Why do people online think I'm a guy?

[calmloki]

I've been mistaken online for a female. I assume it's because I prefer low stress arguement free posting, don't care about sports, and do appreciate old rugs, Molas, Kuba cloth, various pottery, and such like. Disconcerting, but as long as your gender isn't confusing at home it's no big deal.

 

[ls99]

I never gave a thought to the OP's gender. Nor did it matter to me.

Heh, My screen name is pretty obscure. If my gender is ever confused, Ok. Though I'm sure my style of writing and contents thereof do not leave much room for confusion.

There are times when some leave a titillating bit of post, from those the poster's gender is fairly obvious.

 

[Purron]

One of the most gender confusing names on this forum:

Cute Fuzzy Bunny

 

[easysurfer]

Reminds me of the time I sent in my resume to a prospective employer. The supervisor had a gender neutral name. I refered to him as "her"...ooops! No need to say, I never got a call back.

 

[Martha]

I've been mistaken online for a female. I assume it's because I prefer low stress arguement free posting, don't care about sports, and do appreciate old rugs, Molas, Kuba cloth, various pottery, and such like. Disconcerting, but as long as your gender isn't confusing at home it's no big deal.

Loki is a male name so I didn't make that assumption.

A ship journeys from the east, Muspell's people are coming,
over the waves, and Loki steers
There are the monstrous brood with all the raveners,
The brother of Byleist is in company with them.

 

[WM]

I see from this thread that I've been mistaking the genders of several different people. Oops. I generally don't worry much about who's what, unless I'm writing a response that requires "he" or "she" and then I go check the profile if I have to. Usually I am too lazy and write around it.

I've been mistaken here for a guy here occasionally and thought maybe it was because WM could be read as William. I don't really worry about it.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I always figured that Rich in Tampa got PMs from ladies who wanted to know a rich guy in Tampa they might hook up with.

And I'm with W2R--I didn't even realize those were cookies, sorry!

A very long time ago, I registered with my last name as my user name, soon realized my mistake and asked the admins to change it for security. Nicely, they did.

 

[ERD50]

Why is this important to you?

To paraphrase MLK:
A posts should be judged by the quality and content of the post, not the sex of the poster.

+1

I really don't care to pay attention to gender (unless it is relevant to the subject), it is the content I'm responding to. As others have said, it is awkward to do the he/she/they/poster thing, and it's awkward to be wrong.

Although I remember reading some posts from the OP where the gender was stated, and it did stick with me.

My avatar comes from a childhood nickname. My mom used to call me "Cookie" when I was a little girl. I always thought it was much too cutesy to be a man's avatar.

But REAL men LOVE Chocolate Chip cookies. Most REAL men have probably cooked up a batch of Toll House style with the recipe conveniently placed right on the Nestle Chip labels (and that's a good basic recipe). Alton Brown does a series on how to make them chewy, crisp or cake-ey. I like all styles. My son pointed out the advantage of crispy - you can clearly see how many chips are in the cookie! Smart kid! Nothing like choosing a cookie and then only getting one or two chips. And m'lady, your chips are clearly showing.

I've been mistaken online for a female. I assume it's because I prefer low stress arguement free posting, don't care about sports, and do appreciate ...

Welcome to the club (non-sports person club, not the 'argument free posting style' club ) - it is awkward at times, isn't it? I recall a comedian going on about this. Said something like " Yeah, you get asked - 'see da big game dis weekend?' ", and you have no idea what game or even what sport they are talking about. He said he'd answer, "Nah, missed it. I was busy rebuilding a transmission in a '62 Corvette for a stripper, as a, ummm 'favor' if you get my drift. Was it a good game?".

I never realized it was a cookie, strangely enough. Thanks! That IS cute now that I know what it is.

I could tell that one, but with the small sizes and pixel limitations, some of these are hard to make out. There are a number of them I don't get yet. I guess sometimes it hits you and other times it doesn't. When I first joined, Nord's avatar was shrunk down and the colors were a bit different - some soft pink pastels in there or something. For the life of me I couldn't make out that it was the Tasmanian Devil surfing. It looked like some cutesy character from a dryer sheet box - didn't one have a teddy bear falling gently in the soft towels or something? I guess the waves looked like towels curling up. Didn't match the personality of the poster, so it always threw me.

-ERD50

 

[tmm99]

CuppaJoe is a woman??

I was not aware of that!

Not that it matters.

 

[rescueme]

...with the small sizes and pixel limitations, some of these are hard to make out.

Now you're getting personal ....

 

[bbbamI]

One idea for an unequivocably feminine avatar is to use a photograph of a sexy model/actress, like I usually use for my avatar (not using it today, today I am using a 1965 photo of myself). But when using a sexy model or actress as an avatar, be prepared for a lot of PMs from guys who think it is a photo of you and want to get to know you a lot better.

How do you know they are guys?



