super double pinkie promise!
APPLY! We’re friendly, and it’s not super tough to get in. (I would say Wellesley is tougher, but I refuse to give That Other School props.)
THIS. All of these words apply to me
http://www.autostraddle.com/groups/underage-straddlers-in-lieu-of-an-inevitably-more-creative-name/
Idea: The single 55% date each other, fall in love, invite EVERYONE to the wedding, then have autostraddlin’ children.
…Autospawn?
I am in your over 50 age group if you have one. I have been out forever and I love your intelligence, your irreverence and wit!
but where does the name ‘Autostraddle’ come from?
I KNOW RIGHT I tried to look it up and Urban Dictionary told me ‘auto-straddle’ was a sex move. Not a position, a MOVE – they were very clear on that. So I can’t help you there.
There’s a YouTube video somewhere.
I believe it was the synthesis of two blog names – The Road Less Straddled and Autowin.
I know the latter was Riese’s blog, but I can’t remember about the former…
yes Dina is right!
the former was the l word recap blog i set up in 2006, where i recapped the show before my recaps got picked up by the l word online, theroadbeststraddled dot blogspot dot com. it was called that because at the time i was writing a book and that was the title of the book i was writing, so my agent and i had figured that if i used the title in the URL, then when ppl saw a book by that name in the store, they’d have positive feelings towards it. and that title was a spin on ‘the road less traveled’ book which was a spin on ‘the road not taken’poem. the idea being that you come to a fork in the woods but instead of choosing one or the other, you straddle like 56 different identities at one time. because i had been so many different people, and at the time hadn’t picked a road yet, and most of the people i knew were like that too. like it wasn’t a book about fluidity or stasis, it was a book about paradox.
AHHH today I was driving down this narrow country road to get to my rotation, and there were potholes everywhere, so I ended up just driving down the middle. And I was like GASP. THE ROAD LESS STRADDLED. I AM STRADDLING THE ROAD. AUTOSTRADDLE.
PS Straddle now looks really weird.
I don’t think any of the “how I got here stories” compare to mine: I was sixteen and one of the autostraddle writers popped up on chatroulette. She said she didn’t like boys, and I was like OMG ME NEITHER! WHAT DO I DO?!?? And she sent me here.
the only thing ive ever seen on chatroulette are penises and 20 year old scandinavian guys
god it’s really rare i can use the same meme twice in a thread, but:
[image fixed by riese again xoxo terracottatoes]
well played.
Just once I saw two Brazilian girls eating a jar of Nutella with a spoon.
that’s pretty much the awesomest “how i got here” story. AWESOMEPANTS!!!
WHO WAS IT
I feel weird saying her name, but I think it’s M.J.? I don’t even know if she posts that much. She could just be an intern or a contributor.
WAS IT TAYLOR?!
Remember when Taylor did that awesome Chat Roulette post and she wore a robot mask?
oh that’s cool, i actually met MJ on my street in NY when i was walking from my apartment to the grocery store (she recognized me from the site), and then she started writing for us sometimes!
now i definitely demand to know which one.
Hey, I forget how I found AS but I did like yesterday and love it!
I’m a transgal and into girls. I’ve been super nervous about what I guess you could call my reception amongst the lesbian community. And I’m really sensitive to transphobic kinds of comments and such and have just been gingerly toe-stepping and trying to maybe find a place where I feel I belong and yadda yadda.
Anyhow, according to the numbers looks like I’m right in there with ya, and um, also, the comments! It just made me so happy to see so much acceptance on this site for people who identify across the gender spectrum and what-have-you.
Looking forward to hanging out!
I said this in a previous post but it bears repeating.
“the community here on AS is the most inclusive and frankly well educated about queer issues all across the LGBTQIAAPADDYOURLETTERHERE spectrum. Certainly they do a better job than any other gay website that I visit, some of which I don’t even read the comments for because I know they’re going to throw me into fits of rage at the exclusivity.”
Which is to say welcome :D
Not gonna lie, we can be as ignorant as the rest when it comes to trans-issues, but the mothership does and awesome job of beaming us down articles and people to lobotomize us full of knowledge and understanding so that we too can — this is going nowhere.
