# "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:** 5
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/81 "2015-04-02T00:13:06Z")
I’m just glad I saw the thread in ATMB before I wasted any time coming up with a reply to this shit. > [@Idle Thoughts](#): > > So I did this on Halloween, too. please don’t insult our intelligence by doing it again. ---
**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 2, 2015, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/82 "2015-04-02T00:17:58Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > We really don’t need rape jokes here. Butt-hurt is not a rape joke. It generally refers to being spanked. > **[Butthurt | Know Your Meme](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/butthurt)** > > Butthurt is an online slang term used to describe a strongly negative or overemotional response. It is used to draw attention to a person who shows signs o ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/83 "2015-04-02T00:36:13Z")
Well, I’m amused. Well played. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/84 "2015-04-02T00:38:45Z")
I found it humourous. Jeez people, it was a harmless joke that made some of us uncomfortable and unsure what to say, but nothing more than that. I fell for it in part because **Idle Thoughts** and I have had a few PMs over the years, and because prior to a stressful meeting I attended I posted this to the “[If you created a sock on SDMB, what would it do?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=753233)” thread. > [@](#): > > Reveal the enormously gigantic secret I’ve been keeping from you folks for years! After the meeting I see the PM from **Idle Thoughts** and actually thought I provoked the PM. Anyway, it’s all funny as hell now. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/85 "2015-04-02T00:40:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Jeez people, it was a harmless joke that made some of us uncomfortable and unsure what to say, but nothing more than that most of us outgrow the need to “make people uncomfortable” by the time we’ve left college. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/86 "2015-04-02T00:41:46Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > most of us outgrow the need to “make people uncomfortable” by the time we’ve left college. Most of us have a sense of humour before we enter kindergarten. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/87 "2015-04-02T00:48:09Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Yes, the board is veritably awash with hundreds, if not thousands, of conservatives. I’m sure my message passed unnoticed. Don’t be so cantankerous, no one can tell which one is yours. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/88 "2015-04-02T00:59:58Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Don’t be so cantankerous, no one can tell which one is yours. Or care. ---
**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 2, 2015, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/89 "2015-04-02T01:03:14Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Most of us have a sense of humour before we enter kindergarten. And some of us maintain it at that level. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/90 "2015-04-02T01:08:58Z")
I totally fell for it, but I didn’t have time to reply until after I saw that it was a joke. I had several thoughts about it, though, from “Wow, what a weird PM” to “Waitaminnit, I wasn’t even online” to “Didn’t I somehow know his real first name once, and it _is_ a guy??” to “He’s probably been hacked”, but never did I think about it being April first. So, I say, “That was a good one!” because, hey, you got me. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/91 "2015-04-02T01:14:37Z")
Hey, wait a minute… **wait one cotton picken’ minute!** I’m very confused here. I received an IM from **Idle Thoughts** that I justifiably assumed was confidential and singularly to me, and me alone—not to any of you other Straight Dope buttheads out there; just to me, get it?!? So, what’s going on here, huh? Because, so help me Jehoshaphat, if I learn that that slut **Idle Thoughts** has been in flagrante delicto with any of you other nincompoop Doper jokers out there, there will be _hell_ to pay. Yes, there will. I will most indubitably sue that bitch’s righteous ass off for primary custody of our love child(ren) until her whore painted head spins! _ **Idle** , honey bear, I’m willing to reconcile, if you are. How ‘bout it?_ ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/92 "2015-04-02T01:17:56Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > most of us outgrow the need to “make people uncomfortable” by the time we’ve left college. Speak for yourself; I got out in 1980 and still enjoy it as a regular daily activity. One could almost call it a hobby of mine. Which probably explains the chuckle I had typing my reply before I knew for sure it was a joke. