# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/41 "2007-06-04T19:45:50Z")
I’m really a very dainty 98-pound little girl. ---
**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, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/42 "2007-06-04T19:47:21Z")
[QUOTE=Nature’s Call] **DeadlyAccurate** : irrational guess: male [/QUOTE] Nope. ---
**Author:** ![little\_bit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@little\_bit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/little_bit)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/43 "2007-06-04T19:48:43Z")
Mine has never been questioned. Men seldom refer to anything about themselves as “little”. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/44 "2007-06-04T19:57:01Z")
[QUOTE=little\*bit] Mine has never been questioned. Men seldom refer to anything about themselves as “little”. [/QUOTE] My UT99 screen name used to be “FaiwyPwincess,” if that counts. Man, people hated to be killed by a Faiwy Pwincess. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/45 "2007-06-04T19:58:08Z")
Mine is obvious from my username. I sometimes wish I had picked a gender-neutral name, 'cause I’d like to know if I come off as male or female. I’m guessing male. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/46 "2007-06-04T20:35:19Z")
Other males named Kim: British spy [Kim Philby](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Philby), comic book artist [Kim Deitch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Deitch), and the [title character](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_%28novel%29) in the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. ---
**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, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/47 "2007-06-04T20:53:17Z")
[QUOTE=Ice Wolf] I see gender confusion with my nick from time to time. Never really bothers me, though. Just adds to the comedy. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Yeah, tell me about it. Harumph. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/48 "2007-06-04T21:04:41Z")
I think the default assumption is that people are guys (unless their names end in an “a”…except brewha, I assumed was a guy anyway…) Giveaways are when people talk about their SO’s but every so often a woman will speak of her girlfriend or a man of his boyfriend and it takes me a moment to catch on. I try to remember things about posters, such as gender, but there’s so many! No reason to think I’m a woman from my username, but I try to include my gender in my post when it’s relevant. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/49 "2007-06-04T22:23:01Z")
Walloon, I think you mean the other writer. I assume that the OP is male, because few females would even register being mistaken for men on the web by now and start a thread related to it. Boys are default. Girls are the marked term (if I may jargon it up here). If someone on the web assumes I’m female to start with with no gender clues I’m completely surprised. (In an undergrad seminar on methods this year, I held up a book with the author’s name hidden and told the students to imagine this famous author lecturing at a podium, and took a poll of what color tie they imagined the author wearing. I got a lot of red and blue ties and one yellow tie, but of 15 or so students only one explained that the author wasn’t wearing a tie, because she was a woman and the outfit didn’t involve a tie (one male student protested that his author wasn’t wearing a tie either, but that yes, he was a male author)). ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/50 "2007-06-04T23:26:36Z")
People usually assume that I am the same gender as my namesake. A few people who actually pay attention to my posts\* know whether or not that’s true. \*They probably don’t really exist. ---
**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, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/51 "2007-06-04T23:47:53Z")
[QUOTE=Nature’s Call] There _are_ guys named Kim, and not just oriental dudes, e.g. [Kim Mitchell](http://www.amazon.com/Akimbo-Alogo-Kim-Mitchell/dp/B000001YKP) [/QUOTE] I had a friend years back in grade school whose full given name was Kim Lee. He was a he. He also had not a drop of Asian blood. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/52 "2007-06-04T23:55:21Z")
I can remember one instance of gender confusion on the boards, which surprised me because I thought my screen name was pretty obviously skewed towards a particular gender. Guess not. ---
**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:** [June 5, 2007, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/53 "2007-06-05T01:07:29Z")
Part of why I changed mine was because I was tired of being mistaken for a guy. ---
**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 5, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/54 "2007-06-05T01:15:15Z")
[QUOTE=Queen Bruin] Part of why I changed mine was because I was tired of being mistaken for a guy. [/QUOTE] Little did they know that you’re a hot female. ---
**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:** [June 5, 2007, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/55 "2007-06-05T01:24:52Z")
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever] Little did they know that you’re a hot female. [/QUOTE] Aww thanks **LOUNE**. :o ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/56 "2007-06-05T01:33:47Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] I had a friend years back in grade school whose full given name was Kim Lee. He was a he. He also had not a drop of Asian blood. [/QUOTE] I used to have a co-worker whose name is Kim Lee. She has blue eyes and a mass of blonde ringlets. Many people were momentarily confused when they met her. It was amusing to see. As to the OP, I would have guessed male as well. As to myself, I don’t post enough that I would expect people to have particularly noticed my gender. On a couple of occasions, someone has guessed wrong, but given my user name, and frequency of posting it isn’t too surprising to me. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/57 "2007-06-05T03:41:46Z")
[QUOTE=Wile E] People usually assume that I am the same gender as my namesake. A few people who actually pay attention to my posts\* know whether or not that’s true. \*They probably don’t really exist. [/QUOTE] I remember, Wile E. I only make mistakes once. No, my name isn’t Dan, and no, I’m not a guy. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704/58 "2007-06-05T05:37:04Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] 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. [/QUOTE] Funny you should mention that… I seem to recall mentioning one of my SOs on the board by name, and someone going “whoah, sorry, I didn’t realize you were a female…” Answer: I’m not, and stop talking like a Ferengi. It amused me greatly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-bending-on-the-sdmb/406704.md?page=2)