My point is: I hope you can ignore that occasional trolls or ignorant comments (we’re learning too! Help us learn!!!) and will stick around to see all the awesome things AS and the community have to offer! WELCOME FRIEND! WE COME IN PEACE!!!
BEAR HUG!
Welcome! I will echo what has already been said and agree that Autostraddle is, at least in my experience, by far the most inclusive LGBTQ site. My first girlfriend (who’s still one of my best friends, and one of the most amazing girls I’ve ever met) is trans, and because of that I’m also very sensitive to transphobia. Of course, Autostraddle has its share of ignorant comments, but generally people try to educate each other, not tear each other down.
I wonder what it takes to be considered an addict under traffic frequency, cause I’m pretty sure I’m in that group
this is something I’m also interested in knowing.
addicts = people who spend literally the entire day on autostraddle
so, that would be me.
I’m 17 and I <3 autostraddle and I filled out the survey because I love autostraddle so much.
Clearly we should run the world.
I remember when I found AS though some a play list I found on google and I was still very very closeted and I was like !!!!! because it was a LESBIAN WEBSITE and so I immediately went back to google. After that I would sneak back glances at AS like it was somehow a dirty thing to be doing, and it was oddly thrilling like peeking at porn when you’re going through puberty. When I fiiiinnnnally admitted to myself that I’m here and queer I signed up for an AS membership like some rite of passage.
This was me 10 months ago!
90% between 18 and 34
Isn’t that advertisement gold? Good for you AS! Now let’s monetize this shit!
i found Autostraddle when I googled Naomily from skins. and ive come here almost everyday since
With that name, I was sure you were coming here for Pretty Little Liars.
Me too!I had found a million cheesy montages on youtube and then found the recaps was like YYYEEEEEEESSSSSH! 2 years on and I still read AS every day :)
AH SURE DO LOOOOVE AUTOSTRADDLE! I CHECK IT ERRRRDAY!! also, i don’t drink/comment enough. hi ladies.
hey girl.
I also found Autostraddle because of the Sainthood review!
despite the storm of different kinds of infographics, reading this made my statistic-happy sociology brain just squeal with glee.
I think i reside squarely in the reads daily/comments rarely demographic. But i do love it here.
I see two things in AS’s future:
1. Dating
2. a substantial infusion of over 35, PHD, lesbian, philanthropic, San Fran VC cash!
I started the day playing with power tools and building some awesome crates (on wheels! with handles!) for my record collection, while listening to Brandi Carlile.
I then moved on to drag-queen-hosted bingo at a gay bar.
I’m ending the day drinking whisky and reading about other Autostraddle readers.
Gayest. Day. Ever.
I WANT YOUR LIFE
i love you all.
i’m so bummed i missed out on the survey!
This was crazy interesting. And I mean that to include the informational aspect of the post as well, not just the visual one (JK, AS, ILU).
Business idea: Autostraddle brand, statistics-themed cereal. Working name: ‘Studious Bunches of Organic Soybeans.’ Slogan: Something simple but crass (may involve the words ‘eat’ ‘mean’ ‘breakfast’ and/or ‘champions’). Projection: times (and money loss) will be great.
Also, I’d like to think that Autostraddle found me (#awwdorable #profound).
Autostraddleo-s the official cereal of http://cerealesbians.tumblr.com/
This is the greatest tumblr I have seen in at least 24 hours.
Been here since day one (Autowin). Loved reading Riese over on lwordonline in 200…..7? 6? Tried to be a regular donor but paypal was a bad idea for me…
Turned 60 last year.
Gad.
Hey how do you enable the little + like button thingy?
So long as you’re logged in I think the ‘like’ + button should work. :)
hey thanks! logging in would be key…
I love this so much. I love how much effort you put into this, and I’m super happy to be part of this statistic. I also love every single graph and every single picture that is in this post. -^ ^-
I’d love to hear about the monetizing AS’s existence aspect of the survey. Did it help you figure out how to keep the site alive and financially healthy? I hope so!
i’ll be talking about that in my state of the union! but i can say now that selling t-shirts and calendars is definitely part of our strategy at the moment. :-)
Thanks Riese! I’m really looking forward to the state of the union. Also, personal comment responses from writers and editors are reason #587 that I love Autostraddle.