Yeah...I change my avatar from time to time. I'm now showing a demure bbbamI....

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

I always figured that Rich in Tampa got PMs from ladies who wanted to know a rich guy in Tampa they might hook up with...

I thought they wanted medical advice .

One time a member did get very upset because she thought I was bragging about my financial status based on my forum name. Well, at least she knew I was male.

 

[Retire2013]

There are no women on the internet. Men are men. Women are men. And children are FBI agents. I thought everyone knew this. You're welcome. ;-)

This is so hilarious. Thank you for posting.

 

[haha]

One time a member did get very upset because she thought I was bragging about my financial status based on my forum name. Well, at least she knew I was male.

Right, a woman would never brag about her financial status.

Personally, I would always prefer to know whether I am speaking to a man or a woman. Maybe I have just not quite the level of 21st century social perfection that some of you have achieved.

I also believe that everything contains information.

By the way, in case anyone cares, I am a pre-op MTF Lesbian.

Ha

 

[Gotadimple]

By the way, in case anyone cares, I am a pre-op MTF Lesbian.

Ha

Yeah, right. . . That one woulda worked if you hadn't posted your picture. How do I know it was your picture? Hmmmm!

-- Rita

 

[bbbamI]

Personally, I would always prefer to know whether I am speaking to a man or a woman.

I have to admit I feel the same way. In regards to most subjects on the forum, it doesn't matter. However if someone says they want to have a night out on the town and wonder how they should dress; I might be a little embarrassed to mention different shades of lipstick and an underwire bra ......and it turns out the OP is a man.

 

[Sarah in SC]

You got a point, BBB--especially since some of our members might be in the hairy-leg skirt wearing club! We've seen pictures, even!

 

[rescueme]

I might be a little embarrassed to mention different shades of lipstick and an underwire bra ......and it turns out the OP is a man.

Heck - I've been married so long (and yes, I am a guy - last time I checked), that seems like "small talk" in my world ...

 

[omni550]

In the last couple of days I've been referred to as "he" by two different people responding to my comments on "Should Public Pensions start Later?" and IIRC by someone else recently on another thread. This has happened at least once at bogleheads, too. I signed my introductory post with an obviously female name, my profile says I'm female, and I've mentioned in passing any number of times that I'm a woman. So why do people online mistake me for a man?

I don't understand this, and I'm starting to find it more than a little disconcerting. Does anyone else get mistaken for the opposite sex online?

Not everyone reads or remembers every post. Nor do they check profiles.

If someone has an androgynous name and doesn't give frequent reminders that they are female, it's not unlikely that they will be assumed to be male because -- 1) the majority of people on this forum are male (over 60% in some poll IIRC) and 2) in written English, it is assumed that the other person is a "he" unless clearly known to be a "she".

omni (a she!)

 

[Martha]

R

By the way, in case anyone cares, I am a pre-op MTF Lesbian.

Ha

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/gold-and-oil-14912.html#post274068

Though the cellar full of gold would have turned out to be a good idea. Sell!

 

[haha]

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/gold-and-oil-14912.html#post274068

Though the cellar full of gold would have turned out to be a good idea. Sell!

So weird. I did have a lot of gold back then, but suffered a premature disgorgement of same. I should have listened better to my own analysis.

The nice thing about gold as an investment is that although demand for jewelry and similar uses may trail off as prices rise, investment demand increases. In other words, the demand curve employs positive feedback. This is how booms can happen.

BTW, some of those old threads are really funny! I think over time we have moved somewhat closer to the ponderousness of Bogle-Heads.

Ha

 

[HFWR]

It's the internet. You can make all the assumptions you want but honestly, how much do you really know about any one member? For example... I could be a pencil necked 17 year old boy. How would you really know?

A nice pink signature could help with assumptions:

Forget love...I'd rather fall in chocolate!

Oldie but goldie...

Oh no. Where will it end.

First there's the revelation that Ted is a mere mortal with temptations to gamble and not an investment machine. Next comes the even more frightening revelation that John Galt is not a conservative, bond-only investor but is actually the ultimate market timer just waiting on the side line for all these years for the right timing.

What's next? Is GDER really a survivalist living in the desert off of nuts and berries while sleeping in caves? Does Cut-Throat really hate to fish? Is unclemick really a 13 year old girl from Missoula who likes to pretend to be a retired man on the internet?

I don't know if this old fart's heart can take much more.

 

[HFWR]

...suffered a premature disgorgement

Ha

I hate when that happens.

 

[Nords]

I've been mistaken online for a female. Disconcerting, but as long as your gender isn't confusing at home it's no big deal.

I hope your current avatar doesn't give the impression that you're an ass...

 

[WhoDaresWins]

I can generally tell by the way something is written if the poster is male or female even if they are not explicit, at least if I read several posts. Not that gender really matters here except for curiosity's sake.
And kyounge---I have always known you were a woman.