# "I'm really a girl" (April 1st prank PM) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 1, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519 "2015-04-01T17:19:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/61 "2015-04-01T21:36:24Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Yes, the board is veritably awash with hundreds, if not thousands, of conservatives. I’m sure my message passed unnoticed. It never occurred to me to even try to associate a specific comment with a specific poster. In fact, like when the yellow pages comes out, my first reaction was to look for mine. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/62 "2015-04-01T21:39:45Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I am shocked, SHOCKED to find out that April Fools pranks involve lying! Or that making someone look foolish is funny! What ever happened to nice, wholesome pranks, like putting salt in the sugar bowl? What is it with kids these days… Those people are also assholes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/63 "2015-04-01T21:40:07Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Yeah, until now. > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > It never occurred to me to even try to associate a specific comment with a specific poster. In fact, like when the yellow pages comes out, my first reaction was to look for mine. Meh. I’m not remotely ashamed of what I said. I’d have said the same thing in public. I was merely highlighting an assumption about the anonymity of the responses that wasn’t, in my view, all that solid. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/64 "2015-04-01T21:51:41Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > This was my favorite: 😃 That was mine. In my defence, I’m the worst possible person to confide in. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/65 "2015-04-01T22:09:52Z")
I cannot be the only person yearning to know who the sooper-dooper-famous wordgame aficionado Doper pretending to be an “average Joe” amidst all the rando civilian nobodies is. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/66 "2015-04-01T22:11:36Z")
I got punked by this because it’s happened for real several times. That and I also don’t know what day it is, ever. The fascination with April 1st eludes me. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/67 "2015-04-01T22:27:12Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I cannot be the only person yearning to know who the sooper-dooper-famous wordgame aficionado Doper pretending to be an “average Joe” amidst all the rando civilian nobodies is. Right? I read that as counter prank, but who knows? ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/68 "2015-04-01T22:31:23Z")
Yeah, this one doesn’t do it for me. It’s one thing to pull a prank that tugs at people’s baser instincts for the lulz. One year when we were kids, two guys put a luscious-looking cupcake tied to a string on a lunch table and pulled it away every time someone went to grab it, and I don’t care that they totally got me and I don’t care that I’m a grownup now, I still think that was funny. But this was a prank based on manipulating people’s \*nice \*instincts - the instinct to support someone who’s having a hard time and feeling guilty and confused - for personal entertainment, and then holding them up for public entertainment. That’s a crappy little thing to do. Not the end of the world, but ‘HAHAHA you tried to be kind to someone SUCKA!!!’ is never a good look. I didn’t get one, so maybe I’m just jealous. On the other hand, this: > [@](#): > > Fair enough. Do I have to do anything? is lovely. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/69 "2015-04-01T22:38:57Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Whew. My response is anonymous. No one can possibly identify me. Yup. There is absolutely nothing in mine that could possibly identify me, either. (I don’t care, for the record.) ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/70 "2015-04-01T22:41:26Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I’m sick of this gullible womaning! Possibly the best joke I’ve \*ever \*read on the internet. 11/10, props. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/71 "2015-04-01T22:45:57Z")
> [@Askthepizzaguy](#): > > Possibly the best joke I’ve \*ever \*read on the internet. > > 11/10, props. I don’t get it. Help. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/72 "2015-04-01T22:51:28Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > I don’t get it. Help. It was a quip on [this endless Pit thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=699678). I didn’t get it the first time either, but it’s really clever. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/73 "2015-04-01T22:54:27Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > Yeah, this one doesn’t do it for me. > > It’s one thing to pull a prank that tugs at people’s baser instincts for the lulz. One year when we were kids, two guys put a luscious-looking cupcake tied to a string on a lunch table and pulled it away every time someone went to grab it, and I don’t care that they totally got me and I don’t care that I’m a grownup now, I still think that was funny. > > \*\*But this was a prank based on manipulating people’s _nice instincts - the instinct to support someone who’s having a hard time and feeling guilty and confused - for personal entertainment, and then holding them up for public entertainment. That’s a crappy little thing to do. Not the end of the world, but ‘HAHAHA you tried to be kind to someone SUCKA!!!’ is never a good look._ > > I didn’t get one, so maybe I’m just jealous. > > On the other hand, this: > > is lovely. Bolding mine. This part is what I don’t get. If he’d said he was transgendered and coming out, then yeah. But just to say he’s been pretending to be a guy when he’s a girl doesn’t necessarily mean any of that’s attached. A lot of people pretend to be the opposite gender online for various reasons. So, I’m not sure why all the support was called for in the first place. “I thought you were a dude, but you’re really a chick? Okay, no problem.” It truly translates into zilch because nothing was at stake to begin with. He wasn’t catfishing folks. Good grief. And back in the day when the Internet was still young, I had a friend who initially put forth some pictures that were purportedly of himself that everyone in our circle believed. Years later when he was about to meet one in our group in person, he came clean. He’s been worried we wouldn’t think as highly of him if we saw him as ugly (sadly, which is how he saw himself), so he substituted ones of a guy he worked with. Now, there was some deep, meaningful, personal involvement there with lots of opportunity for people to get their feelings hurt. Yet what happened? Everyone understood, amazingly, and realized that to be part of the ‘internet community’ at large, you gotta have a thicker skin than all that, roll with the punches (especially when bumping up against others’ baggage and what not) and not take everything so damned seriously. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/74 "2015-04-01T22:55:29Z")
> [@](#): > > EinsteinsHund > > It was a quip on this endless Pit thread. I didn’t get it the first time either, but it’s really clever. Heeheeee!! Thank you - now I can stop feeling like the internet’s biggest idiot 😃 ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/75 "2015-04-01T23:03:42Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > If he’d said he was transgendered and coming out, then yeah. But just to say he’s been pretending to be a guy when he’s a girl doesn’t necessarily mean any of that’s attached. A lot of people pretend to be the opposite gender online for various reasons. So, I’m not sure why all the support was called for in the first place. Well, because the original PM said that ‘she’ was feeling ‘guilty’ and felt like this was some big secret ‘she’ couldn’t reveal to anyone. Again, I don’t see it as some huge big deal. Just a crappy little thing to do. > [@faithfool](#): > > And back in the day when the Internet was still young, I had a friend who initially put forth some pictures that were purportedly of himself that everyone in our circle believed. Years later when he was about to meet one in our group in person, he came clean. He’s been worried we wouldn’t think as highly of him if we saw him as ugly (sadly, which is how he saw himself), so he substituted ones of a guy he worked with. Now, there was some deep, meaningful, personal involvement there with lots of opportunity for people to get their feelings hurt. Yet what happened? Everyone understood, amazingly, and realized that to be part of the ‘internet community’ at large, you gotta have a thicker skin than all that, roll with the punches (especially when bumping up against others’ baggage and what not) and not take everything so damned seriously. Yeah, but that was a totally different thing. Your friend was genuinely insecure and trying to protect himself from rejection. He wasn’t taking advantage of people’s nice instincts for his personal lulz - which is the part I don’t like, not the untruth per se. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/76 "2015-04-01T23:14:24Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > He wasn’t taking advantage of people’s nice instincts for his personal lulz - which is the part I don’t like, not the untruth per se. Well I don’t mind having been nice for five minutes in vain. It’s better than being made angry or sad or anxious, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/77 "2015-04-01T23:22:41Z")
@ Idle Thoughts Just don’t post the ones where the person is all “you’re a girl? I’ve had the biggest crush on you forevers, now we can be together!” Because that definitely didn’t happen in the response I sent Idle. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/78 "2015-04-01T23:37:23Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > Well, because the original PM said that ‘she’ was feeling ‘guilty’ and felt like this was some big secret ‘she’ couldn’t reveal to anyone. > > Again, I don’t see it as some huge big deal. Just a crappy little thing to do. I guess that could’ve been read multiple ways, but I can see on the tiniest level how that may have caused the slightest pause. But all this? [Not you personally, but the calling for his head or something.] is totally disproportionate to even what you describe above. It’s just bizarre. > [@](#): > > Yeah, but that was a totally different thing. Your friend was genuinely insecure and trying to protect himself from rejection. He wasn’t taking advantage of people’s nice instincts for his personal lulz - which is the part I don’t like, not the untruth per se. Understood. But the reason I brought it up was those folks had many years and lots of emotional involvement invested in which to feel betrayed and yet, the response didn’t echo this to about 1/100th percent. There was no hue and cry, no outrage, no shunning or throwing over of friendships. People got it. In his case, yes, it was insecurity and fear and everyone was totally forgiving. In this one, once it was cottoned to that it was APRIL 1ST, you think the normal thing to do (if you disapproved) would be, “Eh, probably lame, but you got me. Har har.” End of discussion. Not calling for the ridiculous things some have been bandying about. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/79 "2015-04-01T23:50:33Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > People getting butt-hurt over this look ridiculous to me, so I’m laughing. We really don’t need rape jokes here. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/80 "2015-04-01T23:56:37Z")
Quote: I already thought you were female, but I have no idea why I thought so. **Have you told your parents?** How did the conversation go? No matter what, I’m here, and I want to be supportive. So don’t worry -\*\* I’m told people are born with your condition,\*\* and that it is not a choice. Many of them go on to lead happy and productive lives (my bolding) 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519.md?page=5)