“super-smart, often drunk and quite compassionate” That def. sounds like me, except I try not to drink to the point of getting drunk, BUT I do enjoy beer a lot haha
I loved this survey-result-thing <3
Sooo there are more Autostraddlers (smart, compassionate lesbians) in Melbourne than Vancouver. I just LEFT Melbourne for Vancouver. Fuck!
AnnieMac – the Vancouver lesbian/queer lady scene is awesome. Seriously. Melbourne is amazing too, but from one Van ladyqueer to you, welcome!! You are going to love it. Let me know if you want any recommendations for cool places to hang out, places to meet girls, dance, drink or play gaysports. We have LOTS of gay sports.
I’m not from Vancouver but you can always go to The Planet there.. have a drink with Bette Porter.
Also, super happy to see Vancouver in the top 20! Go go Vancouver homo/queers! xo
De-lurking myself, cause I never ever read comments on blogs (they get so long, and rambly, and irrelevant, and less well thought out than the original entry), but I LOVE THE COMMENTS ON THIS POST. I want to be your collective friend.
We want to be your friend too.
Brisbane and poly-straddlers represent! *group hugs*
Hi, also from Brisbane here.
hello ;)
I found out about Autostraddle when a facebook friend of mine posted a link to the “Top Ten Sweatpants” article, and of course I had to click on it right away.
Also,
Toronto! Number 8! Woohoo!
20 year old beer-loving lurkin’ lesbian! Hurray, I’m so typical! Except that I’m from Tennessee, somehow I don’t think that was too high on the list of concentrated autostraddling locations, alas. Are any of y’all from Nashville? Anyone?
Finally I hath found my tribe
i found out about autostraddle the same day i basically outed myself to my alma mater’s school newspaper. a few months after i graduated from cornell, they published this piece of dumb shit advice to a girl asking if she’s obligated to come out to her sorority sisters. the advice girl responded omgabsolutelyyesyouchangeinfrontofthem and gave the most idiotic, homophobic advice. one of my friends works at the paper and was like, “hey you’re gay, have you heard of autostraddle? those ladies are MAAAAD at us.” i hadnt heard of autostraddle, but i found my way over, saw someone here had gotten their hands on said advice column, and i fell in love.
i then proceeded to write an angry letter to the editor, and gave the poor queer sorority girl my advice. the editor in chief who i kinda knew replied “oh word, you’re gay? can you help us out with this one. i don’t know who let that girl publish that, because it sure wasn’t me.” and then i helped them compile a bunch of resources to give in response to the terrible advice.
it was quite an adventure, but a successful one, because it ended in autostraddle.
I REMEMBER THAT ADVICE COLUMN IT WAS SO AWFUL
i’m glad it ended well! we are so happy to have you!
Ugh, it was the awfullest!! thanks for the warm welcome!
Wow, y’all actually finished this post! I liked it. :)
While reading through the comments, it reminded me to vote for Autostraddle again for the 2012 Bloggies –> http://2012.bloggi.es/
I think if y’all push for it, you’ll get nominated and get lots of hits and new queers running who may greatly need this site!
Also the Bloggies introduced me to Effing Dykes which introduced me to Autostraddle so I’m just trying to pay it forward.
^_^
Not ragging on anyone at all but, you guys….
AS is sooooo much more than a blog. Now that it’s been called that twice in these comments I feel I must say something.
