why only women mostly do these things? what do men do?

Agree that sailing, golf & cycling are likely to be where you find all the men ;)

Theories on why they're not in the other groups:

1. From an evolutionary perspective, on average men use fewer words per day than women, so are less likely to notice the lack of 'company'.
2. Partly resulting from decades of 1, men are not as good at striking up conversation with a stranger or making new friends.
3. Based on a sample of 1 from my DF, men only seem interested in doing something they are already good at as a group activity. He seemed to really struggle with attending an old blokes exercise class & finding he couldn't immediately do all the things proficiently. So obviously rather than identifying these as the ones he needed time & persistence on to get stronger & look after his health, he just sacked the whole class off. I think it's an ego thing, but imagining him taking up Mandarin classes, only to have his pronunciation & vocab errors corrected every week by a 55kg female native speaker - I cannot! (or pottery with a 35 year old male instructor for that matter).

And then there's an epidemic of male loneliness & all the knock on mental health issues of not talking enough into old age (dementia as well as depression).

How you make them humble enough to try something they'll not automatically be good at I don't know 🤷🏼‍♀️

[PS yes, not ALL men]

There aren't many courses these days. In the past my husband did a number of evening courses, mainly cooking. It was fortunate in that he worked locally and I was the one commuting. A problem with courses being if they started at 7 I'd not be home long before he went out. I think this can be an issue as it does tend to be men that are the main commuters so evening classes would be a pain.

True, men will go on YouTube or find some forum about wjat they want to learn.
They'll talk with other men in comments and mostly don't feel the need to talk talk.

A few men's shed places popping up where I am, but always empty when I walk past.

I am a man. I am a keen sailboat racer and our club has majority of men sailors (a lot of grumpy ones too!). However the newer younger sailors seem to be about 50/50. I think we men are far less social and like more competition type activities, which is possibly to our detriment.

I've noticed something similar. Walking/social groups I've participated in, 75+% women (although I'd estimate none of them are interested in a man). Community allotment, mostly women. Cancer research shop volunteers, 90+% women. Sussex Green Living volunteers, mostly women. The local bridge club is more mixed but even there, newcomers learning the game are roughly 3:1 in favour of women. Only the local Rotary club is biased male but that is likely a throwback from the days when Rotary was men only. I love women so I'm not complaining at all, but I do wonder why the gender bias across such a broad spectrum of activities, many of which are not stereotypically feminine hobbies/interests? You might think me getting involved in a range of activities which are female biased might improve my chances of finding a romantic partner, well it might have done, from infinitesimally small to three fifths of bugger all 😆.

Look up ‘male flight’, OP.

Same goes for activities after work or at the weekend so I don't think it's that.

The groups that I belong to that contain the most males are

Motorbikes
Scuba diving
Music
Sports
Projects where things are built from wood

Around my way volunteering seems to be how people meet, or during the lunch/drink out with the group. Litter picking, conservation stuff has a lot of male volunteers. Courses like local history, photography, appeal to both. If you just want sex, join a gym and go in the sauna.

While I find that's true of most things I've found a few exceptions - volunteering at park run, a hiking group & a board games cafe all had more men than women, but on the whole you're right. I think women are generally more sociable, idk

Yes, very odd.

Men either don’t want to learn new skills or have own bye tests - such as golf/following football team or just spending hours in a pub

Is the focus on dating, hobbies or learning useful skills?

If the focus is dating, no reason to spend much time in why men are not interested in salsa. Instead, perhaps you could research best ways to meet men who are interested in dating.

If you are wondering why men and women hobbies are not similar, this is a deeper topic, heavily researched and it has to do with inherent interests sometimes driven by hormones and physiology (and sometimes social norms).

If it's about the courses themselves and who finds them useful, this is again a deeper topic. Lots of people find pottery and pilates useful if they help them with physical or mental health, or are related to their careers. Others see these as fun activities/hobbies so not more useful than playing computer games or darts at the pub.

I think men are just in the habit or mindset more of 'just do it'. So my DP wanted to play golf and just went and joined the club and went round with his mates and they taught him. Similarly he just went off and joined the gym and somehow by some weird osmosis just knows what to do on each machine.

I'm not sure if it's confidence or less fear of being judged or of making a mistake.

Interestingly he's been on the same job for 1000 years due to fear of moving whilst I've happily moved from job to job with no fear.

Il

Well, women twitter on about babies and make up all the time and never shut up so I expect they feel the need to try and get a word in edgewise between all the nagging.

Or is that a ridiculous, offensive stereotype too?

Meh.
I train and compete in a dog sport hobby. At grassroots level it is heavily skewed towards middle aged to older women (also white, middle class ish). And I think it is that they are mostly married and either don't work or don't work full time, or are retired. Basically ex SAHM. It's easier to find time and energy and money for those things if you have a partner who is working full time and supporting you.
They are also available to do things mid week and daytimes, as a single woman working a lot of hours I can't commit the time or resources they do, I can only do the weekends and evening.
Obviously there are exceptions there are single women like me who support themselves, some men, some young people with kids. But I'd say 80-90% fit the bracket I have described.

But you’re still meeting men and actually being approached- isn’t that the point? Beyond a shit pick up line might actually be a really nice guy.

Because far more women are SAHP than men, so they have time to do these courses when the kids are at school?

My husband does some and I have done some there is a mix of men and women, but why does it matter who does what? If people are doing things that interest them whatever that may be isn't that what we all do?

Or is it a case of people needing to feel superior because they have issues with something?

My husband does some and I have done some there is a mix of men and women, but why does it matter who does what? If people are doing things that interest them whatever that may be isn't that what we all do?

Or is it a case of people needing to feel superior because they have issues with something?

Dp is a board gamer. Quite a mixed scene now for those in their 20s, but at his age (50s) it is extremely male heavy. He spends quite a lot of time preparing for the big sessions - reading books about the game, watching how-to-play videos, getting to know the game mechanic. I don't at all mind playing games as a social event, but can't imagine spending any of the extra time he spends on it. But it's a proper hobby, he enjoys it all. If I play, I benefit from his knowledge.

If he learns, he enjoys something online and gamified like Duolingo rather than going for a social setting like a course. I think the social part of the course isn't of interest to him, he either wants to socialise wuth his friends or to learn.

I'm in an art class and there's 8 women and one man. The man rarely even talks!

She ain't wrong though is she? They do think they know everything and will gladly talk over you to tell everyone what they know. 😂

Courses I have been on have had plenty of men - computer programming about 75%, electronics I was the only woman.

They are doing martial arts!

In the last few years I have started doing a martial art and it appears to be very male dominated. There are more men/boys in the classes and all of the teachers are male. Including ones who have been invited in from outside the club for a workshop etc.

As for activities/evening classes, my OH once did an evening class in woodwork and said it was mainly blokes. He has also played darts and skittles (mainly an excuse to visit the pub methinks). I’ve done yoga and sewing which was 100% female and the gym which was a mum’s class but did contain a few token blokes 😂