Gender Inferences

First expressions are the most important. Isn't that what they always say?
Anyway, I sometimes base my gender inferences on their avatar. But most of the time, that doesn't really help me. So now I mostly base my gender inferences on the way people talk. It's pretty easy to see if someone is a boy or a girl (well, at least it's easy to tell if a girl is very girlish or not. If the girl has a more boyish way of speaking, I'm in for some trouble).

 

Well, usernames can help or hinder. With WainGuy, i was convinced they were a guy till i saw their profile. ZoroarkGirl (dont remember the new username) however, is an example of it being helpful. I mostly judge from what profile is or how they talk. Once again, WainGuy threw me off. I don't use profile picture though. Otherwise, no offense meant here, I'd have thought Madness was a girl when i first joined. A MLP profile picture is not what I'd expect from a guy.

 

The way they talk (and sometimes the font/color they use) is how I base my inferences on gender.

I've kinda learned that around here, the avatars don't mean anything.

 

Back when I first came around other forums, most other users assumed I was male because of the nickname, Zero, that I go by outside of LV. Usually I guess someone's gender based on how they act, and surprisingly haven't been wrong very often. Though I always check their profile first before referring to them as either gender, just to be on the safe side! If their gender is anonymous, then I just refer to/think of them as they/them/their until proven otherwise.

 

In all honesty I try to stop myself from inferencing gender on people because I don't like that some things are inherently masculine and feminine, but thinking that way for almost 14 years makes undoing that process kind of difficult.

I usually come to identify people by their avatars and who's in them, instead of their actual username. For awhile, I thought of Satix as that one guy with that anime character in his photo, because that was his photo when I joined. And that character was male, so I thought he was male. Of course, I was right in that case, but it's not always that way.

However, it's interesting when people have other on their gender settings. I'm not sure which way my gender is going to end up pointing, so I keep setting it from male to other, or the other way around. I don't know, I suppose I just kind of like to wonder if they'd just prefer people not to know, or if they're not male or female.

 

People usually mistake me for male apparently. I guess it's my Avi, or the way I speak? Just wanted to let you know, I am female. Female.
I usually judge based on avi, and syntax and language. But after a while, if I don't notice it on the spot, which I'm usually accurate on, I usually go to that person's profile page and check.

 

I don't assume gender unless I'm specifically told. I don't want to offend or make anyone uncomfortable after all!
I've been assumed as male on every forum I've been to. ^^ It doesn't bother me much though. I'm genderfluid so I sometimes do feel male anyway.

 

I try not to make things too awkward, so I'll speak gender neutrally. In my mind I'll just try and base off the username and the avatar/signature. Not the best method, thats how I was always assumed female when I had the delcatty signature. Even as shaymin signature, Nowi... I just have feminine signatures apparently. Just recognize I am a male.

 

When I guess people's gender by their avatar or whatever, I usually get it wrong . So I tend to call someone "they" until I know for sure by looking at their profile or if someone tells me.

 

Generally their avatar and signature at first glance, then I secondly analyze how they type. If they use a lot of emoticons and common internet acronyms, especially ones considered to be "girly", I will assume they're female. Sorry if that sounds sexist. We never really know one's gender until you visit their profile, or if you ask. Even then, they could be lying to you because some individuals are just odd like that.

 

Personally, I judge gender by personality (as in the way they talk) and username. Usernames are usually a huge indicator on what gender a user is. For example, I highly doubt anyone has thought anyone with a username with "Princess" is a male, or typically girly names such as bless her soul Bloom. Especially with the way some people act, with emojis and specific words like "Kawaii," I automatically assume female.

 

I go for personality in some attempt to infer gender, but if there's anything the internet has taught me, even that can be deceiving. ._. I don't really pay attention to avatars much because there is such thing as guys using cutesy avatars, so it's mostly in the manner that they type, etc.

 

For the longest time, every forum that I joined every member thought I was a male until I said otherwise. I alway's had my user in a feminine name and for some reason it was taken in a different way. I don't really see how Aurelia can be taken as a males name unless the pronunciation is really obscure.

and I suppose on how I wrote was a major key factor of how I got so confused as a male. (even the professor thought I was a male when we first spoken to each other due to a friend wanting to share her babies with me on the forum we met on, talk about fun stuff!)

But yeah, I try to know a person first and try and figure out what gender they are, or I just ask if they are a female or male, nothing wrong with asking IMO. and if that person is too shy or doesn't want to share then I always refer to them by their username, its the polite way to go I must say.

 

I don't generally make inferences on gender unless the situation calls for such. The use of certain pronouns can be offensive to people, so I try to be respectful of that possibility.
Though I will say that the "gender" portion of the profile pages are pretty revealing how of one sees themself, it's not always accurate.
I've been mistaken for a female in the past because of the way I speak and my username, though when I used Redplay and ToxicPoison I was almost always thought to be male.

 

Well, we tend to use our senses for everything when it comes to guessing what a person is.

When it's visual, it's very clear whether a person is a girl or a boy. It's... kinda hard to miss those masculine and feminine features.

However, when behind a computer, it's completely different. But still, our senses are hard at work at guessing what that person is. Honestly, if there wasn't a gender option on profiles, I'd probably mistake a lot of boys as females on LV and Vice Versa. I definitely take in account their personal preferences of avatars/signatures, what is being said, how they carry themselves, their interests, etc.

Which is probably why a lot of people think I'm a male.
I'll continue to leave my gender as "Other" because of this, haha!

 

What? Never heard of a brony? Bro + Pony? Eh, oh well. Doesn't really bother me. I've gotten used to it by now.



I generally guess based mostly on attitude and username, and, while the avatar gives clues occasionally, it isn't what I base my guess on. Of course, I could also just check their profile. But there's those people who mark "other" and leave me really confused. What am I supposed to call the 'other' people? Often times, I just say "them" instead of a gender specific noun until I know what I should be calling them.

 

I have been called a guy on another forum before (Never ever call me a guy unless you want a half hour tirade on the fact i'm a girl) I check the profile if there's nothing i use gender neutral words

 

At first glance I'd try to guess their gender by their avatar, signature and the choices in the way they write and the fonts they use but if I feel like I like them enough or feel that I'm going to see them often I go to their profile to confirm or correct the gender I've assigned to them. I especially do so when I contact them in order to be able to Approach them properly.

I usually laugh when people get my gender wrong - even in real life - since I wanted to be male most of my life. It's no hard feelings with me when it comes to people mistaking my gender.

 

Usually I base it on the way someone types, but I try not to assume a gender without checking first.