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Originally Posted by Gene  I am a male! I do believe on the boards it is sometimes hard to determine whether a poster is male or female from the user name and posts made from the user. |
I always wonder how folks in transition answer this question. I think it must be similar to my feelings on the questions that absurdly categorize race and identity. My heritage is from Mexican and Irish people. I identify myself as Hispanic. I rarely get a satisfactory way of describing myself, but at least it always stays the same. Gender, for some people, is fluid. I have had days where I felt more butch or more femme, to borrow two common terms from the Queer* community.
The question of gender on the forums makes me wonder how the issue of gender is relevant. I understand that men and women are socialized differently to some extent, but also that generalizations are not usually good enough for collections of smart people.
I would welcome a network that was devoid of any indication about the person's looks, age, or even gender, just to see how the conversation would be different.
It is interesting to me that this seemingly simple issue : M/F? : could provoke a response of such complex ideas.
*"Queer" is not a pejorative in this context, please do not pelt me with hailstones; in my world and my community, its just another reclaimed old term. Thank you!