Internet Gender Issues

[Lace Neil Singer]

Post here and say what gender you are, plus what other usernames you've used online and whether you've ever been mistaken for the opposite sex. XD

Well, I'm female. I also go by The Anti-Crisst and SS Lt Frehley; yup, I do get mistaken for a guy lots of times. XD I admit my usernames are a bit ambiguous, but I've posted with a girly signature, title and avatar and STILL had someone assuming I'm male. o_O

[HYHYBT]

It's funny; I always post with this name (though sometimes not capitalized) and, despite it being about as nondescript as you can get, I can't recall anyone ever mistaking me for a female.

[muses_nightmare]

I don't think I've ever been mistaken as male...though my usernames really aren't too masculine. It's either this one, or Obsidiana, so yeah.

[SorryIsGoodEnough]

I am usually mistaken for a male. I'm not.

[Greenday]

Every screenname of mine includes Greenday in it. Never been mistaken for a women ever before.

[Arcade Man D]

I won't post my other names on here because this is my same name as CS and this is a name I keep wholly seperate from my other online names for the reason of it being a CS/Fratching account, but I'm a guy and I've never been called "she".

My girlfriend, on the other hand, uses her name, which is a woman's name that is not ever given to a guy (Not even as rarely in this hemisphere as, say, Sasha), and some people still call her "he" on forums.

[MaggieTheCat]

I'm a girl. "Maggie" is a pretty feminine name so I don't think I've ever been mistaken for a guy, except maybe on the GameFAQs forums. I don't post there very often because it's mostly populated by 13 year olds, but apparently they're all under the impression that girls either don't play video games or don't post on message boards, or both, because despite the fact that my username there is the same is it is here, I've still been called a guy.

My old username, however, would usually make people think I was a guy at first. I used to go by Tiamat in a lot of chat rooms, which is, in fact, a female name. A lot of people just don't know it (or have read incorrect things about it being male.)

[Wingates_Hellsing]

Despite the fact that my user name has always derived from the character Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, I have never been mistaken for female

[guywithashovel]

This is the only forum on which I've ever used this screenname. I honestly can't even remember how I came up with this name. Sometimes, I wish I had picked something else, because I know it probably makes me sound like some seedy psychopath who lurks around in graveyards, but oh well. No one has ever mistaken me for a female with this name, since this name makes my gender pretty obvious.

Years ago, I used to frequent this chat site called Chatalyst. On that site, I usually used the name Illusion. A few times, I got mistaken for a girl. After a while, I got to using the name Vincent, and everyone knew I was a guy then. But at the same time, some people suspected me of being involved in vampirism and occultic stuff.

[I8DaCookie]

With my current SN, I figure everyone assumes I'm female and probably a little girl. It is a little cutesy and sounds like what a child would say.

The SN I used before this one came from Mr. Peabody and the only mistake anyone got from that one is they thought I called myself that because I went to the Peabody Conservatory.

[Gravekeeper]

Unless I'm actually on a female avatar of some sort, I'm not typically mistaken for a girl, no. I've been suspect of one a couple of times, as some of my handles are ambiguous in online games, but hitting voice chat typically erases that notion.

I have both male and female avatars in games though. I default to male of course but if its an alt or the art style for males is hideous ( WoW ;p ) I may be on a mangina.

I'm easy to spot though. As I'll be the woman that actually has pants on, isn't dressed like a Thai dock whore and isn't spamming /dance at every opportunity in an attempt to whore favours out of male players. Ironically that's why I get mistaken for a Real Girl(tm) by other players above the age of 12.

[Boozy]

What I am about to say might be controversial, but what is Fratching for, right?

I think that being mistaken for a man or a woman has less to do with our screen names than we think. There are some good examples from this thread; HYHYBT has a non-descript screen name, but is also rightfully assumed to be a man. Arcade Man's girlfriend uses her real, feminine name, and is often presumed to be male.

I think it's probably because of the content of their posts. I've found that women's posts tend to have more emotional content (things like "hugs!" and "OMG I feel so bad for you!). Men's posts tend to be more facts and figures oriented. A poster's reaction to an SC is a typical giveaway. Do they describe how they feel about it? Probably a woman. Do they focus more on the sheer injustice? Probably a man. I can guess the gender of a poster correctly more times than not based on tone.

There are some obvious exceptions -- me, for example. I am often assumed to be male. Part of that may be my screen name, but part of it might be my tone.

I've noticed that angry posts are often assumed to be made by men, even if they aren't. If I'm ranting and raving about a bad customer at CS, the responses in that thread assume me to be male. I haven't found more angry posts by men than by women, but I've noticed a definite trend in assumptions of masculinity.

The internet has provided a fascinating glimpse into the concept of gender that we rarely see in real-life.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I used to go by Tiamat in a lot of chat rooms, which is, in fact, a female name. A lot of people just don't know it (or have read incorrect things about it being male.)

Tiamat is, to me anyway, the many headed female dragon in the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon so I know it's s a female name. XD My Gaia name is Lace Gaara; I've been mistaken for male a couple of times, tho only if my avatar was masked. Particularly if wearing the Anubis mask. XD

I think it's probably because of the content of their posts. I've found that women's posts tend to have more emotional content (things like "hugs!" and "OMG I feel so bad for you!). Men's posts tend to be more facts and figures oriented. A poster's reaction to an SC is a typical giveaway. Do they describe how they feel about it? Probably a woman. Do they focus more on the sheer injustice? Probably a man. I can guess the gender of a poster correctly more times than not based on tone.

That's probably why I get mistaken for a guy; I tend not to give out emotion in that way online and focus on injustice and facts. XD Maybe it's cuz of my Aspergers, I don't know. All I know is that I could call myself "Girly Girl McGirl" and I'd still be suspected of having a penis.

[Arcade Man D]

I think it's probably because of the content of their posts. I've found that women's posts tend to have more emotional content (things like "hugs!" and "OMG I feel so bad for you!). Men's posts tend to be more facts and figures oriented.

That's probably why she's often assumed to be a guy by some posters, then, since she's a math geek and tends to post (and think) more logically than "touchy-feely".

As for my alternate forum handles, my main one is completely neutral toward gender, and I tend to not use character avatars on forums, rather I use symbols or pictures of foxes. But my post content tends to make people realize I'm male, following your logic.

[gremcint]

What gender do people think I am?