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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
What inspired me to raise this point was mild surprise at finding that Fishonabike was not a woman as I'd thought. There was also someone a while back who I'd thought was a man but turned out to be a woman -- I forget who it was now. Other people have expressed confusion about some people's sex where I thought it was pretty obvious.
As far as the quality of the content of posts is concerned, of course it doesn't matter, but in real life conversations it's rare to be mistaken about a person's sex. I can't speak for others, but I do build up a mental picture of regular posters and it can be disconcerting to find out that I'm wrong about something so basic.
Bingley
Bingley
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Joined: Mar 2000
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 315 |
>>After all, with conversation - whether direct or by telephone - we can
usually tell the gender of the speaker by the sound of his/her voice
When I was reading lots of written examinations (hundreds of students) I was trying to guess the sex from the way in which they write (by hand - the keyboard make us more similar).
There were a lot of not predictable sexes - but 2 extremal behaviours: round, ordered, clean, sometimes with small circles (instead of the dot) over the "i" was always female; in the other part, the most confused, hardly readable was always male (like refusing any rule). I was wondering how much this difference was given or forced by education.
Ciao
Emanuela
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Joined: Mar 2000
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old hand
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old hand
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>When I was reading lots of written examinations..<
This reminds me of the times when my late father (who was an arts teacher) brought home the works of his pupils to judge. I always suspected him of looking at the names (i.e. gender) before judging the drawings, and suggested we first guess before looking.
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old hand
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old hand
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> How much of the "real" person do we see behind the personae on our board?
This question interests me too. If I take me as an example I don't think I can entirely getaway from who I am, even in cyberspace. When I first got on the net I thought it would be different, but I was surprised that my interaction followed the same pattern. If I am sometimes very quiet and at other times extremely talkative in reality; it is the same in virtuality (??).
> Could someone get away with a completely different character from his/her own?
I have a friend who comes across as a different person when he writes. Not deliberately so, but the medium of writing triggers a different style of expression. The writing suggests a different person and the physical behaviour the complete opposite. I think this could happen.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
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> Could someone get away with a completely different character from his/her own?I have been wondering about this, too. The con-artist in me would love to get away with it - this is the same part of me that would love to sell the Eiffel Tower for scrap metal to some unsusoecting multi-millionaire. I don't think I could do it - not if I were to keep contributing at the rate that seems to be my norm. I am sure that I would give myself away. But think of the arguments I could have with myself - it's a tempting thought. So beware of any strangers joining from this point on!! 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
I tend side with Marty on the 'wish to know' gender issue. It doesn`t make a huge difference in how I interact with people (it is so much simpler to remain oneself no matter who you talk/write to) but it does make a difference in how I interpret what I see.
Men and women do not communicate in the same manner (similar opinion brought up in previous thread). Men often communicate in more of a bulldozer fashion. If a man throws in a "oh, ya, take that!" type of comment or is aggressive in his opinion I don't take it personally. That`s what guys do.
If a woman responds in this manner I will make a point of finding out if I have upset her since this is not the way women typically communicate.
Perhaps I am generalizing, but isn`t the way we react to things based on past experience. And how many books are there out there that talk about the differences in the way men and women communicate.
I also think knowing the gender/name/hobbies adds a personal touch to an electronic medium. I am talking to people, not names on a board. If you don`t create a person behind the name you are simply writing to a machine.
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Are you implying that Tsuwm and Jackie are the same person? My, that's a scary though.I thought there was something fishy going on there
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I have to admit that I also prefer to know the gender of the person to whom I speak, electronically or personally. I find it quite disconcerting to learn after communicating with someone that I had misjudged their gender. Have you ever spoken face to face with a person and been unable to determine their sex from their physical appearance and voice? Now that's confusing!
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
I thought there was something fishy going on thereWhy, xara, did you think they were re cycling each other? 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
actually™, you're getting uncomfortably close to the truth® -- Jackie and I collaborated to create "shona".
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