# Do you write like a male or female? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 19, 2007, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704 "2007-05-19T07:23:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2007, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/41 "2007-05-20T11:13:54Z")
I put it a sample from my children’s novel and one from some erotica I’ve been writing; it judged me unpenised, though I am in fact quite the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2007, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/42 "2007-05-20T11:37:01Z")
Male from a part of my dissertation, female from posts on here. I have in the past had “Wait, you’re a guy?” reactions from people on the net that don’t know, so I guess that makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2007, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/43 "2007-05-20T14:00:32Z")
The first trial, like [the Spark gender test](http://community.sparknotes.com/gender/), said I’m a woman. (682F - 639M) The second trial–explicit first-person erotic poetry; I should hope they’d get it right–said I’m a man. (1867F - 1882M) –coffeetomcat: a union of opposites, just like Michael Jackson ---
**Author:** ![tirial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@tirial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tirial)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/44 "2007-05-20T15:28:46Z")
Some fiction and a few papers - overwhelmingly male. SDMB posts - about equal, but mostly male, usually with less than 50 difference. I’m a girl. Honestly. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2007, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/45 "2007-05-20T15:57:48Z")
My blogs post as female, which I am. My fiction varies by whose voice I’m doing it in. If I’m writing it from a male’s perspective, it comes out male. If I’m writing it from a female’s perspective, it comes out female. Kinda interesting, really. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2007, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/46 "2007-05-20T17:04:44Z")
[QUOTE=coffeecat] The first trial, like [the Spark gender test](http://community.sparknotes.com/gender/), said I’m a woman. (682F - 639M) The second trial–explicit first-person erotic poetry; I should hope they’d get it right–said I’m a man. (1867F - 1882M) –coffeetomcat: a union of opposites, just like Michael Jackson [/QUOTE] I was just looking at the Spark site. Before you can take the test, you must sign up for a membership. One of the required fields that you must enter is gender. From there you can go back and take the test that will tell you your gender. Things that make me go :dubious:. ---
**Author:** ![Dragoness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c0e974/32.png) [@Dragoness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragoness)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2007, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/47 "2007-05-20T17:17:09Z")
These things are hugely biased against academic writing (and therefore, I expect, against people who do a lot of it, as that must spil over into other genres…) My thesis is male by a factor of 3, and a shorter paper is male by a factor of 2. Okay, so let’s try non-academic writing. My travel writing: male. My humor writing: male. My book reviews: male. My fiction from an old RPG: male. Okay, getting desperate. Let’s try poetry: male. Shit. Okay. Let’s put in an angsty diary entry about breaking up with a boyfriend: male :smack: The Spark gender test puts me at male too, btw. This is why I always pick overtly female user names. I’ve always thought these things were full of shit, but they have something like 80% accuracy. It’s also not as “logic vs emotion” as I thought- this test makes subordinating conjuctions (when, where, etc) female, and “if” and “not” are both pretty explicitly logic-oriented words that are female. Actually, the test seems to center on pronouns-vs-articles. I rarely use “me, myself, your” since I tend to write in 3rd person, and “her, hers, she” and “should” are rarities too. It seems to be the articles that really kill me. ETA that I’m very impressed with you all who can write male and female narrators in your fiction convincingly. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/48 "2007-05-20T21:33:11Z")
Same as Dragoness, here. Engineering report: male. E-mail to my sister: male. Heh. It pegged my baby sister as a female from one of her e-mails, but got my son wrong from one of his old English essays. I did note that it says it does better with works of over 500 words. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/49 "2007-05-20T22:31:48Z")
Blog Entry: Female Score: 289 Male Score: 313 OK, it was a post about remodeling. Fiction: Female Score: 662 Male Score: 425 Well, it was a girly sorta story. Non-fiction: Female Score: 882 Male Score: 1200 So, talking about a boat trip is manly? ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/50 "2007-05-20T23:19:07Z")