AS is a daily LGBTQxyz newspaper y’all! I just don’t think “blog” adequately describes this place. It may have started as such or as offspring of a blog, but it’s wayyyy more than that now. At least to me. ;-) And no, I don’t work at AS or even personally know any of the ladies/trans/queermos folks responsible for this palace of homogayness.
yeah i think that term gets thrown around a lot even though if you look through anything where we describe ourselves to others — media kit, “about us”, etc — we never self-identify as a blog. EVERYONE IS LABELING US WITHOUT OUR CONSENT WE SELF-IDENTIFY AS AN ONLINE MAGAZINE
no but for real — when it comes to content specifically, we operate like an online magazine which also has a daily news blog and an active community, i think. about half our stories are magazine-style, and all our features are magazine-style feature articles. obvs a long time ago i wanted to run a magazine one day, so this is the closest we can get.
That’s the way I’ve always thought of AS.
This is the huffpost of queerness.
Statistically speaking I am the only me here.
A1 3000 Responses
A2 6.00% Over 35
A3 1.70% Trans
A4 60.00% Lesbian
A5 52.00% Graduated College
1 ROUND(A1*A2*A3*A4*A5)
Only Me.
Therefore: Lennon lied when he said I was not the only one.
Oops on the double paste :)
Glad that you (the only you) are here on Autostraddle! Represent. Also, you seem to know fancy things about statistics.
Following your logic, it turns out that there’s 96 of me.
(There’s a song in it somewhere, I reckon. A Nena-cover perhaps: “96 female-identified bisexuals in gradschool”, or something. Or maybe just “96 bisexual bottles of beer on the wall.”)
Ha – I am one of the 96 too! I think I’ll be singing that song on the way to (grad)school today.
Sydney is #7.
LOL FOREVER
I spent the weekend there. I’m now twice as sad to be back in Adelaide.
Oh lordy do I wish I could spend the weekend in Sydney. It’s a bit far from Vancouver.
Sydney: seventh most expensive AND seventh gayest place on Earth.
What about the straight girls? Is that a naughty word here?
Nope!
I LOOOOOOOVE straight girls!!!
i was about to say that but you beat me to it. HAHAH!! oh dear.
Where are all these New Yorkers? I want to do some sort of “New York Represent” thing by raising my hand and scissor high-fiving, but I think that would just be a peace sign.
And I found out about AS through my voice teacher, who tends to be a bit famous around AS and lesboland.
sounds tricky.
I’ve been trying!
What’s tricky, doing it or making it a thing?
I had this image of you doing it with your legs (clearly I am too literal when thinking of scissoring). In my head you’d have had to have done a lot of yoga.
I thought I was going to be fancy with some html pictures up in hurr but apparently not. Here’s a link to a picture of a high five scissor
http://dxkdul4cprxwx.cloudfront.net/f96f8393f799424290c8a4749a7ec1fc_400x400.jpg
aaaaah, gotcha. I missed the memo on how to do that.
But now you know! Go forth and scissor bump all the queer girls you know!
Queers. You seriously don’t know how to do this?
It’s the scissorbump. Directions below.
1. Fistbump
2. Pull back fist, make scissor shape with index and middle finger
3. Scissor between your friend’s fingers
4. Pull back hand again, making scissoring/cutting motions with your two fingers
it is the best thing.
That’s kind of complicated! I just got right in with the scissoring my friend’s hand like. That’s how I roll though. Never mind the prebump, let’s get to the scissor action.
It’s kind of a complicated long process, with only a small amount of payoff. LIKE SCISSORING ITSELF! Which is why it’s perfect!
I do this with the lesbigays that I know IRL but they are few and far between and IDK if they do this when they aren’t with me.
I didn’t vote as I’ve only joined recently but woo! Sydney #7.
Also first comment :) Hi everyone!
I’ve gone up a demographic since the survey! And I use a different label to define my sexuality. And I don’t really read food blogs anymore. Basically, I’m just here fucking up your stats, so… apologies for that?
Also I can’t remember how I got here. It’s like one day I was just here and had always been here.
No joke, I found you guys through Krista’s links on EffingDykes. She was my Queerness 101 go to blog. Pretty sure my gayness exploded overnight when I found out that there was something beyond her, something a little grander in scale. One big site run by a bunch of awesome queermo ladies covering all sorts of topics.
I hate that my city didn’t even make the list of top cities! Where are the san diegans =(
At the beach.
