Post 4220330 - (Anonymity and gender...)

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Anonymity and gender...

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Sparx
Thingamajig
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Age: 21
Posts: 2185
Location: N. Sanity Island

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 4:44 pm Post subject: Anonymity and gender...

I'm curious. What leads to your assumption of an anonymous' gender, specifically online? Does male serve as a default for an unknown?

TallyMan
Rebooting
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Posts: 36760

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:05 pm Post subject:

Without any gender specific clues in posts it is difficult; I've sometimes made the mistake of using the wrong pronouns when referring to someone based on wrong assumptions, usually based on their avatar. Frequently it is too much trouble to click on a person's profile to check their gender before posting. Sometimes I'm waaaaaaaay wrong. One member on here that I'd assumed was around 40 years old male was actually 20 and female! _________________ - signature -

TenPencePiece
Curiosity Killed the Cone
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:12 pm Post subject:

Quote:

Frequently it is too much trouble to click on a person's profile to check their gender before posting.

Really? It's just one click...

I've been wrong before too, though. Avatars and the way people write can tell quite a bit about who you percieve them to be.
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Sylkat
Miskatonic University Student Body President
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Posts: 7148

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:21 pm Post subject:

One of the things I like about the Internet is being ageless, genderless,ethnically and religiously neutral...just being people. When assumption is made regarding any of the above, do you think it is due to pre-existing ideas of how a woman or a Democrat or a Brit thinks or responds? Sylkat

IdahoRose
Imaginary Friend
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Age: 22
Posts: 18651

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:21 pm Post subject:

It can be difficult to tell someone's sex online, especially on a site like this one where so many people defy gender stereotypes. Many a time I have assumed that someone was male/female on this site and was proven wrong when I looked at their profile. It has also gone the other way around - before I became widely recognized on here, many people thought I was male.

Fnord
Enigmatic Threadkilling Metasyntactic Variable
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Posts: 18376
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:24 pm Post subject:

On the Internet, no one can tell that I'm actually a 3-year old female autistic genius with the vocabulary of a college graduate and the libido of a day-old biscuit. _________________ * Believing in myths allows the comfort of having an opinion without the discomfort of having to think. * Believing that you're worthless allows the comfort of having something to complain about without the discomfort of having to change.

Asp-Z
Clockwork Planet
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Joined: Dec 07, 2009
Posts: 11016

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:25 pm Post subject:

I'm actually a cat walking across a keyboard. If I happen to write legible sentences on it while doing so, that's a bonus.

TallyMan
Rebooting
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:28 pm Post subject:

TenPencePiece wrote:

Quote:

Frequently it is too much trouble to click on a person's profile to check their gender before posting.

Really? It's just one click...

I've been wrong before too, though. Avatars and the way people write can tell quite a bit about who you percieve them to be.

No mistaking your gender based on your avatar!!! Laughing

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TenPencePiece
Curiosity Killed the Cone
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Age: 18
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:35 pm Post subject:

Well, someone sees my avatar and think I'm on a cone shaped rocket headed to space _________________ Ten's radio show: Next repeated at 10am BST Friday My site: www.thinking-different.com Skype: fiftypencepiece (ConeFool)

OliveOilMom
Queen of cans and jars
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Posts: 6990
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 7:03 pm Post subject:

TallyMan wrote:

Without any gender specific clues in posts it is difficult; I've sometimes made the mistake of using the wrong pronouns when referring to someone based on wrong assumptions, usually based on their avatar. Frequently it is too much trouble to click on a person's profile to check their gender before posting.

Sometimes I'm waaaaaaaay wrong. One member on here that I'd assumed was around 40 years old male was actually 20 and female! Laughing

I thought you were male because your username is TallyMan. Although I do think of "Hey mister tallyman, tally me bananas" when I see it, but you have the old man as your avatar, so I thought you were male.

Frances

Ganondox
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 7:30 pm Post subject:

OliveOilMom wrote:

TallyMan wrote:

Profile says male.

I generally assume male, and have been surprised a lot when I check people's profiles, but usernames and avatars play a major role. Do I appear any more more masculine than anyone else here?
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Sparx
Thingamajig
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 7:48 pm Post subject:

It doesn't matter too much to me. I'm just often thought to be a guy on here, and I was wondering what I did to present myself as such. And yes, it's hard to tell online. Especially here. Most Aspies are gender-neutral.

Ganondox
Visceral Diety
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 7:52 pm Post subject:

Sparx wrote:

It doesn't matter too much to me. I'm just often thought to be a guy on here, and I was wondering what I did to present myself as such.

And yes, it's hard to tell online. Especially here. Most Aspies are gender-neutral.

You have a male video game character as an avatar.
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CockneyRebel
Mick Avory, Sensitive brown-eyed Sweet Pea
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 9:28 pm Post subject:

I prefer that gender is hard to detect here unless the person has an avatar that's obviously related to their gender or they have a gender specific name. _________________ The darling, unworldly Mick Avory with hands like shovels, who wouldn't dare choose to hurt a soul: I'm the cuddly, adorable Kink. Sweet Peas: http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j37/Cocknee/Kinks/Sweet%20Pea%20Smileys/ Other: http://www.mybrowsercash.com/

MakaylaTheAspie
Zodai's girl
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 11:36 pm Post subject:

Sparx wrote:

I thought you were a girl from the start. Razz

It's kind of impossible to guess my gender wrong, because my username gives it away.
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