[genericone]

I wouldn't say its a very 'low' design site as much as it is a very 'simply' designed site. I find HN to be very easily browsed and wouldn't have it any other way. The simple design shouldn't have any bearing on the number of female visitors to HN.

[Mistone]

disagree, there are the blatantly obvious reasons as stated in comments above. Women do read tech news sites but I think HN design is more appealing to men. Not the core reason for the audience stat but an aside.