You have to find them and they could be anywhere
Wheeeeeeeree on Eaaaaaaarth is Carmen Sandiego! Carmen Sandiego!!
Sorry, I couldn’t stop myself.
Sorry, I moved away long before I realized my proclivities. :(
san diego is 25th
I’m heading to Melbourne soon, so I’m glad to see it’s represented! And I pretty much fit all these categories…
I mostly lurk because I am socially awkward, even on the internet.
Hell, especially on the internet.
But we’re super nice!
We love you.
I came across Autostraddle on effingdykes, which I found through AfterEllen, which I found after googling ‘Tegan and Sara haircuts’ – no joke.
Question: what’s the number one city from non-english speaking countries? Just out of curiosity…
well, montreal, kinda (french).
next up would be singapore, then paris. unless they speak a different language in Edinburgh
Singapore has 4 official languages, and English is one of them.
The laws are in English, most business there is done in English, kids are taught it in school/etc.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that they speak English in Singapore! :)
Sing is right on the button!
Actually English is our first language (our meaning I’m from Singapore). Most of my friends can’t actually fluently use their mother tongue, so really, just English!
I have a feeling I am the only welsh here :P
You can’t be the only gay in the village, surely.
I didn’t take part in the survey since at the time I was either unaware of AS or just plain ignorant, but I’m pretty sure there are only two of us from Aberdeen in Scotland. I’m basing that purely on the make-up of the Autoscots group. I link to a bunch of AS articles on my facebook though so maybe there are some Aberdonian lurkers?
Where does Edinburgh come in the list? Just to know how many people could potentially come to the Autostraddle meet up… (8pm on the 28th Jan at Planet, just in case anyone sees this!)
So Montreal and Paris (since Singapore speaks english as Sing mentioned above.)
You go Autostraddleuses Francophones!
Glad to see that there are more 35+ than just me. I found AS right when I was struggling to come out of the closet. My life was totally sucking and I was desperate to change it. AS was one of the little pushes that helped me. I have since met a wonderful group of professional gay women in Atlanta, GA that have made my life even better. AND I met my wonderful girlfriend through that group.
So thanks AS for giving me the positive influence I needed to change my life!!!
The perfect washout: 53.6 excercize and 53.6 like cooking
Minus Chicago, Minneapolis and Houston I see there were no defaults to other flyover cities and from this independent, Eastern Establishment, New England bread girl I am quite pleased…oh except I am among the 6% of “grandmothers” over 35. So I suppose thirty five is now the new fifty?!?!?!?
Oh good lord I hope not I am way to young to be 50 already. I just got over turning 36.
And I was completely shocked to find that Atlanta was not even in the top 20.
atlanta = #29
I think 50 is the new 35 since 30 is the new 20.
I can’t remember what article it was that brought me to Autostraddle… I just remember it was around the time of marriage equality in New York and I was sitting on the living room couch trying not to melt in the summer heat.
How do more of you not drink gin? HOW ARE WE EVEN FRIENDS?!
ikr
G&T’s are my go-to drink!
GIN!!!
Rachel Maddow turned me on to the gin rickey and now I’m fucking hooked.
I finally joined AS a few days ago but I’ve been lurking for months. I found AS through a girl’s tumblr who I actually followed through AfterEllen when I had no friends lol I think I’m an average user, I’m 23…I’m online a lot (close to being addicted probably), I drink BUT I haven’t been hungover since that informative post about hangover cures. Small victories like that thanks to AS. I’m in grad school (that might change soon) but I was hoping to see Atlanta on that list ^_^ There has to be some cool AS users here, right lol
TWO THINGS:
1. I don’t know stuff about math and stats and stuff but maybe next time you could have two separate questions for “how do you identify?” The first could be choose-one-only and ask for your preferred ID. And then the second could be “choose all other terms with which you identify.” It would make me sad to lose the ability to pick multiple IDs because I really like that, but I can see how when all the data gets thrown together there’s no way to make connections. ANYWAY!
