# Gender-bending on the SDMB? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 4, 2007, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704 "2007-06-04T15:52:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/1 "2007-06-04T15:52:31Z")
Some of you may know my gender. Most of you don’t know me from a hole in the head 😃 Twice this week I’ve been mistaken for a member of the opposite sex. I’m not sure if it’s my user name, something inherent in my posts, or who knows. Without any further information, what gender do you think I am? Is your gender obvious from your username, or perhaps misleading? How often are you mistaken for the other team? ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/2 "2007-06-04T15:54:32Z")
[QUOTE=Nature’s Call] Some of you may know my gender. Most of you don’t know me from a hole in the head 😃 Twice this week I’ve been mistaken for a member of the opposite sex. I’m not sure if it’s my user name, something inherent in my posts, or who knows. Without any further information, what gender do you think I am? Is your gender obvious from your username, or perhaps misleading? How often are you mistaken for the other team? [/QUOTE] I cheated, I looked at your profile and got some hints, but based on what I saw there, I believe I was correct in my assumption before I looked. I vote dude. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/3 "2007-06-04T15:59:35Z")
I have no clue. However, **Mr Bus Guy** is pretty level headed in my experience, so I’ll go with his guess. Dude. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/4 "2007-06-04T16:06:36Z")
I think you’re a dude, too. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/5 "2007-06-04T16:08:26Z")
Most people know my gender simply because I’ve been around awhile. Then again, whenever I mention **Mrs.Phlosphr** - I sort of give it away anyway. 🙂 Perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/6 "2007-06-04T16:11:07Z")
I’m guessing you’re a guy. My name is apparently misleading. I guess names ending in “a” are assumed to be feminine. Unfortunatley, “brewho” sounds makes me look like a crack whore for beer. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/7 "2007-06-04T16:15:06Z")
I’d say you’re a guy, if only because naming yourself after a slang expression for urination isn’t usually a girl thing. Mine is probably rather ambiguous, though **Anaamika** was shocked to discover that I’m a guy. (Apparently it had something to do with subject matter we were discussing in a thread about coffee. Apparently I came off sounding rather feminine somewhere along the line.) ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/8 "2007-06-04T16:19:21Z")
**Mr. Bus Guy** : easy - a guy **vetbridge** : tricky… most veterinarians I know are female. With great leaps of unfounded assumption, my vote: of the distaff persuasion. **DeadlyAccurate** : irrational guess: male **Phlosphr** : no guess required now, but I’ve always thought you were a masculine child. **brewha** : I can only envision a guy like Oil Can Harry laughing maniacally, so dude vote for you even if you hadn’t revealed. **Mindfield** : definitely a guy (opinion formed before your reveal here) And yes, I’m a guy. My faith in my manhood has been restored (the concept, not the euphemism). I wonder, though, if the results here would have been different if **Mr. Bus Guy** hadn’t peeked… I meant at my bio! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/9 "2007-06-04T16:23:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Then again, whenever I mention Mrs.Phlosphr - I sort of give it away anyway. Whoa, **phlospher** , you’re a lesbian? I never realized. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/10 "2007-06-04T16:28:58Z")
Well, I would hope that my name gave mine away easily, but it still happens that my gender is mistaken sometimes…more often than it’s guessed correctly actually. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/11 "2007-06-04T16:33:32Z")
[QUOTE=brewha] My name is apparently misleading. I guess names ending in “a” are assumed to be feminine. [/QUOTE] And yet I, a feminine type, with a name that ends in “a” have twice in the last week or so read a post and thought “Did That Poster just refer to me as _he_?” (On rereading, one yes, and one maybe. In neither case did I bother with a post intended to clarify my preferred pronouns.) ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/12 "2007-06-04T16:45:14Z")
\*\*vetbridge \*\* is totally a guy. I have managed a couple of posts of people oopsing when I have posted making my gender clear. Funny because I mention my spouse often. At any rate, Latin with an “O” at the end of the name. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/13 "2007-06-04T17:03:21Z")
[QUOTE=Nature’s Call] **vetbridge** : tricky… most veterinarians I know are female. With great leaps of unfounded assumption, my vote: of the distaff persuasion. [/QUOTE] I’m a guy. Actually, the large percentage of new graduate veterinarians being female is a modern phenomenon. At one time veterinarians were almost exclusively male. ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/14 "2007-06-04T17:07:37Z")
**Nature’s Call** is male My gender seems obvious I’ve never been mistaken for another gender ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/15 "2007-06-04T17:11:21Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Whoa, **phlospher** , you’re a lesbian? I never realized. [/QUOTE] 😃 Lesbian trapped in a man’s body perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![Clockwork\_Jackal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Clockwork\_Jackal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clockwork_Jackal)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/16 "2007-06-04T17:12:39Z")
**Nature’s Call** seems like a guy to me, but what do I know? Hell, people mistake my gender all the time. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/17 "2007-06-04T17:13:09Z")
Related anecdote: A biologist I used to know had two beautiful porcelain frogs (his research involved frogs). He would get the frogs down from the bookshelf and explain that he used these models to demonstrate the differences between the sexes, as one is male and the other female. He would ask you to guess based on your observations, which frog was which. Well, people would look at the two little statutes and make a guess based on eye size, foot morphology, or any of the other subtle differences. Then, either they or he would turn over the frogs and see the XXX-rated genital area (human appearing). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/18 "2007-06-04T17:18:51Z")
**vetbridge** , my apologies brother. I take it the veterinarian assumption was correct? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/19 "2007-06-04T17:29:01Z")
I would also vote “dude” because of the euphemism. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/20 "2007-06-04T17:31:27Z")
If your name was invented as a call to revel in nature’s wonders, you’re female. If your name was invented in a scatological vein, you’re male. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704.md?page=2)