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

In my experience it depends on the language. KGerman and Russian: more men. Italian and French: more women. Korean: 99% women

Yup, my mum goes to a family history course - 10 students, 9 women and 1 man, And the teacher is a woman too.

Perhaps this is generalisation, but the men I know communicate entirely in a task based manner, DH included. They don't do chit chat. They just want to land the plane. They are all about getting to a goal.
Women often use chit chat to vent and be seen.I certainly do. I love chit chat even when it has no purpose. It's all about the journey for me. Luckily I have my mum, sis and DD for silly chit chat!

Most men don't want to be social in the same way women do 🤷🏼‍♀️

I think it's a combination of:

• Most men will do some kind of sport as a hobby if they have one
• Men are generally less sociable and happier in their own company
• More men than women are in full time employment (not loads more, but enough to make a difference in who has the time and energy for classes)
• In general men feel less social pressure to have a complete/fulfilled life, or to be seen to have a wide range of interest
• Men read less than women so that explains the book clubs
• Far fewer men learn languages than women so that explains the language courses
• As pointed out men are more likely to self teach/learn a skill

A lot of men tend to develop their interests and skills within their career in order to extract defined benefit for it.
Or into hobbies that are enjoyable.
Women seem to be more interested in doing a course to learn something just for the hell of it and to meet new people and a certificate at the end adds to the sense of validation.

I agree with the social elements also. A lot of women want to hear and be heard. Most men aren't interested and already know +1 more people than they have time for. They enjoy the company of other men because it will often mean they are focused on doing something rather than just aimlessly talking with each other without much purpose.

As an example my brother went on 1/2 day pasta making course for the sole purpose of learning to make pasta for his partner and her family.
He said it was mainly full of women which was fine.
There was lots of chat about the task, again fine.
But then those next to him would stray into getting-to-know-you small talk, like where have you travelled from, what do you do for a living etc which in his mind was distracting, pointless and nothing to do with them.

He wasn't there to make friends and had no intention of ever seeing any of them again.
It was clear he found the women annoying so just ignored them unless it was about the pasta making.
But I 100% guarantee the women would have said he was a weird grumpy antisocial middle aged man because he didn't want anything to do with their attempts at pointless social interaction lol

The male dominated activities in my area include golf (the main one), surfing, paddle-boarding and sailing. The arts groups, reading clubs & yoga classes are predominantly (often exclusively) female.

This! They'd prefer to be in front of telly than making effort to do stuff

Yes I know about different types of work.

However, my comment is to clarify the statistic on women having less leisure time than men. This statistic specifically applies to women in paid work vs men in paid work because the women in paid work do their job plus what a stay at home wife/mother does.

I have done two painting classes. One was about 50-50. The other there was only one man.

One factor is women living longer. I volunteer for a charity and the typical volunteer is a woman over 50 who lives alone.

When I became single again aged 30 I joined the gym but the men there were only interested in themselves and I also took up flying lessons as I used to test my boss who was doing his licence. I thought I might meet someone there but they were all old men. I did date a builder with a pilots licence who also built kit planes but he was controlling and loved other women. Other courses or hobbies I’ve done after I remarried were all women. I became a Homestart volunteer and did Zumba. I think if you want to meet a man it’s internet dating or find religion and go to church. Not sure where they all hang out these days.

This is pretty much dh and me! Kids are teens and I have weekends back. Demanding job though, so nothing that involves brain power after work.

Russian art history class, 50/50.

I think it's well established that men lose testosterone as they get older and want to ' nest'. Meanwhile women lose oestrogen- the caring hormone- and want to escape the nest.

I have done several language classes over the last few years and it's been very equal. My current class has more men than women.

I have always thought that single women are better at getting out there and doing things than single men are, and not just to meet a partner, but to learn something and be sociable.

it's possible that single men are worried they will be outnumbered by needy women!

My aqua class is 6 men out of 55!

One of my gym classes is 50/50. The other is 80% women. No idea why.

I'm not really one for joining classes, because I can't commit. I like to learn things by myself. However, I'm a member of a large book group (not a single man!) And a sports team. My other hobbies are individual ones though.

Dh has never been part of anything. But we do go to a lot of gigs, together and separately, and always get chatting to people.

Back in the day I tried a jive dancing course - I wanted to do it anyway but sort of hoped I might meet someone.
It turned out absolutely everyone else was already in a couple.

My ex was like this though. In his mind learning equated to job-related training, and that was the only learning that had any purpose or value for an adult. Tbf though, he is (or certainly was) someone with a particularly 'fixed' view of life.

(I was working in academia when I was with him, so we weren't exactly a match made in heaven. 😄)

I think if you joined a golf or cycling club the ratios would be very different

I think one explanation is that men generally are less proactive in socialising or trying new things.

Men in straight couples often rely on their DW or DP to organise their social life. So their time is filled. That’s why they can struggle more if bereaved or divorced.

Single men may not be proactive enough to enrol, would feel awkward (especially if it’s mainly women on the course) or choose other ways to socialise, e.g. play or watch sport, solitary pursuits like fishing or see friends socially or online.

Finally, men in couples may be more likely to work full-time, often in demanding jobs or long hours, so perhaps don’t feel they have the time or energy to go to courses.

If the courses you’ve been on have mainly been retired women, I think retired men can struggle more. Again, if in a couple, they do things with their DP. If alone, they may not do much, do solitary things (gardening, fishing etc) or socialise other ways.

All women work. In paid employment and then by holding up neo-liberal capitalism by doing most of the domestic work, caring work, child-rearing work that society would not function without. I think we should go on strike - permanently.

In a previous job at an FE college, I attended the open evening primarily aimed at attracting new teenage students who usually rock up with parents.

My job was to talk to the parents about not letting the DC grab all the learning opportunities, how about them? We had every kind of course you can imagine, from plumbing to astronomy.

The women would usually look quite interested and take a brochure or want to chat. The men I approached looked at me like I had suggested shitting in their shoes.

Really striking difference. I can only conclude the men didn’t consider there was any room for self improvement.

Sad reply

I think you could be right, they know it all already 😂

But also, in my experience, women tend to have more get-up-and-go to try new things. A lot of men tend to languish in their comfort zones (well, that's certainly true of my DH anyway 😄, but also other men I've known.)