2. YOU GUYS I AM THE 49.3%. I mean obviously I comment every once in a while but it’s definitely less than monthly. More like 4x/year. YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD CHANGE THIS? COMMENT REPLY NOTIFICATIONS. FOR REAL. It’s impossible for me to have a conversation if I don’t know when someone has replied to something I’ve said and just have to keep checking until the end of time and THAT person also has to keep checking until the end of time to know that I’VE continued the conversation. And if my comment isn’t going to turn into a conversation, why leave it at all? It is very very very infrequent that I have a thought re: an article that feels SO IMPORTANT that I just need to tack it on as, like, an addendum to the article, whether or not it will generate conversation. And on those occasions I comment. Like now. Because this feels like important feedback. But it’s also the 198th comment, so I don’t even know if anyone will see it. You see what I mean? Okay that’s all.
there should be a check box underneath the text field when you comment that says “notify me of followup comments?” try checking that and see if it helps!
I tried that once and it informed me of all further comments on the article, not just replies to mine.
(And it was an article on bisexuality. Oops!)
Maybe that’s what maddie0’s looking for, though, idk.
I always check that & I never once have received a notification. But then I think your server hates my email address, period, because I can not sign up. I contacted Tess about this months ago but it was never resolved.
Some techno things don’t work right here.
Same as Rachel (er… red-hat-Rachel who replied to you, not you-Rachel to whom I am replying!), when I do that it just sends me an email every time someone leaves any new comment at all. This includes comments on the article, replies to me, and replies to other people. I’ve done it a couple of times just to keep tabs on a conversation but got a little overwhelmed after doing so for the article about IFC screwing over Autostraddle. 193 emails later…!
I second Maddie and Rachel
Hey London straddlers, holler up! It’d be awesome to meet you all some time so I can flail about the awesome with people who aren’t my straight friends who only read Autostraddle for the Gleecaps.
Also if we’re on the subject of article subjects, I miss the poetry! Can someone do a post about Carol Ann Duffy so we can bask in her awesome?
A London meet-up would be awesome. I’m game.
I loved the poetry posts as well!
I had no idea there were so many Londoners here: perhaps a meetup would be fun? Certainly there’s a lot going on this summer.
Thank you for reminding me to check out the London Straddlers group
I’m not a Londoner exactly but I could get to London within an hour by train, so if the meetup’s on a weekend, I might be able to make it.
ALSO THIS IS SO EXCITING YOU GUYS CAROL ANN DUFFY IS COMING TO MY SCHOOL THIS FRIDAY it is going to be the BEST.
that’s super exciting
I’ll be 34 in march next year, can I still vote or do I become an old queer girl? I don’t have any cats though. And I am married but we have two dogs. Wow, I’m a rule breaker.
I think dog count as animal babies too though.
I was surprised by how relatively few poly people there are, but I think that’s because poly people seem to gravitate towards me at college, or else I gravitate towards them… not entirely sure which, but I like it. In any case, I’m used to being around a large enough poly community that I automatically avoid using phrases that suggest relationships can only consist of two people.
Pretty sure I found you through random googling, or possibly a strange chain of link-clicking. Like you do.
I have to admit, I’m encouraged to find there’s a pretty high proportion of bisexuals and such. It’s nice and it makes me feel more welcome. Of course no website can compete with the sheer bi concentration on Tumblr, but there are more adults here, which is just fine by me.
This was pretty awesome, and not as aesthetically painful as we were warned it would be. On another note, I def need to get more of my friends in The Netherlands to come here. It’s depressing we don’t show up on that list *le sigh*
Groeten uit Rotterdam!
I got here after Youtube suggested, more or less out of the blue, the coming out videos from Cathy DeBuono and Jill Bennett on the IWantTheWorldToKnow channel. That was a good day as I was struggling with my sexuality / sexual orientation on top of being trans and their videos helped a lot.
Watching some of their work I got a reference to Autostraddle and finally joined yesterday.
The more the merrier. :)
This is very informative. Sometimes (Okay, almost all the time) it feels like the world is full of crazy people, which makes me think maybe I am the crazy one. Autostraddle as a whole makes me feel sane, and I could never ever thank you enough for that!
