Ever Get irritated with being mistaken for male online?

[Ms_Angel_D]

I have had this happen to more times then I can count, I'll be posting in a forum and what not, and it seems to never fail, someone always ends up referring to me as a guy in some manner or another, am I alone in this or does it happen to other woman as well?

Is it because I'm a bit knowledgeable in computers and enjoy using them, or possibly because I like games (even the occasional FPS, BF2 Anyone?) I just get irritated with it sometimes.

Opinions, thoughts?

Angel

[SpiffyBalak]

Male is just the default gender online.

I don't really mind it, because I get into lots of funny situations like this:

Salt: I mean, awesome you're the super king with all the great power and great responsibility.
Salt: I have women and money.
SpiffyBalak: what if you prefer men?
Salt: Well, SpiffyBalak.
Salt: That's something you have to come to terms with.
Salt: I dont know if the shoddy battle chat is the right place, though.
SpiffyBalak: I'm a girl
Salt: Oh.
shanx: <_<
shanx: ...

[elizabeth]

Opinions, thoughts?

One of my favorite articles about this subject is here:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/arti...teh-Intarweb-1

Brilliant

I've also blogged about encountering the issue in tech channels, which is always fun for stirring up lively comment discussion:

http://princessleia2.livejournal.com/316456.html

...and proves I have a lot of wicked cool, supportive friends.

[Ms_Angel_D]

Thanks for the links Elizabeth I enjoyed reading both.

Stuff like this always reminds me of that scene from GI Jane where the black guy is telling her a story and the white dude is like I'm glad we've come a long way from that and the black dude is like "have we really?" I mean why do people have such a hard time believing that chick can be good at and enjoy techy stuff to..it's quite sad really.....

found this http://xkcd.com/322/ check it out..lol

[elizabeth]

found this http://xkcd.com/322/ check it out..lol

In the #ubuntu-women IRC channel on irc.freenode.net (info about IRC here) we call that comic "Rule #322"

[diwas]

beauty doesnt have brains...but i guess this post umm disobeys the new-tonnes of laws.

hehe.

[starcannon]

I have had this happen to more times then I can count, I'll be posting in a forum and what not, and it seems to never fail, someone always ends up referring to me as a guy in some manner or another, am I alone in this or does it happen to other woman as well?

Is it because I'm a bit knowledgeable in computers and enjoy using them, or possibly because I like games (even the occasional FPS, BF2 Anyone?) I just get irritated with it sometimes.

Opinions, thoughts?

Angel

If an online handle is gender neutral, I generally go with "male". I figure its either a guy, or a gal who is wanting not to be known as a gal for various reasons. Anyway, I try to be respectful to a degree, I refuse to go so far as to be P.C. though.

[Sef]

If an online handle is gender neutral, I generally go with "male". I figure its either a guy, or a gal who is wanting not to be known as a gal for various reasons. Anyway, I try to be respectful to a degree, I refuse to go so far as to be P.C. though.

That's why I prefer to use they as singular. On an historical note, they has been used as singular by people such as Chaucer and Shakespere.

[Abras]

Well, when I'm talking to a group online I tend to say "guys." While the term technically only refers to men it's commonly used to refer to a group that is made up of both males and females. And it's more casual than say "ladies and gentleman" or something like that. I suppose you could try to stay as politically correct as possible, but come on! This is the Internet, so I think casual tolerance and acceptance is the best you can hope for.

[Ms_Angel_D]

Well, when I'm talking to a group online I tend to say "guys." While the term technically only refers to men it's commonly used to refer to a group that is made up of both males and females. And it's more casual than say "ladies and gentleman" or something like that. I suppose you could try to stay as politically correct as possible, but come on! This is the Internet, so I think casual tolerance and acceptance is the best you can hope for.

I'm not talking about generalization, even I when referring to a group of people I will use the phrase "You Guys". What I'm referring to is the fact that someone blatantly refers to me as being male. Even after I've told them I was female they act their not sure whether to believe me or not.

I do see your point though, I just wonder why often times so many males have a hard time believing that a female could be on the internet, frequenting the same internet "Hang out" spots they do, such as a tech forum/chat, or FPS forum/chat. It seems to happen quite frequently and can be disturbing.