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/93 "2015-04-02T01:31:17Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > 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. What in the world does your anecdote have to do with the situation in this thread? You had a guy who tried to hide his appearance because he genuinely and sincerely hated how he looked, and then later came clean, and people were supportive. Idle Thoughts, on the other hand, used that exact same supportive instinct from friends in order to prank everyone with a really stupid joke. I suspect that in your case, faithfool, if the person in question had waited a couple days and then told everyone, “HA, I FOOLED YOU, the original photos were mine after all, I just wanted to see what kind of reaction I’d get!” the reaction would not have been as supportive. Just a guess. I genuinely don’t understand the kind of humor that relies on abusing the good nature of friends and family in order for the joke to work. As I said in the ATMB thread, that may make me a humorless bitch, and I’m okay with that. Oh, and I think that posting the PMs in this thread was a fucking shitty thing to do, I don’t care how many people apparently think it’s a hilarious gag. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/94 "2015-04-02T01:32:08Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Speak for yourself; I got out in 1980 and still enjoy it as a regular daily activity. One could almost call it a hobby of mine. Which probably explains the chuckle I had typing my reply before I knew for sure it was a joke. we call people like you “assholes.” ---
**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 2, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/95 "2015-04-02T01:38:01Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > we call people like you “assholes.” Yep. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/96 "2015-04-02T01:40:11Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > we call people like you “assholes.” And bonus points for originality? 😛 ---
**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 2, 2015, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/97 "2015-04-02T01:46:13Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > And bonus points for originality? 😛 There is nothing original about being an asshole, nor in identifying one. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/98 "2015-04-02T02:24:04Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > What in the world does your anecdote have to do with the situation in this thread? You had a guy who tried to hide his appearance because he genuinely and sincerely hated how he looked, and then later came clean, and people were supportive. My point, as mentioned up thread, was that was a situation where people would’ve had the right to feel betrayed, yet weren’t. For apparently some miraculous reason. \< shrug \> > [@](#): > > Idle Thoughts, on the other hand, used that exact same supportive instinct from friends in order to prank everyone with a really stupid joke. I suspect that in your case, faithfool, if the person in question had waited a couple days and then told everyone, “HA, I FOOLED YOU, the original photos were mine after all, I just wanted to see what kind of reaction I’d get!” the reaction would not have been as supportive. Just a guess. First of all, I doubt that most of the people receiving the PM were friends. Second, if the fellow I knew had done it on April Fools? Same reaction as I have here. Why? Because no investment in the outcome either way. We’d have seen it as stupid, true, but harmful when no one was hurt? Nope. Obviously, YMV. > [@](#): > > I genuinely don’t understand the kind of humor that relies on abusing the good nature of friends and family in order for the joke to work. As I said in the ATMB thread, that may make me a humorless bitch, and I’m okay with that. > > Oh, and I think that posting the PMs in this thread was a fucking shitty thing to do, I don’t care how many people apparently think it’s a hilarious gag. And I guess that’s where the breakdown really lies. I don’t see this as abusing anyone or anything. On the other hand, I’m beginning to think the entire internet hates most goofy jokes. Finally, posting the replies are another matter. That I can understand why some people wouldn’t appreciate it and think **IT** would’ve been better served asking for permission before proceeding. However, since he apparently did this last Halloween, maybe he thought it was copacetic. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/99 "2015-04-02T02:35:42Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > My point, as mentioned up thread, was that was a situation where people would’ve had the right to feel betrayed, yet weren’t. For apparently some miraculous reason. \< shrug \> And my point, as mentioned up thread, was that intent matters. “I hid something I was ashamed of” is very different from “I lied to you for yuks.” As for the rest, yeah, I’ll cop to not really being a goofy joke kind of person. I don’t even like the word goofy. I don’t even like the CHARACTER Goofy. There, I said it. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519/100 "2015-04-02T02:35:59Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I genuinely don’t understand the kind of humor that relies on abusing the good nature of friends and family in order for the joke to work. Last time I checked, these are just random people on a message board, not “friends and family”. God, I swear, this place becomes more humorless and self-righteous every single freaking DAY. “Smartest, coolest, hippest people on the internet”, my ass. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-a-girl-april-1st-prank-pm/716519.md?page=6)