I was narrowly male with my blog entry, but then I put one of my papers: Female Score: 924 Male Score: 1435 Ha. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2007, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/51 "2007-05-20T23:29:29Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > This message brought to you by NinetyWt, the Queen of Lubricants.TM …cite? ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/52 "2007-05-21T00:14:56Z")
I tried a dozen journal entries. All female. Whew…glad to have confirmation! ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/53 "2007-05-21T03:04:19Z")
I’m 60, as of May 1. That’s just for a point of reference. My handwriting has been called, "A childish third grade scrawl. Not sure what gender that would be though. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/54 "2007-05-21T03:36:05Z")
[QUOTE=Lynn Bodoni] Once again, my writing seems to indicate that I’m male. When I’ve used androgynous screen names, people always think I’m male. But I’m female, I swear. I GAVE BIRTH. Harrumph. [/QUOTE] I went through a chunk of my livejournal. I notice that a lot of my writing registers as overwhelmingly male, but stuff that I’ve written which is actually close to how I talk (when I’m not being a scold) reads as slightly toward female. I think it’s bloody sexist, is what it is. It’s taking certain types of writing & calling them male because they are definitive & assertive; but in certain forms you just have to be. Also, more singular nouns will boost your “male” score, since both “a” & “the” are “male” indicators. It’s buggin’. Besides, there was a short piece–one sentence–that I tried to write in vaguely female (or just gender-ambiguous) voice that it thought was male for no good reason. I think it’s garbage, but because on a range of genres it reads higher “male” than female overall, it will “work” on men enough of the time to impress men who want a confirmation of sex differences, & women may be flattered that they can write “like men” or something. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/55 "2007-05-21T03:38:16Z")
I entered the first five chapters of the Bible: Slightly male, but very close. Then I entered the beginning of Atlas Shrugged: Overwhelmingly male (Rand would’ve been proud). ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/56 "2007-05-21T03:52:13Z")
No, really, it massively overrates articles. This old blog entry: > [@](#): > > OK, so I was whooshed by the “Chris Walken for President” hoax. > But now I’ve found a new candidate, & I’m sure of this one’s level of seriousness. > [http://www.zod2008.com/](http://www.zod2008.com/) Reads as: Female Score: 1 Male Score: 13 Female: [was] 1 x 1 = 1 Male: [the] 1 x 7 = 7 [a] 1 x 6 = 6 If I’d only had the word “not” in there, somehow, it would say female. Look at this amplification: > [@](#): > > OK, so I was whooshed by the “Chris Walken for President” hoax. He’s not running for President after all. > But now I’ve found a new candidate, & I’m sure of this one’s level of seriousness. > [http://www.zod2008.com/](http://www.zod2008.com/) Female Score: 28 Male Score: 21 Female: [not] 1 x 27 = 27 [was] 1 x 1 = 1 Male: [is] 1 x 8 = 8 [the] 1 x 7 = 7 [a] 1 x 6 = 6 So terseness is male. Explaining what something is not is female. I read as male 'cos I write briefly, in a hurry? Interesting. So do I get more feminine the more I re-edit & amplify? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/57 "2007-05-21T03:58:02Z")
I submitted one of my recent essays from my law degree. It correctly assessed me as male by a score of 2951 to 1608. ---
**Author:** ![Dragoness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c0e974/32.png) [@Dragoness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragoness)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/58 "2007-05-21T04:16:22Z")
[QUOTE=foolsguinea] So terseness is male. Explaining what something is not is female. I read as male 'cos I write briefly, in a hurry? [/QUOTE] Well, I think this thing is silly at least, but this isn’t fair- that site had the “works best on works of over 500 words” disclaimer plastered all over it. I mean, it’s a statistical process, and so the longer the better. It’s not that terseness is male, it’s that terseness is un-judgeable. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/59 "2007-05-21T06:47:34Z")
I ran a bunch of my college papers through it. Essays were judged male about 90% of the time, while fiction was split about 50/50. I’m a dude, but I guess I’m a big softy. (Well, ok I am a big softy. You wanna make something of it, punk?) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704/60 "2007-05-21T07:00:04Z")
I don’t have my stuff here to run it, but when I did my first “fiction” work and after working with him for several months, the reviewer said “ah, this is the first place where I can tell you’re really a woman!” (we worked online, never met in person). It was a garden: instead of just writing “flowers” or “bushes” and maybe “a riot of colors”, I’d named specific plants and given the specific color for each flower. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-write-like-a-male-or-female/404704.md?page=4)