I recently discovered Autostraddle and I’m 47. I’m trying to skew your stats.
Deviant.
6% comment every day
I am the 6%. MWAHAHAHAHAHA. I love you guyz all so so so much.
Darling, I hate to break the news, but you’re more like the 1% megaobsessiveubercommenter. <3
<3
It's okay. I still respect The 99%.
alright this article convinced me to get outta the lurkers closet. all according to their evil plan!
Hmm last summer? I must have just missed this survey then because I found AS sometime during the summer. And I’ve never turned back. I don’t comment much but I can change that. :)
From Texas, living in Italy. Military straddlers represent! (UGH I am a huge geek)
Also, I tried to stand up dramatically after posting that comment and tripped over my rug.
FACEPLANTED.
Thought you all would enjoy that.
I see you face plant and I raise you with a Most Embarassing Moment Ever.
I was on the train today, and I needed to pee desperately, but the floor of the train toilet was flooded. Against my better judgement, I went in anyway, hopping and skipping in a desperate attempt not to get my shoes wet. So finally, I am sitting on the toilet, feet from the floor, pants on my ankles, and guess what ? Besides a clogged drain, apparently the toilet had a busted lock too. So when the train runs over a bump in the tracks, the toilet door flies open and the entire train compartment looks at me in my Cirque du Soleil ‘Let’s not get wet’-position.
I just tell you this to make you feel better. And welcome.
At least you had a toilet on the train….
Haha WOW I’m sorry that’s horrible. But yes, a least you had a toilet.. I have some Sailor stories that would make you cringe. (Public restrooms in Italy are almost nonexistent)
Well I love autostraddle and I’m happy to be the 6.5% under 18.
I found AS cos I was looking for Glee recaps and AfterEllen kinda scared me.
wise choice, grasshopper. we are a friendly people.
I got here through a comment on an AfterEllen forum. Happy was that day for me. :)
http://SoNotStraight.tumblr.com
Why no race or ethnicity question?
That’d be a tricky one to calculate, because many countries categorise race differently. I’m at least 2 or 3 different races around the world depending on who you ask. Besides, I don’t think it’s quite as relevant as the other questions in terms of figuring out what sort of people read A/S – an Asian person in Singapore is going to have a far different experience of queerness than an Asian person in the US, for example.
I’d think for stuff that you’d use the race question for (like being ostracised for being a minority) you’d probably be much better off asking specific life-experience questions.
I am so glad other autostraddle readers watch cooking shows, and I’m not crazy. It is literally all my (also super gay) roommate and I have cable for.
Also everyone is so smart!! What the hell, this is awesome.
Fuck Yeah Montreal :D
I can’t tell you how excited I am that Melbourne, Australia ranks in your top 10 readers! Maybe you guys should look into getting an Aussie contributor and reporting about awesome/enraging stuff that happens in the Queer community here! Cause we totes have political homo drama down here and we make bitchin queer movies and generally we’re kind of awesome, talented and sexy. Just FYI.
You totes need to hang out here a bit longer, Kerrigan. AS does a pretty good job of keeping the readers [ahem] abreast of what’s happening here downunder. (I’m in Melbourne too!)
actually our music editor Crystal lives in Sydney! (randomly, one entire side of my family lives in Australia so I have a special affection for it, and not just because Crystal — who is the best person on the planet — lives there)
ooo you could do an Autostraddle World Tour
Fuck yeah Singapore!
FUCK YEAH SINGAPORE. SO PROUD RIGHT NOW.
ALSO, I GOT HERE BY THE HORRIBLE SHOW WE ALL LOVE – TRLW HAHAHA. FRANNY’S PHOTOSHOOT, WHUT.
When does the next survey come out? I tried reading through the comments but there are waaaaaaaay too many.
Oh ooh oooh I love surveys. Do another! Please?
I’m definitely one of the “googled lesbian sex” members. Love this site though – it helps me feel connected, and really opened up some wicked queer content. Good stuff, ladies!
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Hey there! I support and read you from Croatia and am a freelance designer / illustrator in case you ever need help in a pinch!
Nice posted